I recently spoke with a young woman who was thinking about leaving the Christian university she was attending. She was on fire for God and wanted to preach the gospel, but had been told that she couldn’t preach because she was a woman. Although the university where I teach affirms women in all areas of ministry, it’s striking to me how many
Several weeks ago [2015] I attended a conference in Houston, Texas that targeted ministry with large churches. Throughout the conference were presentations on technology, capitol campaigns, and “new age” ideas in ecclesiological innovation. Many left with concepts to take back to their congregations in hopes of implementation while others departed inspired with a rejuvenated energy for ministry. I, however, returned
Those who know me well know that I have made confessions like: I’m better at leading the congregation than I am at leading the staff; or I’m a disciplined person but not a very disciplined leader; or I’m better at dealing with one or with 2,000 than I am with twelve. To a certain extent all those things are true. I will always more naturally incline towards pastoring and teaching than
Have you ever faced a challenge so big that you were tempted to run from it? Fear invaded your thoughts when you looked at it, and you found yourself saying “there is no way I can do this”? If so, you are not alone. Moses and Gideon are just two of God’s leaders who wrestled with fear, and Abraham and
March 22, 2014 was a day of huge importance for my city of Memphis. Like many significant events, I’m afraid it went unnoticed by most. Two churches, Second and Independent Presbyterian, held a public service of confession and repentance. Few of us would not recognize our need for individual repentance. None of us are without the mark of Adam; what we
Simplicity isn’t easy. I used to think that “simple” and “easy” could always be used interchangeably, like when asked about a particular task that didn’t require a lot of physical or mental sweat, one could say, “it was simple” or “it was easy” and both would mean the same thing: “No big deal!” But when it comes to what Richard
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman
There are two difficulties with our prayer, “Thy will be done.” We fret over the first, but the second is far more dangerous. “What is Your will? How do I know it? Where can I find it? Is this Your will?” This is the first difficulty. The second accompanies it, and often escapes our notice. There is a forgotten moment
Dear Millenials, I was you once. People wanted to know what I thought. They wanted to know what I wanted to buy. They wanted to hear what I was looking for in a spouse, in a career – in a faith group. They talked about me in the news, they studied me to see which way I was likely to
It is summer camp season. For thousands of children and youth that means night hikes and camp fires, arts and crafts and lake fronts. It is commonplace for churches in the United States to offer a trip to summer camp for their children or youth. It is often a highlight of the year for these ministries. Years after their experiences,
official website Members 0 K+ Congregations 0 + Founded by missionaries from the United States, the Iglesia Metodista de Chile became autonomous in 1969. Today, it consists of 9,882 members across 90 congregations. This church has a powerful legacy of “integral mission,” maintaining a strong focus on education, social justice, and service. Notably, a vibrant Pentecostal movement grew out of
Dear Friends of World Methodist Evangelism, World Methodist Evangelism has been blessed with strong leadership since its inception. Sir Alan Walker of Australia, provided inspired early direction (1978-1988), launching the first International Christian Youth Conference on Evangelism – now known as Metanoia – in 1980. In 1989, Dr. H. Eddie Fox became WME’s first full-time Executive Director and significantly expanded
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
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