Category: Wesleyan Accent
Danny E. Morris ~ Spirit-Led Discernment: The Quaker Clearness Committee
February 16, 2015
Unhurriedly, lovingly, they ask deep and hard questions without evaluating, discussing, or critiquing the answers. Through prayer and their love for the person, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the committee helps them consider the issue in every possible way. Some of their questions will grow out of their times of prayer during the previous week; other questions will arise because of something a previous speaker asked.
Claire Matheny ~ Under the Fig Tree
February 14, 2015
Are we willing to envision ourselves out from under the tree? God already has. Jesus has already prepared a way for us and we need not be ruled by what has come before. Jesus sees not only who we are but who we can be—worthy of glimpsing the great opening of the heavens just as he promises Nathanael about greater things. As for the tree, we know that he takes it on, whittled away as the cross. We are reminded, even at this juncture of Nathanael’s joy at starting the journey, that we still must contest the ongoing evils and shames of this world, within and without.
Maxie Dunnam ~ On Guidance
February 12, 2015
Christ indwells us Christians; the Holy Spirit is his abiding presence in our lives. To the degree that we cultivate an awareness of and are responsive to his Spirit, Christ will guide us.
Elizabeth Glass Turner ~ Taken & The Luxury of a Call
February 11, 2015
I’m here to remind you today that you didn’t imagine those dreams. You didn’t imagine that vision. And God has not forgotten you. Perhaps you’ve been taken where you never wished to go. Maybe life has seemed all detour, no destination. Maybe you think that you’ve gone beyond the reach of God’s purposes, serving no useful role in any way that amounts to much. The truth is that sometimes people are called, and sometimes people are taken…
Carolyn Moore ~ Joy Begins at the Cross: Learning the Forgiveness of Christ as a Pathway to Joy
February 7, 2015
Joy flows from the same well as grace. And it begins with repentance and renewal. If I’m going to learn Christ and embrace the new life he offers, I have to let go of the old life, the lower existence. And a key piece in learning Christ is learning to walk in forgiveness. This is the difference between reacting and responding. To put it plainly, I have to learn to discipline my emotions, especially the emotion of anger, so it doesn’t create opportunity for sin in my life.
Elizabeth Glass Turner ~ A Deep Freeze
February 5, 2015
All the world’s programming about effective Christian witness can’t compete with believers who have warm, thawed hearts, and all the world’s programming about effective Christian witness can’t thaw frozen hearts that sit like a cold stone on an unbending pew, rock-hard, Sunday after Sunday.
Tammie Grimm ~ Which Saint Are You? Quizzes on Holiness
February 4, 2015
With the imago Dei stamped upon the heart of each believer, Christlikeness is the true and valid goal for each and every Christian. The questions help us navigate the journey and our resulting growth in and towards Christlikeness. Each journey towards God’s holiness is as unique and as personal as our age, gender, race, ethnicity, occupation, or status.
Claire Matheny ~ Review: A Circle of Quiet
February 2, 2015
It was the interspersed passages about faith that made us take the most notice. It was amusing to think of her doubting the institution of the church, even as she led her local parish’s feeble choir. It was comforting to hear her criticism of Christians and still count herself among them. It was beautiful to hear her wax on about children’s literature, sensing the deep respect she has for the early years. She unwraps her own faith to show its vulnerability.
Jeff Rudy ~ Justifying Grace
January 31, 2015
If we desire that Christ brings us the grace to renew us and breathe new life into us, that admits quite simply that there is something about and in us that is old and dead and in need of being renewed. So, somehow, someway we must come to terms with that in ourselves which isn’t as it ought to be, and to admit that we are not able to make ourselves be what we ought to be on our own.
“Selma” and the Embodiment of Discipleship
January 29, 2015
What if Christians were more intentional in embodying the very message we proclaim? The call to discipleship involves the summons to presence and practice.