Authentic Christianity in the Wesleyan Understanding

“Authentic Christianity, in the Wesleyan understanding, is a Christianity of radical transformation.  It has nothing to do with straightening out one’s life, cleaning up damaging addictions, or taking the moral high ground.  These will likely be some of the consequences of that transformation, but they are not the source of it.  Christ alone is that source. When people come to him in repentance and faith they enter a new relationship with God and a new life in Christ.”

 -Daniel L. Burnett, In the Shadow of Aldersgate: An Introduction to the Heritage and Faith of the Wesleyan Tradition, 2006  (quote found in Michael Pasquarello III’s John Wesley a Preaching Life, p. xiii)

Don’t Make Light of Reading the Old Testament

Don't make light of reading the Old Testament.  St. Paul did not! John Wesley did not!

Excerpt from John Wesley's sermon on "The Means of Grace" Sermon 12:

8. And that this is a means whereby God not only gives, but also confirms and increases, true wisdom, we learn from the words of St. Paul to Timothy: “From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 3:15.) The same truth (namely, that this is the great means God has ordained for conveying his manifold grace to man) is delivered, in the fullest manner that can be conceived, in the words which immediately follow: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God;” consequently, all Scripture is infallibly true; “and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;” to the end “that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17.) 

9. It should be observed, that this is spoken primarily and directly of the Scriptures which Timothy had known from a child; which must have been those of the Old Testament, for the New was not then wrote. how far then was St. Paul (though he was “not a whit behind the very chief of the Apostles,” nor, therefore, I presume, behind any man now upon earth) from making light of the old Testament! Behold this, lest ye one day “wonder and perish,” ye who make so small account of one half of the oracles of God! Yea, and that half of which the Holy Ghost expressly declares, that it is “profitable,” as a means ordained of God, for this very thing, “for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;” to the end, “the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

John Wesley's Mission Statement

“We look upon ourselves, not as the authors or ringleaders of a particular sect or party—it is the farthest thing from our thoughts—but as messengers of God, to those who are Christians in name but heathens in heart and life, to call them back to that from which they are fallen, to real, genuine Christianity.”

—John Wesley in A Preservative Against Unsettled Notions of Religion, (1758), quoted in John Wesley ed. By Albert C. Outler, Oxford University Press, 1964, p. 20

DC-Mentality As Seen by Lee Atwater

Lee Atwater (1951-1991), known as a brutal, consummate political strategist and hardball Republican National Committee chair, became a repentant believer and foe of “DC-mentality” before he died of brain cancer.  Before he died, he said, “I acquired more [wealth, power, and prestige] than most.  But you can acquire all you want, and still feel empty. It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. [The leaders of the ‘90s must] speak to the spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society. . . . What is missing in society is what was missing in me: a little heart.”

--from A Cup of Coffee at the Soul Café by Leonard Sweet, p. 19

Criticism of King James Version of Bible

When the King James Version of the Bible first appeared in 1611, a London cleric claimed that it “sounds like yesterday’s newspaper and denies the divinity and messiahship of Christ.”  Another chaplain accused the translators of pandering to King James’s interest in witchcraft, and when they sailed for the New World in 1620, the Pilgrims refused to carry the King James Version with them.

            

    –Leonard Sweet, A Cup of Coffee at the Soul Café, p. 8

The finished product did not lack for critics. Perhaps none was more forthright in his condemnation than Dr. Hugh Broughton, a skilled linguist himself who had been preparing his own revision for 30 years. When the new version appeared he replied with this colorful critique:

The late Bible was sent to me to censure which bred in me a sadness that will grieve me while I breathe, it is so ill done. Tell His Majesty that I had rather be rent in pieces with wild horses than any such translation by my consent should be urged upon poor churches . . . . The new edition crosseth me. I require it to be burnt (Nicolson, p. 228).

Since the translation process is not as exact a science as some would prefer; and because literally thousands of interpretive decisions go into the making of any translation or revision of the Bible; it is inevitable there are going to be sincere disagreements where human judgment plays a part. Still, Broughton's criticism seems incredibly harsh in light of the fact that he goes on to imply that the KJV "translators might be damned on the day of judgment for their work" (Benson Bobrick, Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired, p. 257).

  – Stephen Wiggins, “The Making of the King James Version”   http://grandoldbook.com/KJVinthemaking.pdf

Wasp Cut in Half

Reading Mr. Malcolm Muggeridge’s brilliant and depressing book, The Thirties, I thought of a rather cruel trick I once played on a wasp. He was sucking jam on my plate, and I cut him in half. He paid no attention, merely went on with his meal, while a tiny stream of jam trickled out of his severed esophagus. Only when he tried to fly away did he grasp the dreadful thing that had happened to him. It is the same with modern man. The thing that has been cut away is his soul, and there was a period — twenty years, perhaps — during which he did not notice it.

George Orwell, Time and Tide, 6 April 1940

Albert Outler Quote on Love

“We must stop telling ourselves and others that we MUST love one another, instead we must tell ourselves and others that we CAN love because we ARE loved.”

