- Entire Sanctification as Antidote to a Distortion of the Gospel of Jesus
Matt Judkins wrote a post a few weeks ago on the doctrine of entire sanctification. He makes a really good point: The doctrine of entire sanctification is often scrutinized in a way that few other things are. Matt presses back… Read more: Entire Sanctification as Antidote to a Distortion of the Gospel of Jesus - When New Creation Takes Root: How N. T. Wright and Wendell Berry Help Us Recover Spiritual Formation in a Fragmented Age
Across the Christian landscape, people are naming the same ache: life feels too fast, too loud, too fragmented. Churches are busy but thin. Leaders are exhausted. Communities feel unmoored. Beneath all the noise sits a deeper longing—a desire for a… Read more: When New Creation Takes Root: How N. T. Wright and Wendell Berry Help Us Recover Spiritual Formation in a Fragmented Age - What John Wesley Can Still Teach the Church, If We Listen
Origin stories have a profound impact on our identity and destiny. They explain who we are, where we come from, and sometimes what we need to claim or reclaim for ourselves and others. Genesis begins with several origin stories that… Read more: What John Wesley Can Still Teach the Church, If We Listen - Justices weigh whether courts can hear property disputes when church and denomination split
West Virginia Supreme Court justices considered the question of what happens when a local congregation wants to disaffiliate from its denomination but keep the church land, buildings and bank accounts. A major part of the legal battle is over whether… Read more: Justices weigh whether courts can hear property disputes when church and denomination split - Jackie Hill Perry: The Bible Never Even Implies That God Wants You to be Straight
In another promo video that we discovered for an LGBTQ curriculum that Preston Sprinkle is selling on his website, Jackie Hill Perry is arguing that nowhere at all in the 66 books of the Bible does God ever even imply… Read more: Jackie Hill Perry: The Bible Never Even Implies That God Wants You to be Straight - Exploring the Significance of the “Trust Clause”
The “trust clause” became a familiar, if sometimes confusing, concept for many during the period when disaffiliation was possible for United Methodist churches for reasons of conscience related to human sexuality policies. When that period ended on December 31, 2023,… Read more: Exploring the Significance of the “Trust Clause” - The Early Church on Abortion
Abortion is not only a great tragedy of our age, but also great evil. And this practice is not new, but an ancient practice. Today, many still justify the practice, even after admitting that it is murder. How did the… Read more: The Early Church on Abortion - Replacing Healthcare with Deathcare
MAiD means “Medical Assistance in Dying.” It is a euphemism for assisted suicide. I fact checked the claim in the post. The CDC recorded 15,364 gun homicides in the U.S. in 2024. In the same year, 16,499 people in Canada… Read more: Replacing Healthcare with Deathcare - What Happens at Communion?
I was teaching our new member class at Aldersgate on Sunday afternoon, when one of the 22 folks in the class asked me to explain why we share in Holy Communion every Sunday at every service. I love it when… Read more: What Happens at Communion? - West Virginia churches fight to keep properties in disaffiliation from United Methodist
West Virginia churches seeking to disaffiliate from the Methodist denomination over its stance on human sexuality are now in the state Supreme Court of Appeals to ensure they keep their church property in the process. - HPUMC sought to be ‘legally insulated’ from UMC strife
Changes made to the governing documents of Highland Park United Methodist Church in 2022 were to “ensure that if the church maintained its ecclesiastical connection with the UMC, it was legally insulated from the ecclesiastical and doctrinal strife within UMC,”… Read more: HPUMC sought to be ‘legally insulated’ from UMC strife - N. T. Wright vs. Other-Worldy Salvation
N. T. Wright is on a mission to disabuse the broader church of the notion that Christian hope is focused on going to heaven when you die. This, of course, is nothing new. Wright’s speaking and writing has for years… Read more: N. T. Wright vs. Other-Worldy Salvation - ‘She did not consent’: Family says Christian grandmother euthanized against her will
“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… Read more: ‘She did not consent’: Family says Christian grandmother euthanized against her will - Courage & Cowardice in this Moment
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,… Read more: Courage & Cowardice in this Moment - Women in Church Leadership with Preston Sprinkle (part 1 – corrected full episode)
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… Read more: Women in Church Leadership with Preston Sprinkle (part 1 – corrected full episode) - When God Meets His People
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,… Read more: When God Meets His People - The Beauty of Holiness: GMC General Conference | It’s Elementary Podcast Ep. 45
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… Read more: The Beauty of Holiness: GMC General Conference | It’s Elementary Podcast Ep. 45 - Baltimore-Washington Conference Files Suit To Uphold Wesley’s Trust Clause
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… Read more: Baltimore-Washington Conference Files Suit To Uphold Wesley’s Trust Clause - Asbury is first seminary to end federal loans after Trump cuts aid to low-paying college programs
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. - John Wesley’s Theology Pushed to Its Limits and Beyond: The Metaphysics of the Redeemed Self
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… Read more: John Wesley’s Theology Pushed to Its Limits and Beyond: The Metaphysics of the Redeemed Self - The Reversal: When Politics Starts Discipling the Church
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… Read more: The Reversal: When Politics Starts Discipling the Church - John Wesley on Degrees of Justification
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… Read more: John Wesley on Degrees of Justification - Christian Higher Ed and Title IV Funding
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.… Read more: Christian Higher Ed and Title IV Funding - Homosexual “Pastor” Says the Holy Spirit Told Him the Bible is Wrong About Homosexuality
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… Read more: Homosexual “Pastor” Says the Holy Spirit Told Him the Bible is Wrong About Homosexuality - We Might Better Be Quiet?
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… Read more: We Might Better Be Quiet?