Tag: Advent

Wanting More (a reading challenge starting with Advent)

If you would like a reading challenge, I would suggest getting acquainted with John Wesley’s sermons.  These sermons are a part of our doctrine and have the power to inspire and guide us into a new season of faithfulness – as individuals and as a church. 

With this motivation, I suggest this series that starts with Advent and goes through the liturgical year.  In each chapter there is a paraphrase of one of Wesley’s Sermons, a devotion on the same theme, and resources for reflection.  In terms of scholarship, one thing that makes this series attractive is the way Wesley’s sermons have been rearranged to fit within our regular liturgical rhythms.  We can truly go through the year with Wesley in a way that connects us to worship and to the seasons of our lives.

The journey starts with Wanting More: Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Inspired by the Teachings of John Wesley.  The next book, Awakening Through Wilderness takes us through Lent, Easter, and up to Pentecost.  The third book – Radically Blessed – takes us through the sermon on the mount.  And a fourth book will be coming out for the Fall focusing on practical divinity. The title will be Heart to Holiness. 

As we move into a new season of faithfulness and hopefully fruitfulness, spending some time in our roots and history may be an important key.  I believe this is true. 

Give it a try.  There is a sample of the first book on Kindle.  Or it can be purchased through Market Square Books, Cokesbury, or Amazon/Kindle. I pray that this will be challenging, inspiring, and will help you and all of us bear good fruit into a new season. 

Awakening Through Wilderness (a devotional possibility for you and for UMCs)

No doubt we are moving into a new season in the life of the church.  In order to navigate this reality, I am convinced that we need to look into our past as much as we look towards the future.  Or maybe a better image is the need to attend to our roots in order to branch out and bear good fruit. 

With this motivation I, along with Lauran DeLano Grosskopf, have written a series of books where each chapter contains a paraphrase of one of Wesley’s sermons, a devotion on the same theme, and resources for reflection.  With this series, Wesley’s sermons have been rearranged to fit within the liturgical year, thus connecting them to our weekly rhythms.  My hope is that these resources will help us reacquaint ourselves with inspiration from our past and lead us to good fruit as we move into a new season as United Methodists. This would be a good way to go through the year with Wesley.

Below is a brief description of the latest book from the publisher. Within the book there are testimonies from Paul Chilcote, Ashley Boggan, Bishop Deloras Williamston, Ken Willard, Adam Hamilton, Bishop Laura Merrill, Rebekah Miles, and more.

  “Awakening Through Wilderness invites readers on a transformative journey through Lent, Easter, and Pentecost, exploring timeless truths through the voice and vision of John Wesley. This third installment in this acclaimed series builds on previous works, Wanting More and Radically Blessed, continuing the mission to make Wesley’s foundational teachings accessible and deeply relevant for today’s church.

 In this book, each chapter offers a devotional paraphrase of one of Wesley’s classic sermons, followed by a modern devotion and practical questions for reflection. Each chapter masterfully connects Wesley’s original passion for renewal and reform with the liturgical rhythms of the church year, guiding readers through themes of fasting, self-denial, temptation, grace, and resurrection.

 The wilderness becomes a powerful metaphor for life’s trials, doubts, and spiritual dry seasons-those times when God seems distant and faith is tested. Through Wesley’s insights and pastoral reflections from Michael and Lauren, readers discover that the wilderness is not merely a place of hardship but also a space for awakening, transformation, and renewed purpose.

 Whether read individually or used in a group study setting, Awakening Through Wilderness offers a clear, engaging path for spiritual growth. Each chapter’s discussion questions and reflection resources make it ideal for small groups, Bible studies, or personal devotion, especially during Lent.

 The books in this series are written with warmth and clarity, drawing on deep knowledge of Wesleyan theology and a pastoral heart for today’s church. Throughout we are reminded that “God’s love comes to us on its way to others,” inspiring readers to grow in grace and to live out their faith with courage and compassion.

    You are invited to step into the wilderness and emerge awakened to the transforming power of God’s love.”

These books are available through Market Square Books, Cokesbury, and Amazon/Kindle. I would be honored if you would take a look (you can get a sample through kindle) and if you feel so led, share these resources with others.  If you would like to talk about this, please know that I would love to have that conversation.  Many Blessings!

Breaking Bubbles

img_0515A couple of weeks ago, our church received a call from a person doing grad school research on how people of different opinions interact or fail to interact with one another. Her research focused on the information bubbles that we can all too easily get trapped in.  We watch news that caters to our opinions.  And if we use the internet or social media for information, then over time, computer algorithms figure out what we want to hear and then feed us with that information. If we are not careful, we can easily get trapped in our own, personalized, information bubble and begin to see that as reality.

Now, why did this researcher call us?  She called because, at a conference in New York City, she got into a conversation with someone who grew up in our church and who had suggested to her that, at least in his experience, FUMC in Conway, Arkansas was a place where he could break through these bubbles and connect with others in a spirit of respect and love.  It was a place where his perspective grew through interactions with others.  He shared this story and she was intrigued.  She was in search of places where connections were being made in the midst of a world that pushes us all into our own individual information bubbles.  Now, she was considering at least some churches as places where this might happen.

As we encounter him during worship this Advent season, John the Baptist calls us to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” In the Greek, the word is metanoia – meta meaning “beyond” and noia meaning “to know.”  Repentance is to know or perceive from a perspective above our current perspective.  It means to allow our minds to be changed or transformed by a higher perspective. It is the key to being able to see and experience the kingdom of heaven that is right before us, if only we are willing to look up.

Building on the story above, we might say that repentance happens when we engage others in a spirit of respect and love and through these encounters begin to see life from a higher perspective – bigger than ourselves and our own opinions.  As a possible exercise, think of an issue where you have a strong opinion but you know faithful Christians who have a different opinion.  Then spend time understanding this other perspective, perhaps even making a case of it in your own mind.  If this doesn’t alter your opinion, the hope is that it will alter your appreciation for the other. As we seek to understand, rather than just defend our positions and demonize others, that’s when we begin to see Jesus in our midst and God’s kingdom at work. That’s when we get a glimpse of true love – love that is patient and kind, never insisting on its own way, always seeking what is good for the other and how we might honor them.  We can’t do that if are stuck in our own bubble.

These thoughts will be part of my sermon this Sunday, which is a Communion Sunday. It struck me how this holy act invites us to literally change our perspective.  We get up, come to the Altar, with hands held open, ready to receive Christ into our being.  As we bow down and receive we are also lifted into a higher vision. Even as we pray, God pours out the Holy Spirit upon us.  We become One with Christ, One with each other, and One in ministry to all the world. And then, with the strength given, we go out into the world to live this mystery of faith.

During this season, we are invited to move into this higher vision, even with our posture and posturing. We are invited to move from arms crossed to open hands.  We are invited to move from looking down at our screens to looking up into the eyes of others.  As we do this, may we truly enter the kingdom of heaven which is right before us, in our very midst.