From Division to Compassion: How Romanian Methodists Welcomed Ukrainian Refugees

Romania is a neighbor of Ukraine, sharing about 605 km of border in the northern and southeastern regions. We have always considered Romania the quiet neighbor. Due to the communist and Soviet contexts, each country had preconceived opinions about the other. The Soviets sought to break any form of collaboration with us through various media manipulations and other means.  The

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Core Convictions: You Can Be Saved To The Uttermost

In his introductory comment to Wesley’s sermon “Christian Perfection,” Albert Outler wrote, “If, for Wesley, salvation was the total restoration of the deformed image of God in us, and if its fullness was the recovery of our negative power not to sin and our positive power to love God supremely, this denotes that furthest reach of grace and its triumphs

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Joy And Peace

Scripture Focus: It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, a harp, and the melody of a lyre. You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me! I sing

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Core Convictions: We Can Know We Are Saved

In my last article, I sought to make the case that the Christian faith is all about salvation. John Wesley summarized the goal of Christian religion: The end is, in one word, salvation. The British Methodist historian, William B. Fitzgerald, summarized Wesley’s theology of salvation with this fourfold dictum: All people need to be saved from sin, all people may

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Healing Prayer Found Me

I tripped into prayer for Healing. It wasn’t my idea. The whole thing started when a progressive classmate at seminary would use humor to embarrass me whenever I said anything indicating that the Bible was true.  And then he fell terribly ill-and asked a mutual friend to ask me to come and pray for him. I had no desire to

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The Holy Spirit’s Work Through You

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do

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Full Of The Joy Of The Lord by Kim Reisman

Scripture Focus: Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds

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Core Convictions: It’s All About Salvation

Statistics show that by 2034, many of the mainline denominations may cease to exist. The Presbyterian Church USA, Episcopal Church, Lutheran Church, and United Methodist Church have been in a kind of “free fall” in membership. It is obvious; the Day of the mainline expression of Christianity in North America is coming to a close.  It is clear, maybe condemningly

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Today In The Valley Of The Dry Bones

I talk to many people today who seem anxious. There is a great deal of anxiety due to global conflicts, national elections, or a myriad of issues that continue to fester around the world. The attack on Christians and Christianity from people of power and influence seems to be on the rise. The answers to these problems are complex and

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The Source of Our Joy

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

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Missional Evangelism by Otis McMillan

what it means to live missionally is to have authentic friendship with people in these networks. If Jesus is truly important to you, and if you have real friendships with people, then Jesus is going to come up sooner or later in the natural course of sharing life.

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Why We Rejoice by Andy Stoddard

One of the great blessings in life is to celebrate the ways that God works and moves.  Sometimes, in our bid to stay humble, we can forget to give testimony to what God has done.  Now, we do want to be careful, making sure that God gets the glory for whatever good happens in life, but we need to stop

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Tend Your Fire: Fanning The Flame Of Zeal by Tammie Grimm

“I want to look confident but not come off as aggressive or too assertive – that just won’t do!” How many of us have thought that when preparing for a public presentation, whether it be a workshop we lead for our peers, a meeting with other leaders or even a job interview? We want to look professional, neat and tidy,

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I Must Go by Michelle Bauer

To be a follower is not a valued characteristic in our culture, is it? If someone asked us if we wanted our children to grow up to be followers or leaders, I’m guessing most of us would say leaders. When we hire or promote someone at work are we looking for leaders or followers? But have you ever heard of

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Top 5 Reasons Guests Become Part Of Your Church Family by Kevin Watson

At one level, Melissa and I are the ideal first-time guests. And yet, we have been surprised at how difficult it has been to find deep and nurturing community in the local church. We have often been discouraged, because our initial strategy for finding new community when we have moved has been to try to quickly plug in to a

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I’m Not A Worthless Sinner by Tom Fuerst

Worm Theology is probably a good moniker for such belief. It imprisons humanity in this notion that our sin has made us worthless. It fetters us to the falsity that the evil within us has so completely broken us that we literally have no value.

It sounds pious. It sounds like a good understanding of the holy character of God

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Solutionists: Problemists by Talbot Davis

Anyway, several months ago I was in one of these meetings – probably 40 people there – admiring the raw spirituality of the environment, when during the sharing time a man says, “We don’t have a drinking PROBLEM. We have a drinking SOLUTION. We’ve got all kinds of problems – marriage, parents, self-esteem, and money – and what we

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Know Thyself by Andy Stoddard

One of the best things in the world that we can do is know ourselves.  Know our strengths.  Know our weaknesses.  There’s an old saying – know thyself. That’s a good thing. Because when we know ourselves, we know what to be on the lookout for.  What are things that could cause us trouble. What are the things in our

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A Foretaste Of The Heavenly Banquet by Ken Loyer

The idea of the future has a mysterious quality to it because it is always beyond us, in one sense not yet fulfilled. As you look ahead, what do you anticipate about the future? What concerns or fears do you have? Do you think that in the midst of the inevitable uncertainty regarding various aspects of our future, there is

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Yes… And: The Grace Of Improv by Jennifer Moxley

To say yes is to listen when another person is hurting or needs to process a current life crisis.

To say and is to add a word of encouragement, consolation, or solidarity. Eventually trust is earned as each person allows themselves to be more and more vulnerable when more of their life is shared and accepted. These real and open

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