I contend that when people come together without anger and with love and “life together” as the end goal, churches will be healthier and people will find that they have more in common.
The apostles don’t see themselves as CEOs or slaves to the church. They see themselves as fulfilling a specific duty for the church: the ministry of the word of God and prayer. Everything else was dropped from their plate. And not only did the church not look down on them or call them lazy for a desire to emphasize these
Through Christ, we have been set free. Think about what it means not just to be free but also to live in freedom. It is possible to be free but to still live as if you aren’t…
As this man did, you will discover that God’s Word will be fulfilled. Regardless of what others may offer, stay in tune to the words of Jesus. There may be delays, some disappointments, but the promises of God will come to pass. The key is, whose voice are you listening to?
What does it take to be a nimble follower of Jesus Christ? Describing yourself as “nimble” (“quick,” “light,” “quick to comprehend”) may not be a trendy way to phrase a quality – I doubt I’ll see it on any t-shirts soon, unless it becomes a merchandised quote from a quirky show – but followers of Jesus Christ are called to be
Christ comes to free us; he comes to fit us for Kingdom living, and he comes to fill us, to fill us with his Holy Spirit. And that’s our need, friends, the power of the Holy Spirit.
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by
There’s an operative logic of redemption running so deep in Western storytelling that, given enough time, we should expect that all villains will eventually become heroes. Origen may have been wrong to state that even the devil will eventually be saved, but a certain kind of “narrative universalism” is true in Hollywood.
And so we come to see that living in simplicity goes hand in hand with a life in pursuit of holiness, or sanctifying grace. For if you do a word search of “simplicity” through Wesley’s works, you will quite often find that he speaks of it in relation to Mary’s action of sitting by Jesus feet, drawing deeply from the
Many emotions welled up within me as I heard the news of the recent tragedy break. But the one that unexpectedly stood out was awe. Awe? How can you feel a sense of awe after hearing the news of such a heinous and horrendous act of racial dehumanization? Because my brothers and sisters at Emmanuel AME loved their neighbor. Furthermore,
Scripture Focus: All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of
Singing is one of our greatest expressions in the Christian faith and way, especially in the Wesleyan Methodist tradition. We sing our faith. One of the hymns we sing often is Blessed Assurance. The hymn is emotionally overwhelming when we know about the author, Fanny Crosby. From six weeks of age until her death shortly before her 95th birthday… Fanny
Worship is often an understated matter for us church folks. Think about the last time you used the word “worship.” For many of us, it refers to the time of singing before the sermon at a church gathering. Some even call that gathering “worship.” For others, the last time we said the word worship, it was in reference to an
Scripture Focus: If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you
In the questions Jesus was often asked, two stand out. A young man of great wealth asked him, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16). In another setting an expert of the law questioned, “Teacher, which one was the greatest commandment in the Law?” The first question, often phrased “What must I do to
In my last article I reflected on Paul’s emotional struggle as he wrote his letter to the Ephesians. He was filled with emotion as he thought of these new Christians, and in his mind, probably rehearsing his own Damascus Road experience. How could he say what he was feeling and thinking? What did he need to say? All he had
Scripture Focus: When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Abide in my love. When you obey my commandments, you abide in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have told you
“For the first time in my life, I had joined with Jesus’s compassion for someone who was sick and felt the power of God flow into another to make him well.” In their book Healing Prayer: God’s Idea for Restoring Body, Mind, and Spirit, David Chotka and Maxie Dunnam remind us that healing miracles still happen today. Healing miracles in
Scripture Focus: When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die
Join me in your imagination. We are a part of a Christian congregation in Ephesus. At one of our gatherings, a fellow member reads a letter written by the great apostle, Paul. He is seeking to shepherd the new emerging Christian movement and he is praying for us. Hear him, now. I kneel in prayer to the Father, from whom
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