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Tag: United Methodist Church

Kevin Watson ~ Christian Perfection: Problem or Promise?

“Sanctification is not about something that I either have to do to make myself better, or for which I have to feel guilty about not being good enough. It is a ‘work of God’s grace.’ Entire sanctification is really nothing more than
God’s grace freeing us from everything that has kept us chained to sin and death. The Triune God has given his children everything they need to live the kind of life for which they were created, in this life. And this is not only for spiritual elites or super Christians.”

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September 22, 2014

Maxie Dunnam ~ Prayer and Fasting: Embracing Voluntary Weakness

Fasting is more than denying ourselves food. It is choosing to act out, by temporarily denying ourselves food, that we do not live by bread alone. We are completely dependent upon God, and we deliberately choose voluntary weakness. We become identifiably humble in the face of the problems with which we are dealing. We admit to each other, and primarily to God: only you can get us through this “mess.”

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September 18, 2014

Ken Loyer ~ Holy Communion: Celebrating God with Us, Part 1

The more Christians link Communion with spiritual formation and daily faith practice, the more likely the church will be invigorated and empowered to carry out its missional mandate to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Through the service of Communion, the church remembers and celebrates the presence of God with us.

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September 17, 2014

Elizabeth Glass Turner ~ Why I Love Being Wesleyan

For Wesleyans, the Bible matters, becoming more and more like Jesus Christ matters, the freedom to exercise the will matters, the means of grace matter, and people matter, from the least and the last to the prominent and powerful: it is full-orbed, Spirit-driven engagement with the Word of God and the world, soup and Scripture, Ebola medication and intercessory prayer.

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August 29, 2014

Jerry Walls ~ I Wish More Arminians were More Like Calvinists

In short, we need more Arminians with an edge. These are Arminians who understand that the claims of Calvinism and Arminianism are mutually exclusive, and they cannot both be right. They understand that there are important issues at stake and that there are large practical implications. Not the least of these is the very character and love of God. Does God truly love all persons, and do we have a gospel of good news for all persons?

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August 27, 2014

Andy Kinsey ~ To What End do We Serve?

In a letter to John Smith on June 25, 1746, John Wesley, in reflecting on the Methodist movement, wrote, “What is the end of all ecclesiastical order? Is it not to bring souls from the power of Satan to God? And to build them in his fear and love? Order, then, is so far valuable as it answers these ends; and if it answers them not it is worth nothing.”

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August 21, 2014

Maxie Dunnam ~ Repent But Do Not Whimper

The setting is ripe for revival. And the essential response to that possibility is for God’s people not to whimper. Acknowledge our sin, and repent, yes, but not whimper. Could it be that we are mistakenly centered on institutional unity, when a prior issue is crying for attention: unity in the Gospel. We can have institutional unity without revival, but we can’t have revival without Gospel unity that will come through repentance and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

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July 23, 2014

Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett ~ Cultivate: New in Christ – Luke 13:6-9

Here is the part that has surprised me. Guess where God has led me to start with this cultivation for renewal in our church and world? Not where I would like to begin. I wish it began with those persons who get on my nerves. (Most of us have a few such persons in our lives – just as we are usually that in the lives of one or two others!) But I have come to realize that cultivation for renewal does not start with “them.” It begins with me. Cultivation for renewal starts with you and me.

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July 19, 2014

Harley Scalf ~ The Dry Ground

Are you with us or against us? That’s a question/decision I feel I face nearly every day. I’m tired of choosing sides. Choosing a side moves me either left or right. I, for one, want to move forward on dry ground. It worked for God’s people long ago. Surely, it can work again.

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July 14, 2014

Bishop Ken Carter ~ Accountability Meditation – Luke 20

Is it alive? Does it glorify God? Does it produce an abundant harvest that blesses friend and stranger? Are we making new, younger, more diverse disciples of Jesus Christ? For the mainline church in the United States, and the United Methodist Church in particular, this is our primary task.

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July 5, 2014

Ken Loyer ~ Doctrine and Renewal (Part 2)

I believe that we will discover the most promising way forward through a deep retrieval of our doctrine and a comprehensive re-reception of it at every level of our church, especially in the local church since that is the most significant arena for making and growing disciples of Jesus Christ. This retrieval project will be a long and difficult one, but it is critical.

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July 3, 2014

Jack Jackson ~ Next Steps for Claremont School of Theology

I still believe that critical to that training in the 21st century is developing an awareness of, and relationships with, persons from other religious traditions. Learning from and sharing with persons from other religious traditions, some of whom are quite different and who may even have competing theological commitments, is necessary if our world is to survive, much less thrive in the next century. This hope of developing relationships with persons from other traditions that inspire trust, and an ability to collaborate on important projects, was part of the initial motivation behind CLU.

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June 11, 2014
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