Category: Wesleyan Accent
Otis T. McMillan ~ Lead Like Jesus
September 1, 2016
Are you content to have unfulfilled needs in your life? Most of us aren’t. We want enough for today, plus extra stored away for the future. Yet our longing for more than enough is often limited to what we can see and touch. Jesus told us that these things would never satisfy. He taught that only God can fulfill our most important needs, giving us a sense of security, identity, significance, and purpose.
Matt Douglass ~ Baptism and the Missing Mind: My Baby
August 31, 2016
But such things apply to Joy, if at all, in a far diminished way. I sing the Lord’s Prayer to her, but she’ll never learn to pray. We’ll bring her to church, but she’ll never learn the basics of the faith. We’ll take care of her physically, but to what extent can we really meet her spiritual needs?
Tom Fuerst ~ I Want to Believe
August 27, 2016
Christians are often assumed to be the kind of people who live in a fantasy world of made-up gods in a spiritual realm and anytime we’re confronted with something that challenges our worldview we put our fingers in our ears and start shouting “no no no!”
Wesleyan Accent ~ In Their Words: How Pastors Pray for Their Children (And Raise Them in the Church)
August 25, 2016
“She grew up knowing the language of prayer, and feeling comfortable with prayer.”
Carrie Carter ~ The Enemy Who Was Not an Enemy
August 24, 2016
The man’s gaze dropped. Hesitantly, he spoke.
“We are from Iraq.”
Wesleyan Accent ~ Neighbors in the Middle East
August 22, 2016
One month ago, an American couple herded three children into a men’s room in the Istanbul, Turkey airport. The wife visibly pregnant, they settled in for the night and texted to family members in the U.S., letting them know that their flight was being delayed indefinitely – keeping some of the details to themselves. All night the parents kept vigil as the children miraculously slept through the sound of explosions, reports of shooting, sonic booms from low-flying fighter jets and men coming in with blood-spattered clothing to wash their faces and hands for their ritual Muslim prayer time.
Michelle Bauer ~ Praying Past Politeness
August 20, 2016
I’m going to call Martha’s the honest approach. She doesn’t stand back and say things like, “Well you must have needed another angel.” Or “It must have been your will.” She looks him right in the eye and tells him exactly what she is thinking. “You let me down. You did not do what I asked you to do. You could have stopped this from happening.” And the thing she doesn’t say but is clearly communicating is “I thought you loved us.”
I’m guessing that the disciples and other people around Jesus all sucked their breath in and waited for the wrath that was surely about to fall on Martha’s head. You can’t talk that way to God… can you?
Andy Stoddard ~ Simple Gifts
August 18, 2016
Today, we all have gifts that seem so small with all the needs around. Offer them anyway.
Elizabeth Glass Turner ~ Time During the Year
August 17, 2016
Repetition does not have to imply boredom or meaninglessness – though advertisers attempt to convince us otherwise. The rhythm of seasons is a necessary beauty, like the measured count behind your favorite music.
Justus Hunter ~ The Walk to School
August 15, 2016
When I walk him to school, and remember the proper procedure, I ask him to teach me their prayers. It changes frequently, alighting upon virtues and visions, my wife’s butterfly spirituality passing down to our son. As he teaches me their prayer, a common refrain rolls across his lips, “Lord, help me be bold and courageous.”