I received an e-mail from a pastor in Tennessee a few days ago posing this question: A church member asked me to recommend a biography on John Wesley, and I didn’t know what to suggest. Wondering if you could suggest something? That’s not an infrequent request to get for a seminary professor who teaches Methodist history. When I get an
I was thirty-two years old when a woman took my advice on how to die. Sitting in her low living room banked with windows that overlooked butterfly-laden bushes, I watched her shallow breaths. She had lost strength and energy: her frame seemed diminished, as if her soul were clinging to her body by mere tendrils. While disease sapped her vitality,
The weight of Christian worship history testifies that the Sunday service is primarily a gathering of, and for, the faithful. This is not to say that we shouldn’t consider how our worship services can best speak in the language of our local contexts. It isn’t to say that we shouldn’t consider if our gatherings are marked with radical hospitality and
Wesley knew how to be abased and how to abound. He intended, as did his brother John, to live all of life under God’s hand, whatever the circumstances of any given day.
Though it may seem to be the most difficult to define of the three, Wesley insists on including spirit with doctrine and discipline because right doctrine (belief) and right discipline (practice) are not enough in themselves.
There is a phrase in Wesleyan theology that holds the key to understanding most everything about present salvation. The phrase is “holiness of heart and life.” This is one of those terms that seems simple at first glance and yet is packed with meaning on multiple levels. It’s also a term worth exploring, and I want to explore it here.
I have heard numerous people in various ecclesial and academic contexts use this reformulation as if it were the direct equivalent of the original. What I have not heard, however, is much in the way of critical reflection upon such usage. “Stay in love with God” is perhaps easier to say (and memorize) and sounds more modern than the rather
For six years I lived among live oak trees on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In fact, weekly, I drove down Highway 90 between Bay St. Louis and Ocean Springs, Mississippi – the “beach road” as we natives call it, where there were hundreds if not thousands of live oak trees that are massive in
We Methodists don’t “believe” in backsliding, as some have accused us, but we’re honest enough to confess a fact when it stares us in the face, and we’re sensitive enough to our spiritual condition that we can tell the difference.
We Christians are to “sit down on the bottom rung of the ladder of sanctity and yell for Jesus Christ.” When we do, he will come. He will come to nurture and change us.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.”
In this world we are like Jesus. – 1 John 4:17 As in the U.S., Thailand has no shortage of nail salons. In the U.S., I have a tolerate-hate relationship with those places. For many people, it is a treat to have someone else paint your fingernails and toenails, massage your feet and give you an hour in a gyrating chair. For me,
Recently I read a quote that has stuck with me: “looking at our culture, you’d think self-expression, not self-control, is a virtue.” I’ve thought a lot about that: there is a lot there. Today’s reading from 1 Corinthians 8: 9-13 brought it back to my mind: But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the
I am a proud Methodist and I believe in all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and I believe that we must go back to our roots of Methodism and reunite the revival movement and recapture our passion of proclaiming the gospel with an anointed zeal.
The interesting thing about praying for needs that aren’t our own is that many times God’s response is not as much directly about those needs as it is directly about us.
If I agree that the gifts described in Ephesians 4:11 emphasize living outside of the church’s internal life, I must accept responsibility for my gifting. What does this text say? “The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body
Peace is not simply the absence of threat, danger, or conflict. It is also the abundant presence of well-being, in which we breathe flourishing.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I have an old dog, so take my word for it. She wasn’t very good at learning new tricks when she was a younger dog. I was elated that we passed obedience class since her “sits” were hesitant and forced most of the time, and her “down stays” were almost non-existent. You see, she was a
Leadership is a critical key to the success of an organization. John Maxwell explains, “Everything rises and falls on leadership…leadership determines the success of the organization.” If leadership is a key for an organization to thrive, Christian leadership is essential for the works of Christ being accomplished in the church and world. Thus, the essence of Christian leadership is its focus on what God is doing in
The Wesleyan Methodist tradition is one that puts actions with intentions.
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