 --attributed to Albert Outler

Preach a Better Sermon with your Life

I used to go to a doctor who was obviously overweight and who smoked.  This doctor had heart trouble issues as well. When he would advise me on diet and exercise, I believed what he told me was medically accurate, but I wasn't inspired by any example he was setting. Under his care, I continued to increase in my weight.  Now I go to a different doctor who is slim and does not smoke. Since I've put myself in his care, I've been more inspired to lose weight and keep fit.  The example he has set has helped to motivate me.

That's why this testimony makes sense to me:

"Dr. Furr, a resident of Jackson, AL and the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church lay leader, incorporated a video presentation of his personal account of weight loss and transformation into leading a healthy lifestyle. Furr realized that when his wedding band no longer fit, it was time to make a change. Furr is a family practitioner physician in Jackson and explained that his patients were able to better follow his medical advice by him leading as an example. The video also showed his daily routine of work, family and exercise all blended in an appropriate fashion. He expressed in his address that, "Being or living a sermon is a whole different matter. A part of me had to die so the real me could live. I was desecrating the temple God has given me. I had to decide to BE a sermon." As God tells his followers our bodies are a temple, Furr said, "my personal temple was in disarray." At one point, Dr. Furr was 5'6", 236 pounds. He now proudly weighs in under 175 pounds. He concluded by saying that, "Jesus Christ is the best personal trainer ever."

Furr made a poignant statement in saying, "You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips." Rev. Rurel Ausley, a member of the Alabama-West Florida Conference delegation, commented on Dr. Furr's statement by saying, "Steve masterfully articulated his physical transformation into a spiritual parable for personal transformation in Christ. Inspiring and at times tearing up, Dr. Furr electrified the General Conference and made all of Alabama-West Florida burst with pride."

To see Dr. Furr's video testimony, click here. The full address is archived here. 

Article found here: http://www.awfumc.org/news/detail/756

Shall we go on sinning?

Quotation from James M. Boice:

We must never think that grace, wonderful as it is, either permits or encourages us to go on sinning . . . “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” asked Paul.  He answered, “By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”  (Rom. 6:1-2).

This is why the ending of the story of Jesus and the woman trapped in adultery is so important, though it is often overlooked.  [Having forgiven her, Jesus] added, “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  This always follows upon forgiveness . . . . If we are saved, we must stop sinning.

At the same time, we can be grateful that Jesus spoke as he did.  For we notice that he did not say, “Leave your life of sin, and I will not condemn you.”  If he had said that, what hope for us could there be?  Our problem is precisely that we do sin.  There could be no forgiveness if forgiveness was based upon our ceasing sin.  Instead of that, Jesus actually spoke in the reverse order.  First, he granted forgiveness freely, without any conceivable link to our performance.  Forgiveness is granted only on the merit of his atoning death.  But then, having forgiven us freely, Jesus tells us with equal force to stop sinning.

--James M. Boice,  Amazing Grace (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1993), 41-42.  Quoted by John MacArthur in The Vanishing Conscience, Appendix 1 “Gaining Victory over Sin—A Closer Look at Romans 6”

4-Year-Old Girl Only Survivor of Plane Crash

From Max Lucado, God’s Story, Your Story (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2011), 86.

On August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines flight 255 crashed after taking off from the Detroit airport, killing 155 people. The lone survivor was four-year-old Cecelia from Tempe, Arizona. Rescuers found her in such good condition that they wondered if she’d actually been on the flight. Perhaps she was riding in one of the cars into which the airplane crashed. But, no, her name was on the manifest.

While the exact nature of events may never be known, Cecelia’s survival may have been due to her mother’s quick response. Initial reports from the scene indicate that, as the plane was falling, her mother, Paula Cichan, unbuckled her own belt, got down on her knees in front of her daughter, and wrapped her arms and body around the girl. She separated her from the force of the fall . . . and the daughter survived. 15

God did the same for us. He wrapped himself around us and felt the full force of the fall. He took the unrelaxed punishment of the guilty. He died, not like a sinner, but as a sinner—in our place. “By a wonderful exchange our sins are now not ours but Christ’s, and Christ’s righteousness is not Christ’s but ours.”16

15. Cited in Bryan Chapell, The Promises of Grace: Living in the Grip of God’s Love (1992; repr., Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001), 142. Note: This report was disputed by some authorities.

16. Martin Luther, quoted in Donald G. Bloesch, Essentials of Evangelical Theology (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1978), 1:148.

Also see: AP article on New York Times

Getting into fights

They were married, but since the argument they had a few days earlier, they hadn't been talking to each other. Instead, they were giving each other written notes. One evening he gave her a paper where it said: "Wake me up tomorrow morning at 6 am." The next morning he woke up and saw that it was 9 o'clock. Naturally he got very angry, but as he turned around he found a note on his pillow saying: "Wake up, it's 6 o'clock!"