The Power of Thanksgiving by Jean Watson
Jean Watson
November 22, 2016
The land where I did not want to be was becoming the land of my blessing.
The land where I did not want to be was becoming the land of my blessing.
In 1903, Evan Roberts was 25 years old. He was a Christian, coal miner, and student who began to pray for God to fill him with the Holy Spirit. In the midst of this season of prayer, Roberts found himself at an evangelistic event where a man named Seth Joshua was preaching. Roberts heard Joshua pray, “Lord, bend us,” and
Lead Like Butler: Six Principles for Values-Based Leaders is a good read in which authors Kent Millard and Judith Cebula define six dimensions of what Butler University athletes call “The Butler Way.” Being a former basketball player and serious sports fan, the nomenclature “The Butler Way” has caught my imagination. Indeed this concept has inspired the North Alabama Conference Leadership Team
Give thanks with a grateful heart Give thanks to the Holy One Give thanks because he’s given Jesus Christ, his Son. It’s November and Thanksgiving is almost upon us. On Facebook, 30 Days of Thankfulness is in full swing. Each day, participants in the 30 Day Challenge use their status to record something in their life for which they are
Today we ask our World Methodist Evangelism partners to come alongside us in prayer for New Zealand and Haiti. While much of recent news has focused on American politics, we want to remember those affected by natural disasters in the past couple of months.
There is not political unity within the various Wesleyan Methodist denominations across the United States. On election day, many nonpartisan prayer vigils and communion services were held in churches across the country. Some Methodist Wesleyan leaders led prayer from the Francis Asbury statue in Washington, D.C. As Americans move forward, it remains to be seen how the coming months and
On this Wednesday, may we be reminded that we who follow Jesus are part of something bigger than ourselves — something grandly sufficient that has come among us, that offers even to dwell within us. The Kingdom of Heaven is big. Remember these things and be glad: The Kingdom is more concerned with effectiveness than efficiency. I’m thinking of the story
As WME works to encourage and empower young leaders in the Wesleyan family, I often wonder what would have happened without the generosity of that anonymous gift giver. What would the kingdom have lost had those two young people not encountered Jesus in Kenya and Hong Kong?
Note from the Editor, Elizabeth Glass Turner: We asked several pastors and preachers from various Wesleyan/Methodist denominations what works of fiction have had the biggest impact on them personally. Here are some responses. Probably something from childhood: A Wrinkle in Time, especially Meg Murray, feeling awkward but finding herself and fighting for love. – Dr. Beth Felker Jones Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes
The “wine” that we bring to any situation will eventually run out. It’s not a matter of “if” but “when.” We will get tired. We will get frustrated. We will start to doubt our ability to pull something off. We will want to quit. Some of us have amazing amounts of discipline and will power and can push ourselves for
I’m a pretty happy and optimistic guy. I tend to believe the best of other people, and by and large, I expect things to work out alright. I take Romans 8:28 literally and seriously – God will somehow work out things for good. I tend to be an optimistic and grace-full preacher. I believe in hell, but I’m not a
One of my favorite evangelists is known by her place of
conversion. She is the woman at the well — the Samaritan woman — who
encountered Jesus while she was filling her water pot. She had a conversation that transformed her and moved her to share her experience with others.
“What do you mean, that’s not my father? Those are the hands that cared for me. Those are the arms that took me up and hugged me. Those are the lips that spoke to me; the eyes that searched for me; the chest on which I fell asleep, knowing I was safe in his care. Everything I have ever known
He tells the sailors to toss him overboard, because he believes that his God is acting like all the other gods, punishing him and them in the process. After Jonah says, “hurl me into the sea,” something strange happens. The sailors start rowing to dry land. Though it’s easy to skip ahead and assume that they picked him up and
From the earliest days of my pastoral service my leaders and mentors encouraged me to lead and develop short-term mission (STM) trips. They assured me that these trips would provide life-changing opportunities for those in my ministries. In addition, the people in the communities we would serve would receive the benefits of medical care, children’s ministry activities, or the construction
When I was in my early twenties, I was really good at softball. I could play defense, run reasonably well, and hit for power. I got better because I had a coach, Gordon, who watched me play and gave me pointers. As a result, I positioned myself intentionally at third base depending on the batter. I chose a heavier bat
Chera, my wife, was glaring at me with the type of fire normally reserved for people who tell her Christmas music should wait till after Thanksgiving. “God is good,” she said. I nodded, more than slightly annoyed. “Say it,” still glaring. “God is good,” I half-heartedly indulged her. And then what I knew was coming. “Say it like you mean
Over lunch recently, a ministerial colleague and I were discussing the various ways local churches seek to use social media to promote their ministry. He and I have served in a variety of contexts, and we observed that similar conversations seem to happen in each situation: some people strongly feel that putting a great deal of time and energy into a catchy social media campaign will cure many of the ills of church. Properly
In the past, I’ve talked about reset as the ability to embrace and move into the new things that God has for us by not allowing the hurts of the past to hold us back. We can’t change the facts of the past, but we can change how we feel about them and how we allow them to affect us
I’ve never been pregnant. I watched my wife, a complete champion, bear three children with heroic efforts. Bearing a child means to carry the child through pregnancy to birth, when the child is born. Leading up to the birth, there are contractions. Contractions prepare the body to deliver the baby by shortening uterine muscles and dilating the cervix. As the uterus
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