Category: Wesleyan Accent
Carolyn Moore ~ Too Light a Thing
October 11, 2014
“What to do, then, when there is nothing to be done? I stood there, helpless in the face of such poverty, and wondered: as a follower of Jesus, what is my responsibility to this woman who seems to have been forgotten by the world? Do I demand justice? Throw her over my shoulder and haul her out of there? Or helplessly move on?”
Michael Smith ~ The Fairest of the Seasons
October 9, 2014
Each season has its ebb and flow, its ups and downs. Why is it, then, that we are still wrapping our minds around change management and leading change within local congregations? Think of change like you think of the seasons.
Jerry Walls ~ Divine Predestination and Human Freedom
October 8, 2014
“Like divine sovereignty, predestination is not a Calvinist doctrine, it is a biblical doctrine. And indeed, as a theologian steeped in Scripture, Wesley not only affirmed the doctrine, he affirmed a very strong version of it…”
Bryan Collier ~ Benefit of the Doubt: How Can A Loving God Send People to Hell?
October 4, 2014
“Be assured that hell does not exist because God is stomping his feet like a little child saying, “do it my way or else!” God is the most loving, wonderful being in the cosmos. He has made us for a purpose: to relate to him and others lovingly. We are not accidents, we are not random mistakes.”
Danny Morris ~ The Gift of Spiritual Intuition
October 2, 2014
“When defining spiritual intuition, it is a marvel think that God can put an idea into someone’s mind, and that person can comprehend that idea, and immediately act with unquestioning determination!”
Harley Scalf ~ The Power of Five
October 1, 2014
“I was headed in the wrong direction, even though the church was headed in the right direction.”
Jerry Walls ~ The Sovereignty of God
September 29, 2014
The sovereignty of God is a vitally important truth Wesleyans badly need to recover. This is not only because it is crucial for understanding the biblical drama, but also because many Wesleyans have tended to neglect it because Calvinists often give the impression that it is one of their distinctive doctrines. But the sovereignty of God is not a Calvinist doctrine, it is a biblical doctrine, and no one who wants to be faithful to Scripture can afford to ignore or downplay this great truth.
Talbot Davis ~ Lost Relationships
September 27, 2014
Because of a stand he took and a truth he spoke, Elijah is suddenly cut off from his family. From his hometown. From his kosher diet. From everything and everyone. And this is at a time in human history when there was no “you” apart from your group. In his exile the loss of relationships for Elijah was all-encompassing – a moment of courage, followed by season of loss.
And a lot of you know what that’s like…
Elizabeth Glass Turner ~ Stolen: How Much Do You Own?
September 25, 2014
It’s not likely we’ll ever get back the things that were taken – especially those intangibles like “peace of mind.” Things are just things (maddening at first, yes, but in the end moths and rust doth corrupt and thieves break in and…well, apparently, they steal). But I can’t get back the blissful pre-break-in peace of never having had my home violated. There are many clichés about lost innocence. Are those instances just a bite-sized serving of the tragedy of Paradise Lost? Theologians have analyzed the fall of Adam and Eve ad infinitum. There’s a simple truth, however, that the average preschooler is capable of comprehending: Eve and Adam both took something that didn’t belong to them. As simple as that.
Matt Sigler ~ Knowing What We Have: The Methodist Liturgical Heritage, Part III
September 24, 2014
“The efforts at Methodist liturgical revision that culminated in the 1989 United Methodist Hymnal and 1992 Book of Worship were often disregarded by those seeking to make their worship services more “contemporary.” As “contemporary worship” became an increasingly viable option for Methodists, many completely rejected the hymnal or anything that appeared to be rooted in the past. While Methodist “contemporary” worship frequently infused life into dry services, it often looked just like the Baptist “contemporary” service down the street. In rejecting the historic forms of their worship, Methodists suffered from an identity crisis in their worship services.”