Wesleyan Accent Archive | World Methodist Evangelism

Spirit-Led Discernment: The Quaker Clearness Committee by Danny Morris

Danny Morris February 16, 2015

The “clearness committee” was established by Quakers. Initially, focus persons were seeking clearness about marriage. Invited friends would gather to offer communal spiritual guidance. Eventually, reasons for calling a clearness committee were expanded. I was told by a friend that the Quaker clearness committee is currently used over a variety of subjects. When considering prayerful discernment, reflect on this model

Under The Fig Tree by Claire Matheny

Claire Matheny February 14, 2015

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything

On Guidance by Maxie Dunnam

Maxie Dunnam 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.

Taken & The Luxury Of A Call by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner February 11, 2015

Though I’ve never seen the film “Taken,” I have seen some delightful reels of action star Liam Neeson’s intense phone conversations that take place in the movie franchise. This, alas, is a Neeson-free post (though everyone’s favorite northern Irishman has dabbled in the Divine, voicing the character of “Aslan” in the Narnia movies and providing a cameo as a hobo-esque

Joy Begins At The Cross: Learning The Forgiveness Of Christ As A Pathway To Joy by Carolyn Moore

Carolyn Moore February 7, 2015

Did you ever run across the old children’s book called “Mr. Happy”? His story goes like this: one day he leaves his very happy home and goes walking in the neighborhood. He finds a door and wonders to himself, “who lives here?” When he goes through the door he is led down a long staircase and into the room where

A Deep Freeze by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner February 5, 2015

Warning: this post contains references to the animated feature film “Frozen.” Overexposure to this movie may result in children shrieking song lyrics in the car, a conviction that your front yard snowman can talk, and a commitment to trip over “Frozen” themed toys for at least the next three years. You may have seen me in the headlines recently:

Which Saint Are You? Quizzes On Holiness by Tammie Grimm

Tammie Grimm February 4, 2015

On any given day of the week, a scan of my Facebook newsfeed reveals secrets about my friends I might never have guessed on my own. It turns out that several friends closely identify with a variety of Disney Princesses, from the bookworm-ish Belle of “Beauty and the Beast,” to the kind and gentle maternal Snow White, to the adventurous

A Circle Of Quiet by Madeleine L’Engle

Claire Matheny February 2, 2015

Note from the author: I am a part of a church book club that meets each month. A member nominates a book for the next gathering. This ensures that most of us read something we would never have picked on our own. And let’s be honest, with many of us torn between children and work, we barely get time to read. Our meeting gives

Justifying Grace by Jeff Rudy

Jeff Rudy 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,

“Selma” And The Embodiment Of Discipleship by Cole Bodkin

Cole Bodkin January 29, 2015

A week before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day my wife and I went to go see the film Selma. This inspirational movie focuses on the non-violent protests of Martin Luther King, Jr., the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), and others in the small town of Selma, Alabama. It particularly highlights the march from Selma to Montgomery, a momentous turning point

Humility. Unity. Worship. by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner March 30, 2015

There I was, punching couch cushions, trying to keep my sudden, violent shouts muted so I wouldn’t wake up the kids. If you watched the University of Kentucky vs. Notre Dame college basketball game Saturday night, you know what I’m talking about: a nail-biter, an epic battle. “This is why we love sports,” a headline blazed the following morning. In

An image of holy communion featuring a silver cup of wine or juice and an artisanal loaf of bread dusted with flour and sitting on a white piece of cloth in subdued light and shadow.

Holy Communion: Celebrating Christ’s Presence With Us by Ken Loyer

Ken Loyer March 25, 2015

It has been said that the dinner table—that place where we eat, talk, and share life together with others—is an extension of the Eucharist.

Lenten Justice by Claire Matheny

Claire Matheny March 21, 2015

The text for this sermon is Mark 2:13-22 Many of us have suffered a punch-the-clock kind of job. This is the kind of job that you see as a stepping stone, and you hope there may be a day when you do not have to live through its drudgery. Perhaps even now you currently yearn for the other side of

Wesley’s 5:2 Fast by Jack Jackson

Jack Jackson March 19, 2015

For Wesley, the purpose of fasting was not to lose weight or to be more physically healthy. Wesley believed fasting was crucial for the spiritual health of Jesus’ disciples.

Could You Give Up Porn for Lent? A Pastoral Perspective On Life Change by Talbot Davis

Talbot Davis March 18, 2015

The rise of the internet has created a perfect storm for growing numbers of men to become addicted. It is available. It is anonymous. I suspect no other generation of men – or their pastors – had such a collision of forces that are the same time both irresistible and destructive.

Sister Winter by Michael Smith

Michael Smith March 16, 2015

For some reason God seems to do the best character development work when we are in the wilderness. Throughout the biblical text we see people out in the wilderness or in the “wintertime” of their spiritual lives. It is often here that God decides to do something new. “Now my heart is returned to sister winter,” as singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens

Hidden Heroes: The Epic Fail Hero by Talbot Davis

Talbot Davis March 14, 2015

But you need both. A Paul and a Peter. Someone who will confront and another who will comfort. It takes that balance of truth and grace to get someone to move beyond their epic fail and into effective service.

Prayer And The Shaping Power Of The Indwelling Christ by Maxie Dunnam

Maxie Dunnam March 12, 2015

We allow grace to operate in our lives by allowing Christ to be alive in us. We affirm the living Christ. Freedom and joy in the Christian life depend on this. Christ is alive today. He is a now reality. This reality must become personal: Christ is alive in me.

A Woman’s Voice Can Usher In The Kingdom Of God by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner March 11, 2015

Today my first-person perspective of Resurrection Day sits over at this website in honor of the traditional myrrh-bearers – the women who went to care for Jesus’ body at the tomb, later running and announcing the resurrection to the rest of the disciples. (Yes, Protestants – after Greek Orthodox Pascha [Easter], the tradition observes the Feast of the Holy Myrrhbearers; have

Backwards Lent by Carrie Carter

Carrie Carter March 9, 2015

Up until more recently than I’d like to admit, the most I knew about Lent was the mysterious time of year when a banner was strung out over the road as you came into town, announcing the “Kiwanis’ Lenten Fish Fry EVERY Friday Night!” And as mysteriously as it appeared, it disappeared. That, and Lent was a Catholic thing. Have

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