Reclaiming the Wesleyan Tradition

Reclaiming the Wesleyan Tradition PDF Author: Douglas M. Strong
Publisher: Upper Room Books
ISBN: 9780881775198
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Come back home to God! Salvation is a central theme in John Wesley's writings. Wesley urged people to become and continually grow as committed disciples of Jesus Christ. His appeals and reasoning are just as relevant today as they were in the 18th century. "Wesley's 'Way of Salvation' is a road map of the journey of humanity toward God," write the authors. "It's a pathway of grace in which we respond to God with increasing self-awareness of our separation and our need to come back home. Our aim is to help people understand and apply Wesley's teachings to their lives...and to transform them from being 'almost Christians' to being 'altogether Christians.'" The authors are passionate about returning to the roots of Methodist tenets of salvation. Covering biblically based doctrinal topics such as sin, grace, justification, sanctification, and ethical living, Reclaiming the Wesleyan Tradition explains Wesleyan theology in an easy-to-understand way. The book's format makes this 13-week study especially accessible. Margin notes highlight excerpts from Wesley's sermons, hymns, and journal with the authors providing context and analysis of the themes. Daily reading and writing assignments are designed to open theological discussions and to deepen spiritual growth. Wesley's words can reshape your daily walk with God. Expect to be spiritually awakened and brought into a deeper communion with God while celebrating a powerful legacy.

Reclaiming the Wesleyan Tradition

Reclaiming the Wesleyan Tradition PDF Author: Douglas M. Strong
Publisher: Upper Room Books
ISBN: 9780881775198
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Come back home to God! Salvation is a central theme in John Wesley's writings. Wesley urged people to become and continually grow as committed disciples of Jesus Christ. His appeals and reasoning are just as relevant today as they were in the 18th century. "Wesley's 'Way of Salvation' is a road map of the journey of humanity toward God," write the authors. "It's a pathway of grace in which we respond to God with increasing self-awareness of our separation and our need to come back home. Our aim is to help people understand and apply Wesley's teachings to their lives...and to transform them from being 'almost Christians' to being 'altogether Christians.'" The authors are passionate about returning to the roots of Methodist tenets of salvation. Covering biblically based doctrinal topics such as sin, grace, justification, sanctification, and ethical living, Reclaiming the Wesleyan Tradition explains Wesleyan theology in an easy-to-understand way. The book's format makes this 13-week study especially accessible. Margin notes highlight excerpts from Wesley's sermons, hymns, and journal with the authors providing context and analysis of the themes. Daily reading and writing assignments are designed to open theological discussions and to deepen spiritual growth. Wesley's words can reshape your daily walk with God. Expect to be spiritually awakened and brought into a deeper communion with God while celebrating a powerful legacy.

Devotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition

Devotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition PDF Author: Steve Harper
Publisher: Upper Room Books
ISBN: 0835816001
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description
This workbook describes major features in John Wesley's devotional life, and it illustrates how you can apply his ministry to your own life. Structured around Wesley’s "Means of Grace," the 7-week study covers prayer, scripture, the Lord’s Supper, fasting, Christian conferencing, and providential means of grace. Developed for individual or group study, the workbook also offers suggestions for organizing an initial group meeting and developing a successful group study. Also available in Spanish as La Vida de Devoción en la Tradición Wesleyana.

The Class Meeting

The Class Meeting PDF Author: Kevin M. Watson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781628240580
Category : Methodists
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description


Reclaiming Rural

Reclaiming Rural PDF Author: Allen T. Stanton
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538135256
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 137

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Book Description
As rural America continues to undergo massive economic and demographic shifts, rural churches are uniquely positioned to provide community leadership. Leading a rural congregation requires a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing these communities, as well as a strong theological and community-focused identity. Allen T. Stanton describes how in establishing this identity, rural leaders build a meaningful and vital ministry. Reclaiming Rural explores the myths and realities of rural places, and how those common narratives impact the leadership of rural churches. Ultimately, rural congregations must practice a contextual understanding of vitality, which understands both the strengths and challenges of leading in a rural setting. Arguing for a practice of evangelism imbued with this mission of vitality, Reclaiming Rural promotes the church as a leader in economic and community development, modeled upon a Wesleyan theology of grace. Acknowledging the many challenges facing rural churches, this book is an energetic and encouraging guide to overcoming social and economic obstacles to build a thriving congregation.

A Blueprint for Discipleship

A Blueprint for Discipleship PDF Author: Kevin M. Watson
Publisher: Discipleship Resources
ISBN: 9780881775563
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Do no harm. Do good. Practice the spiritual disciplines. Watch over one another in love. --John Wesley's General Rules Why is this so hard? Does being a part of the Wesleyan tradition make any difference in living out your faith? Does Methodism offer guidance as we look to the future and seek renewal? Methodist Christians sometimes exhibit the most unchristian attitudes and behavior. People notice. And it's reflecting badly on the church, but we can--individually and collectively--correct the problem. Allow God to enter more deeply into your life until it's hard to tell where you end and God begins. "Most American Christians are struggling to practice their faith," Watson writes. "...Methodists can hold on and try not to let our tradition die, but mere survival is not God's deepest desire for us or the church. Instead, we must choose to live by stubbornly depending on God's Spirit, allowing our lives to give witness to who Christ is." A Blueprint for Discipleship offers a practical approach to Christian discipleship that's distinctly Wesleyan. Watson addresses the overwhelming desire of many Methodist Christians who want a more meaningful relationship with God but aren't sure how to start. Reawaken to the power and vitality of your spiritual heritage. Repent of apathy and spiritual complacency to reclaim, in the words of Wesley, "the form and power of godliness."

