Wesleyan Accent Archive | World Methodist Evangelism

Lent: Interview with Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett

Debbie Wallace-Padgett March 19, 2018

Wesleyan Accent shares the opportunity to explore the Lenten season with Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, who serves the Birmingham Episcopal Area of the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church in the United States. Wesleyan Accent: Growing up, Ash Wednesday was something vaguely Catholic-ish printed on the calendar; I didn’t observe it until later in life. What role has Ash Wednesday played

When Jesus Gets Angry by Carolyn Moore

Carolyn Moore March 15, 2018

Find Mark 1:41 in your Bible. How does that line read in your version? How did Jesus feel about this leper who asked for healing? Some versions say Jesus was filled with compassion for the leper who came to him for healing. My version (NIV) and a few other versions say Jesus was indignant. By my experience, there is a

Bucking the System by Jeff Rudy

Jeff Rudy March 14, 2018

Why didn’t Jesus take up the sword? Why isn’t that the means by which to overcome evil? Walter Wink says something quite remarkable about Jesus’ point here: “Violent revolution fails because it is not revolutionary enough. It changes the rulers but not the rules, the ends but not the means.”

Dying Well by Faith Parry

Faith Parry March 12, 2018

The early Methodists were known as people who died well. They had grace and assurance of God’s love and forgiveness for them, so they did not fear death. Furthermore, Wesley made it a point to share the stories of those who died and went on to glory.

Why Pilgrimage Is Part Of Discipleship: Discovering Lindisfarne by Tammie Grimm

Tammie Grimm March 8, 2018

Northumbria. Nether Springs. Lindisfarne. Holy Island. For years I casually entertained the hopes I might visit the Northumbrian Community that produced Celtic Daily Prayer. Inquiries to the community recommended a minimum stay of two nights and three days. Required trips to the United Kingdom for PhD residency never quite afforded the wiggle room on either end to steal away for

The Problem With Praying For Open Doors by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner March 5, 2018

One of the prayers I heard a lot growing up was a simple if loaded take on, “thy will be done.” Praying, “thy will be done,” is not only biblical, Jesus himself prayed it in the Garden of Gethsemane, which is a pretty compelling model to follow. The prayer I heard repeatedly was this: “open and close doors as You

Lent with a Wesleyan Accent by Matt Sigler

Matthew Sigler March 1, 2018

A celebration of Easter without a prior descent into the grave is dishonest and naïve, just as observing Lent without the uncompromising proclamation of the Resurrection is hopeless.

Real Prayers For Real People by Carolyn Moore

Carolyn Moore February 26, 2018

I didn’t immediately fall in love with the Psalms. I found them to be hard to understand and a little dusty. Then some hard things happened in my life and I landed on a few Psalms that became prayers when I didn’t know what to pray. When my mother died, Psalm 42 became my lifeline. Psalm 116 was my testimony in a season when

Scripture You Forgot You Knew by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner February 21, 2018

It happens to all of us. An old song or movie comes on, and somewhere, out of the depths of your dusty brain, a reflex kicks in. Before you know it, you’re singing words you didn’t know you remembered, or you’re quoting a line right before the actor says it. It’s like muscle memory, hidden deep beneath years of doctor

Learning to Love by Michelle Bauer

Michelle Bauer February 19, 2018

What damage can be done if people exercise their spiritual gifts without love?

What Change Models Look like in Your Congregation by Priscilla Hammond

Priscilla Hammond December 18, 2019

If you have been a leader for very long, you have heard the question, “Why do we need to change?” In 1967, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson declared, “He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.” (1) So we must change if we want to live. Long before the

The Prevenient Grace Of Mr. Rogers by Andy Stoddard

Andy Stoddard December 12, 2019

Fred Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian pastor, but I believe that actually he was a Methodist deep down inside. Why do I say that? From my understanding of how he lived, I don’t know anyone who more fully lived out the concept of “prevenient grace.” Prevenient grace is the grace that goes before us, the grace that calls us into

The Work and the Rest that is Worship by Rob Haynes

Rob Haynes December 9, 2019

In the midst of the Advent season, many church leaders are busy preparing for some extra special: Extra and Special worship services. These services generally draw people to church who have not been before or who have not been in a long time. These can be wonderful times of evangelistic energy. Newcomers to the church can be invited into the

What A Baby Uncovers: The Judgment Of Advent by Aaron Perry

Aaron Perry December 7, 2019

“I’m pregnant!” The announcement demands a response. At times the response is easy: There are hugs and cheers, whoops, whirls, and texts—the group kind. At times the response is complicated: There are glances and glares, winces, wails, and tears—not the good kind. When a baby is a dream come true, the announcers set to painting a room, taking vitamins, writing

Leaving their Sheep to Find Jesus: When Shepherds and Angels Meet by Michelle Bauer

Michelle Bauer December 5, 2019

“The angels filled the sky saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men.” How does “Emmanuel,” God with us, bring peace into our lives? In what area of your life would you like for God’s peace to come?”

Photo by Valentin Salja on Unsplash

Noise Without Word: Worship in a World of Static by Justus Hunter

Justus Hunter December 2, 2019

“Ours is an age of noise. We exchange our history for comforting lies of other gods. We exchange our worship for spectacles. We exchange true justice for parodies, imitations, mimicry. We fill our lives with noise. We silence the Word of the Lord.

But the Word comes nevertheless, not in an earthquake or fire or rushing wind, but in

Healed with Compassion by Michelle Bauer

Michelle Bauer November 20, 2019

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold

Answers in the Darkness: A Prayer by Suzanne Nicholson

Suzanne Nicholson November 13, 2019

And so you teach me:
Certainty has become my idol.
Predictability.
Expectations met.
That looks like faith to me:
I ask, knowing that you can.

Testimony, Conversion, And The Search For Genuine Faith by Elizabeth Glass Turner

elizabeth.turner November 4, 2019

There are quite a few opinions about a recent celebrity in the spotlight for a high-profile conversion to Christianity. Or an alleged conversion to Christianity, depending on your point of view. Which celebrity it is doesn’t matter as much, because any time a celebrity joins anything, the people who belong to the faith or organization are thrilled. It’s like getting

Gratitude and Caring by Kim Reisman

Kim Reisman November 1, 2019

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. Colossians 3:16 (NLT) In many parts of the world, governments set aside a day dedicated to giving thanks. In the United States that day falls

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