Katie Long |
July 16, 2019 |
Blog Resources WPH
Mike Hilson has always loved writing. As his church, New Life Church in La Plata, Maryland, continued to grow, his desire to connect people with Scripture on a personal level collided with his love to write. By writing the Coffee with the Pastor series (books focusing...
Ashley Jennings |
July 11, 2019 |
Blog Border Stories Voices
I boarded a plane to El Paso late on a Sunday evening. The flight would only last an hour, and so I settled down in the middle seat between two young women. Both women appeared to be about the same age and race, both friendly as I squeezed through with my big camera...
Ron McClung |
July 10, 2019 |
Blog Inspiration
Ceramic floor tile is very unforgiving. Trying to find something in our pantry the other day, my wife nudged the spaghetti sauce just a little too far, and off the shelf it tumbled. The glass jar hit the tile and burst open, sending glass shards and bright red sauce...
Kelly Yonce |
July 10, 2019 |
Blog Voices
Learn more About Voices Blogs My three-year-old’s hands are always sticky. It’s typically snack related, but I also have a theory that she is biologically predisposed to sweat a jam-like substance from her palms. One can never be certain. When she wants my...
Anita Eastlack |
July 9, 2019 |
Anita Eastlack Blog CMAD
A primary role of The Wesleyan Church Division of Church Multiplication and Discipleship (CMAD) is resourcing. Most of the best resources and practices for ministry are constantly being created in a number of local churches where they are born out of real needs and...
Anita Eastlack |
July 9, 2019 |
Anita Eastlack Blog CMAD
My friend, Josmar, shared that she took offense when someone told her that she is a leader. “I’m not a dictator!” she replied. We agreed that the word “leader” brings a variety of reactions, depending on your definition. There is no...
Anita Eastlack |
July 9, 2019 |
Anita Eastlack Blog CMAD
Spirit-filled Leader My journey with Jesus and his still small voice has fine-tuned my definition to include “joyful surrender” and “courageous influence.” It’s not enough to surrender. It can mistakenly have residues of martyrdom,...
Anita Eastlack |
July 9, 2019 |
Anita Eastlack Blog CMAD
Why do you do the things you do and who do you do them for? That was a children’s video theme song when our two oldest children, Aaron and Bethany, were little. I don’t know if they think about it now that they are adults, but that song is often in my head. “Why do I...
Dr. Virginia Holeman |
July 2, 2019 |
Blog Education & Clergy Development Thrive in 5 Thriving Clergy
Self-justification Do you own a yahbut? No, this is not a new designer-dog breed. It is a common mutt. Self-justification is a common human tendency. Psychology refers to the “yahbut” as self-justification. Think: “Yeah, but...
Luska Natali |
June 20, 2019 |
Blog Voices
Learn more About Voices Blogs The first recollection I have of watching how an immigrant was treated dates back to my teenage years in my native Brazil. A woman looking very distraught and dismayed entered our home, carrying a small suitcase and speaking to my...
Dr. Toddy Holeman |
June 18, 2019 |
Blog Education & Clergy Development Thrive in 5
Contempt is the corrosive acid in any relationship. Relationship experts, John and Julie Gottman, define contempt as verbal (e.g., name calling) and non-verbal communication (e.g., rolling your eyes at something your conversation partner says) that says, “You...
Jessica White |
June 17, 2019 |
Blog Education & Clergy Development
Americans are ranked as the loneliest people in the world. National surveys show the United States is in a loneliness epidemic. Despite being more connected through the internet, cell phones and social networking, loneliness is a real problem that can foster...
Lexa Ennis |
June 12, 2019 |
Blog Voices
Learn more About Voices Blogs “Christ’s identification with suffering becomes the hiddenness of God’s glory, and among the marginalized we experience the presence and power of God to redeem.” (Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of...
Linda Gist |
June 6, 2019 |
Blog Education & Clergy Development Thrive in 5
Thrive in 5 – Spiritual “What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us … Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, ‘What comes into your mind when you think about God?’ we might predict with...
Bob Black |
June 4, 2019 |
Blog Teaching
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Tim. 1:17) “Why do I have to study theology?” a seminary student complained. “It’s not like I’m going to use it in my ministry.” He wasn’t kidding. Theology is...
Sarah Linder |
June 4, 2019 |
Blog Education & Clergy Development
“Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) has been my spiritual and intellectual home,” said Cassie Olson, a new IWU philosophy and theology graduate. Olson was introduced to IWU by a spiritual mentor who saw potential in her and began helping her prepare for college. Olson...
Kay Holm |
June 3, 2019 |
Blog Inspiration
Growing up in the 1950s was a unique experience in itself. Add to that growing up in a large, rambunctious pastor’s family, in a three-story bright yellow home on Main Street, smack in the middle of a small town in Washington State, and you’ve got memories. Those days...
Jessica Sheets |
May 29, 2019 |
Pastor Spouse Connection
“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” ~ C. S. Lewis I am an extrovert. I like being around people and I thrive on conversations. I’ve been accused of smiling too much and,...
Marietta Williams |
May 29, 2019 |
Pastor Spouse Connection
Imagine an ultrasound picture of a precious baby. Or better yet, imagine holding that child in your hand while reading this Psalm (139): 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and...
Beth Cossin |
May 29, 2019 |
Border Stories Voices
In a recent trip to the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez border, I had the opportunity to sit with a lovely indigenous woman who has been a doctor serving faithfully in the Anapra region of Mexico for decades. Doctora Mendoza is not only caring for people in a very poor town but...
Joshua McNall |
May 29, 2019 |
Blog Voices
Learn more About Voices Blogs Occasionally, while grading papers or doing some menial office task, I will play live worship music via YouTube. I rarely watch the videos, but when I do I am sometimes struck by a strange observation. In a few of these famous churches,...
Sarah Linder |
May 29, 2019 |
Blog Education & Clergy Development
Photo credit: Bailey Karfelt, Houghton class of 2012 A textbook introvert who likes to throw out the textbook every once in a while just to see what happens, Laura grew up in Buffalo, New York, where she learned valuable life skills like how to clear a snowy driveway...
Josh Ratliff |
May 23, 2019 |
Blog Voices
Learn more About Voices Blogs The theme of racial reconciliation in the church has perhaps never been more popular than it is today. I am grateful for the many pastors who use the pulpit to decry racism and call for the unity of God’s people of every ethnicity....
Kim Gladden |
May 23, 2019 |
Blog CMAD Discipleship
Guest pastors Alejandro (Alex) Sicilia, Senda de Vida and Beau Hamner, College Wesleyan Church Hitting the wall before breaking open for what God wanted to do How discipleship became the focal point Lessons to be extrapolated for the North American church Amplify...
