Omnia Methodist Posts

“I don’t want the death shot.” Those were reportedly the words of 83-year-old Brigitte Stegemann, a Christian grandmother in Ontario, Canada, who repeatedly resisted medically assisted dying before her death in July. Now, her granddaughter is demanding answers, alleging that Stegemann was forced to undergo medical assistance in dying (MAiD) despite repeatedly declaring that she […]

I try to read the Firebrand Magazine articles when they come out. Firebrand was an exciting alternative to other Methodist digital platforms like Ministry Matters when it first came out. It continues to be a source of good Wesleyan thought, sampling the foremost thinkers of our present theological family.

Should women lead churches? What does the Bible actually say about women in positions of church leadership—and are we asking the right questions when we approach the debate? In Part 1 of my conversation with Preston Sprinkle, we discuss his new book From Genesis to Junia: An Honest Search for What the Bible Really Says […]

The CBS television interviewer, Dan Rather, once asked Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “When you pray, what do you say to God?” Teresa replied, “I don’t say anything, I listen.” Rather pressed further: “Well okay, when God speaks to you, then, what does he say?” Teresa answered, “He doesn’t say anything. He listens. And if you […]

What happened at the 2026 General Conference of the Global Methodist Church? And what does it reveal about the future of Methodism around the world? In this episode of It’s Elementary, Dr. David Watson and Dr. Jessica LaGrone reflect on their experience at the Global Methodist Church (GMC) General Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. Just […]

Dear Clergy and Laity of the Baltimore-Washington & Peninsula-Delaware Area: I greet you in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. It is with regret, but also with resolve, that I write to inform you that the Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church has filed a lawsuit in the United […]

Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky has become the first confirmed collegiate ministry program to phase out federal student loans after the Trump administration cut aid for low-paying degree programs.

The subject before us is the theology of John Wesley. But the question I want to ask this morning is not simply, what did Wesley teach? It is a bit more searching than that. I want to ask: what kind of human self is brought into being by the transforming, redemptive graces of God?

There is a song in the musical Hamilton called “The Room Where It Happens.” It is about power, about who gets to sit at the table where decisions are made. I think about that song often because, in a very real sense, I am often in the room where it happens. I have served as […]

In 1768 John Wesley wrote to Jane March and told her that there are “innumerable degrees, both in a justified and a sanctified state, more than is possible for us exactly to define.” I begin with some background before explaining Wesley’s five basic degrees of justification: the responsive unregenerate, sacramental justification, the faith of a […]

Asbury Theological Seminary, where I serve as President, recently announced its intention to withdraw from Title IV funding. This means our students will not receive federal student loans, participate in federal work-study programs, or receive grants from the federal government. Much of the U.S. higher education system is tied to Title IV funding. For Christian […]

Brandan Robertson has been in the headlines quite a bit in the last year or so as he is an openly homosexual, self-described “pastor” who opposed traditional, biblical theology while installing himself as a biblical scholar and theologian. Robertson is an advocate for sexual immorality and teaches that premarital sex is “good” and “healthy.” Of […]

In the lead up to General Conference, I hosted a series of panels on various topics pertaining to the Global Methodist Church. One of those panels was on the topic of the global nature of our connection. I had two guests help my audience think through the different considerations in assessing whether or not the […]

In the early first century, in Antioch, they gave us the name “Christians.” This name, likely coined satirically due to its connotation with slavery, Χριστιανός, or “those belonging to the Christ,” was received gladly by our earliest church family. After all, what better way to describe those who were committed to following The Way1 as […]

Perhaps you’ve had the experience. At some point in the past, you met Jesus. You were forgiven. You were reconciled. You were loved. And for some time you walked in the joy of your newfound faith in Christ. There was an awareness of God’s nearness—an abiding experience of newness of life. You experienced the assurance […]

What should the study of apologetics produce in the life of a Christian? This on its own does not sound like an interesting question. The obvious answer is likely—knowledge. We want Christians to know why the Gospels can be trusted, why the Resurrection belongs to history and not mythology, why belief in God remains intellectually […]