Category: Wesleyan Accent
Jeff Rudy ~ Jesus Weeps, Our Tears to See
April 6, 2017
These hymns, like the psalms, come from or speak to different experiences – some quite specific, others more general – and they express a wide variety of feelings toward God, ranging from thanksgiving and adoration to supplication to bitter grief. The hymn I came upon that had a reference to Jesus weeping was under the heading of “For a Child in the Small-Pox.” In the midst of what would have been an agonizing time for the parents as they prayed through tears that God might bring healing to their child, Charles offered lyrics that help us to embrace this sort of grief and to not hold back in pouring out our hearts to God.
Elizabeth Glass Turner ~ Steps for Small Church Revitalization
April 5, 2017
What were the specific needs of our town, what were the specific passions and gifts of our church members, and how might they converge?
Tammie Grimm ~ The Work of Our Hands: Celtic Christianity & the Way of Wesley
April 3, 2017
The Celtic tradition reflects this integration of mind, body and soul. Whether it be the kneading of bread, the weaving of cloth, the shearing of sheep or the plowing of fields, there is a mind and body synergy that allows the worker to engage the craft in such a way that their work becomes a prayer.
Jeff Rudy ~ What If I Get Nothing Out of Lent?
March 30, 2017
And so, among other things I’m giving up for Lent, I’m trying to give up the search to find some other hidden meaning. Perhaps I won’t get anything out of it. We don’t enter into the Lenten season practicing disciplines in order to achieve a particular return. It’s not an investment. Fasting and praying are not disciplines that we engage in in order to “cash in” on some prize later.
Carrie Carter ~ Finding Holy in the Everyday
March 29, 2017
It is in this silent space that I re-realize that God is here. His holy in my every day.
Andy Stoddard ~ My Mind Stayed on Jesus
February 16, 2017
No matter where we are, no matter where we may be, no matter what is going on, we keep our mind on Jesus.
Tammie Grimm ~ A Flame of Love: Celtic Christianity Within Reach
February 13, 2017
If we pay attention to the Celtic woman’s kindling prayer, we realize what she prays for is more than a comfortable home. She asks God to kindle a flame of love within her heart that will reach out beyond herself to include her neighbors. As she attends to the basic needs of her home, she is also looking beyond her family to take care of the needs of others. Her kindling prayer reflects the nature of the Triune Godhead who is whole, complete and integrated as its own self, yet bothers to invite humanity to share in the gift of divine love.
Justus Hunter ~ Thy Will Be Done
February 8, 2017
Unless we hold God’s will as Christ held his Father’s, our gifts corrupt. They grow into the most sinister of idols, more powerful than the Baals.
Tammie Grimm ~ The Trinity: A Woven Mystery of Beauty
February 6, 2017
Yet artwork, hymnody, liturgy and prayer are not the only ways the Trinity can be represented. To take another phrase from the Wesleys, Christian disciples are living, breathing “transcripts of the Trinity.”
Cole Bodkin ~ Review: Silence Unbroken
February 1, 2017
In Silence, Rodrigues’ romantic vision of Christianity is one that exists as if there are no cracks. Filled by lofty propositional truths, and a God on a high and mighty throne, Rodrigues does his best to muster up strength to remain faultless. Continuing up the path of the hero, he repeatedly fails to recognize the cracks in his armor.