A Living Tradition

A Living Tradition PDF Author: Dr. Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore
Publisher: Kingswood Books
ISBN: 1426766491
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
This book engages in a critical recovery and reconstruction of the Wesleyan theological legacy in relation to current theological concepts and Christian practices with the intent to present opportunities for future directions. The contributors address urgent questions from the contexts in which people now live, particularly questions regarding social holiness and Christian practices. To that end, the authors focus on historical figures (John Wesley, Susanna Wesley, Harry Hoosier and Richard Allen); historical developments (such as the ways in which African Americans appropriated Methodism); and theological themes (such as holistic healing, work and vocation, and prophetic grace). The purpose is not to provide a comprehensive historical and theological coverage of the tradition, but to exemplify approaches to historical recovery and reconstruction that follow appropriately the mentorship of John Wesley and the living tradition that has emerged from his witness. Contributors: W. Stephen Gunter, Richard P. Heitzenrater, Diane Leclerc, William B. McClain, Randy L. Maddox, Rebekah L. Miles, Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore, Amy G. Oden, and Elaine A. Robinson.

Pursuing Social Holiness

Pursuing Social Holiness PDF Author: Kevin M. Watson
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199336369
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
Kevin M. Watson offers the first in-depth examination of an essential early Methodist tradition: the band meeting, a small group of five to seven people who focused on the confession of sin in order to grow in holiness. Watson shows how the band meeting, which figured significantly in John Wesley's theology of discipleship, united Wesley's emphasis on the importance of holiness with his conviction that Christians are most likely to make progress in the Christian life together, rather than in isolation. Demonstrating that neither John Wesley's theology nor popular Methodism can be understood independent of each other, Watson explores how Wesley synthesized important aspects of Anglican piety (an emphasis on a disciplined practice of the means of grace) and Moravian piety (an emphasis on an experience of justification by faith and the witness of the Spirit) in his own version of the band meeting. Pursuing Social Holiness is an essential contribution to understanding the critical role of the band meeting in the development of British Methodism and shifting concepts of community in eighteenth-century British society.

Retrieving the Tradition and Renewing Evangelicalism

Retrieving the Tradition and Renewing Evangelicalism PDF Author: Daniel H. Williams
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802846686
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
A learned and uniquely constructive book that gently urges "suspicious" Christians to reclaim the patristic roots of their faith. This is the first book of its kind meant to help Protestant Christians recognize the early church fathers as an essential part of their faith. Writing primarily to the evangelical, independent, and free church communities, who remain largely suspicious of church history and the relationship between Scripture and tradition, D. H. Williams clearly explains why every branch of today's church owes its heritage to the doctrinal foundation laid by postapostolic Christianity. Based on solid historical scholarship, this volume shows that embracing the "catholic" roots of the faith will not lead to the loss of Protestant distinctiveness but is essential for preserving the Christian vision in our rapidly changing world.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

A New Heaven and a New Earth PDF Author: J. Richard Middleton
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1441241388
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
In recent years, more and more Christians have come to appreciate the Bible's teaching that the ultimate blessed hope for the believer is not an otherworldly heaven; instead, it is full-bodied participation in a new heaven and a new earth brought into fullness through the coming of God's kingdom. Drawing on the full sweep of the biblical narrative, J. Richard Middleton unpacks key Old Testament and New Testament texts to make a case for the new earth as the appropriate Christian hope. He suggests its ethical and ecclesial implications, exploring the difference a holistic eschatology can make for living in a broken world.

Longing for Spring

Longing for Spring PDF Author: Elaine A. Heath
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 155635519X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 119

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Book Description
Delving into the widespread, contemporary longing for a more serious and communal experience of Christianity, this book provides important theoretical underpinnings and casts a vision for a new monasticism within the Wesleyan tradition. Elaine Heath and Scott Kisker call for the planting of neo-monastic churches which embody the Wesleyan vision of holiness in postmodern contexts. This book also points toward some vital shifts that are necessary in theological education in order to equip pastors to lead such communities. Longing for Spring helps Wesleyans of all stripes understand the theory and praxis necessary for planting neo-monastic communities as a new model of the church that is particularly important in the postmodern context. The authors write in an engaging, conversational style that is conversant with postmodern culture, yet thoroughly informed by critical research. Heath and Kisker boldly challenge the imagination of the church, both within and beyond Wesleyan traditions, to consider the possibility of revitalizing the church through the new monasticism.