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
official website Members 0 K+ Congregations 0 + The Chinese Methodist Church of Australia is a beautiful example of a “missionary church.” It grew out of the dedicated work of Methodists from Singapore and Malaysia who established the first congregation in 1986. Today, the CMCA has 1,482 members in 26 congregations, featuring mainly Mandarin-speaking services alongside several English-speaking ones. We
In the Philippines, our Christmas season starts on September 1 and ends around the second week of January the following year. Being a predominantly Catholic country, Christmas decorations are usually taken down after “Three Kings”, referring to when the Wise Men visited Jesus at the house and brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh as narrated in the Gospel of
official website Members 0 K+ Congregations 0 K+ The Methodist presence in Brazil dates back to 1867. Today, it is a vibrant, autonomous church consisting of over 262,424 members across more than 1,101 congregations. At World Methodist Evangelism, we are especially grateful for our partnership with the Brazilian church, as three members of our own WME team – Paulo and Juliana
There are some experiences or encounters that are so solidly lodged in our memory they continue to invade our consciousness – to haunt us – to help us or to hinder our Christian walk, to call and challenge us to be more than we are. John Birkbeck is a person around whom for me a whole cluster of memories is
official website Members 0 K+ Congregations 0 + The Iglesia Evangélica Metodista en Bolivia consists of 9,190 members worshiping in 194 congregations. While it was founded by American missionaries in 1906, it underwent a radical transformation in 1969 to become an autonomous, indigenous-led church. Today, it is a church that looks and sounds like its nation, with a majority of
official website Members 0 K+ Congregations 0 + If you’ve ever visited Sweden, you know it’s breathtakingly beautiful. Deep forests. Thousands of islands. Long summer evenings. But it’s also one of the most secular nations in the world. For many people, faith is viewed as something private, or even unnecessary. And yet, the gospel continues to take root. Back in
official website Members 0 K+ Congregations 0 + Methodism arrived in Argentina in 1836, when a missionary named John Dempster arrived in Buenos Aires from New York. In 1843, the first Methodist sanctuary in all of South America was dedicated there. But here’s the twist: for decades, it was against local regulations to preach the gospel in Spanish. Methodists could minister
In my two previous articles (read part 1 here and part 2 here) we focused on two of the big truths the three wise men can teach us. One, only the wise know their wisdom is incomplete and limited. Two, the wise men not only know their wisdom is incomplete they know they can’t save themselves. Those who are wise always know that their wisdom
In our world today, we embrace each other for so many reasons – celebration, greeting, sadness, grief, joy, affection, good-bye, and more. An embrace is a beautiful symbol of our human connection. My favorite version is when my sweet granddaughter sees me and runs into my arms. Something passes between us in an embrace, something unspoken, yet deeply real and
In my last article, I began reflecting on the Three Wise Men in the Christmas story. I began by insisting only the wise know their wisdom is incomplete and limited. These wise men had journeyed along a difficult path, looking for a king, using the very best science they knew, following a star. But somehow, along the way, their guidance
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