Scripture Focus: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are
Tucked away in the Old Testament story of Joseph’s journey into Egypt is a verse packed with far more meaning than appears on the surface. It teaches an eternal truth that we’d do well to consider as we enter the New Year. Rehearse the story. Sold into slavery by his brothers, Joseph found favor with the Pharaoh and became one
In the article last week I talked about Christmas in relation to the name given to the baby born on that day, JESUS Rehearse a bit. Matthew reports that Joseph had a dream in which he was instructed to name his son, Jesus. The name means “God shall save us from our sins.” So, when the angel says, “His name
Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you … Ephesians 1:15-16a At World Methodist Evangelism, we are committed to helping people show and share the love of Jesus. While that may be easy to say, it is much harder
We are in the midst of the Advent season. It’s Christmas time. Let’s stay with the story…at least reflect seriously for a bit. A central figure is Joseph. He is perplexed, deeply perplexed. The woman to whom he is engaged is pregnant and he knows the baby is not his. He is wrestling with what to do. Will he expose
A minister friend told a story of a couple who had been married for twelve years when the woman was stricken with cancer. Medically, the situation seemed hopeless. But each day in the hospital the couple read together the stories of how Jesus healed so many people in his earthly ministry. As they read, their despair turned to hope, and
Prayer means that no one of us can ever say, “There is nothing I can do.” I first went to the Soviet Union in 1981 and came away frustrated and confused. I experienced pain to see beautiful churches turned into warehouses, factories, and communist meeting halls. For a long time after that, the picture I had of the Russian church
Scripture Focus: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel. (Mark 1:15, NKJV) Over the last few months, we’ve talked about discovering our created purpose and the way we fit into God’s overall kingdom work. As we finish out this year, I want to encourage you to lock onto
Let me tell you the story of a young man whom we will call “Victor.” This story catches up with Victor in his early twenties. He had a difficult childhood, and both of his parents had passed by the time he was twenty years old. He had fallen into several destructive habits in his late teens, habits that he continued
Somewhere I read that Darwin kept a notebook to jot down the contradictions that he came across, contradictions against his theories. He knew that if he didn’t jot those contradictions down, he was so committed to his theories that he would forget them. It’s so easy to forget. It’s easy to lose touch with the source of life… how we
George Washington Carver was born in a slave’s shack on a cotton farm. You know his story. He became a member of the Royal Academy, distinguished himself in science and helped discover countless uses of the peanut and sweet potato which helped salvage the economy of cotton-growing areas with depleted soil. Dr. Carver was not only a distinguished scientist, a
Isaiah directs the reader to “Come to Me with your ears wide open. Listen for the life of your soul is at stake.” Listening for the voice of the Lord must become a serious lifestyle imperative for us all. We cannot afford to do any less than to continually come to Him with our ears wide open, because our never-dying
This is the second article in a series on the Christian Pattern. Read the first article here. What Is Your Life Really About? I have been a pastor for over thirty-five years. In that time I have sat across from a lot of people in a lot of conversations — in hospital rooms, in counseling sessions, in coffee shops, in
official website Congregations 0 K+ It started with 17 churches. In May 2022, a small group of congregations formally launched a new denomination. They called it the Global Methodist Church. Seventeen congregations. A new name. A deep conviction that Wesleyan Christianity needed a fresh expression rooted in doctrinal integrity of the historic Christian faith and the authority of Scripture. Four years
official website Members 0 K+ Congregations 0 + In the spring of 1873, two bishops from rival American churches crossed the Rio Grande within weeks of each other — heading to the same country, with the same gospel, and the same dream. One was Bishop Gilbert Haven of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The other was Bishop John Christian Keener of
For several years, I have heard about the amazing things God is doing in the Methodist Church in Cuba. I have sought to see these firsthand on several occasions. However, for various reasons, those doors kept closing until this February. I took a group of four from our young church along with me as I taught at WME’s Unity in
Check out the earlier articles in this series where Maxie shared about the need for personal holiness (part 1), surrender (part 2), character (part 3), faithfulness (part 4), the wisdom of the saints (part 5), discipline and obedience (part 6). Two more characteristics of the saints I want us to explore as we wrestle with the question, “Will I finish well?”
I was nineteen years old when I wandered into the First Methodist Church of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and fell in love with John Wesley. I didn’t know much about him at first. But the more I read, the more I was captivated — by the way God had raised him up, by his faltering journey to faith, by his struggles with
official website Members 0 K+ Congregations 0 K+ If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like for the Wesleyan movement to shape an entire nation, look no further than Ghana. This week in our Prayer & Fasting journey, we are lifting up The Methodist Church Ghana, one of the largest and most influential Methodist bodies in the world. On January
Check out the earlier articles in this series where Maxie shared about the need for personal holiness (part 1), surrender (part 2), character (part 3), faithfulness (part 4), and the wisdom of the saints (part 5). If we want to finish well in our ministry, we do well to look to those who have walked before us. In my studies and
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