History of the Church: What Do Methodists Believe?

Hey everyone! So as some of you may or may not know, I am not only Methodist but after I graduate I plan on going to seminary to become a Methodist pastor. So I thought I’d do today’s post on asking; what exactly does that mean? What do Methodists believe?

According the United Methodists Church’s official website two things are needed for Christian life, faith and theology. I have to admit; I absolutely love how they word their definition of faith. “Faith-as-belief is active; it involves trusting, believe, following, hoping.” Theology, they say, is something that every individual should reflect on, not just the clergy.

This year, instead of a New Years Resolution, I picked one word for the whole year and every day I reflect on a Bible verse about that single word and I write about it in a journal. My word was faith. I did it because I wanted to live intentionally toward something good. I defined faith as confidence of trust in God, belief based on truth not proof and loyalty.

Through this exercise, so far I have learned about a fellowship, being small, patience, peace, righteousness, grace, action, death, and glory. My favorite echoes a little what the United Methodist Church’s Website meant when they said “Faith-as-belief is active”. Faith is a verb.

“So you see that Abrahams faith and the things he did worked together. He faith was made perfect by what he did.”

James 2:22

Perfect faith. Isn’t that what I’m striving for? His faith was made perfect by what he did. Faith is a verb. You do faith. Your noun faith grows when you do verb faith. Want confidence in God? Do something that forces you to trust him. Want belief without proof? Learn. Understand. Get to know the one you want to believe in. Want a loyalty in you that you never had before? Don’t leave his presence. You’ll be so busy worshipping the Lord who made you that you won’t have time to look for distractions. You want faith? Then do faith.

Now notice something; and I didn’t do this on purpose, I honestly didn’t even notice it until I looked over it again. How many of those verb faiths included reflecting on the theology? Reflecting on scripture? You want something dangerous and hard that will force you to trust God? Something life threatening and daring? Turn of the TV, put down your work, make the laundry wait until after. Read your Bible. I know it’s scary! The entire world may fall apart around you if you don’t get everything done! That’s why it builds confidence, that’s why it builds trust. The best way to believe in something is the understand it. And the best way to be loyal to someone is to know him. God wants to know you, personally and intimately. He loves you so much, words cannot describe.

That’s what Methodists believe. They believe in faith and theology. There is more, and throughout our time I will be getting to more, but that is what is at the main core.

Your Turn! What's one way that you can make your faith a verb, and use it to build your theology? Post it in the comments and then go do it!

Studying the Bible; Specifically Looking Into Acts

            This week we’re going to be talking about the book of Acts. Luke wrote the book of Acts. Now, despite common beliefs, (and by common beliefs I mean my own misconception) Luke was not one of the twelve disciples. He was the author of the Gospel of Luke. He’s mostly known as the non-Jewish doctor who was with Paul when Paul wrote many of his letters that are in the Bible. He is mentioned in Colossians 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:11 and Philemon 1:24. The approximate date that Luke wrote his contribution to the Bible is around the same time that Paul wrote his.

            Luke is not mentioned much in the Bible; instead he lets his writings speak for themselves. Acts has popularly been split into 3 categories; the Gospel in Jerusalem, the Gospel in Judea and Samaria, and the Gospel in the Non-Jewish World. In these three categories he talks about what the model church should look like, he introduces the Holy Spirit, and he makes a point about how we are supposed to include everyone.

“Our task is not to invent unity, but to acknowledge it… And then we Christians wouldn’t be known for what divides us; instead we’d be known for what unites us- common Father”

A Gentle Thunder Max Lucado

         When Luke shows us in the book of Acts the beginning church, he shows a group of Christians who are radical in their generosity, unity and love. The verses say time and time again how the disciples gave each other everything and shared without holding back. They acted like what they owned belonged to everyone because they knew it wasn’t them who owned it. It was God. So they gave freely. They all lived in unity, because instead of focusing on their differences, they focus on the one thing that they had in common. The one thing that mattered. Their love for Jesus Christ. They loved fiercely. They loved one another just as Jesus taught them too; just as Jesus loved them.

 “The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit”

Acts 13:52

            Acts is where we hear the story of the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-14).  When they receive the Holy Spirit, they realize the power that comes with it. Through the Holy Spirit we receive God’s love (Romans 5:5), and how we can give to others God’s love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-13). We need the Holy Spirit in our lives because the Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity. But so often, we focus more on God the Father and Jesus Christ.

“God accepts anyone who worships him and does what is right”

Acts 10:35

           In Acts, Luke tells us that we are not to be elitists that exclude anyone different from us. Because with God, anything is possible, anyone can change their hearts and lives and that’s all it takes for their sins to be forgiven. If God can forgive their sins, then so should we. It’s not our role to judge. We may have opinions, but we are to never pass the verdict. We’re not all that different from anyone else. Not in God’s eyes. We were all made in his image, and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

 “Whether it is a short or a long time, I pray to God that not only you but every person listening to me today would be saved and be like me.”

Acts 26:29

            I agree with Luke. I pray that I, and everyone else, can learn to be like the people in the book of Acts. That we can learn to be generous, unified, loving, filling with the Holy Spirit, and all-inclusive. If I know anything, though, I know this; we cannot do it alone. We need our Savior.

            Thanks everyone for reading again! Make sure you subscribe to get an e-mail when I post so you don’t miss out! Also, for the comments, what is one way that you can take something from Acts and use it to let God work on your life? Always great to hear from you guys! Thanks again and God Bless!

Finding God In Secular Things- Phillip Phillips "Home"

A lot of times, people think the only place you can hear God’s voice is in church, or Christian events, or Christian books, or Christian music. God is not that limited. He can speak through secular things as well. In order to prove my point this week’s post is about how God spoke to me through Home by Philip Philips. First the song verse (S:), then my interpretation (I:)followed by a (B:)bible verse.

S: Hold on, to me as we go

I: God wants us to cling to Him as we go through life. He wants to be in constant fellowship with his children.

B:1 Thessalonians 5:21 “hold on to what is good.”

S: As we roll down this unfamiliar road

I: Life is full of unknowns for us, and it can be scary, but we can find comfort in that fact that this road is not unfamiliar to the one who made it, and he’s walking down this road right beside you every step of the way in case you fall.

B: Psalm 23:4 “even if I walk through a very dark valley… you are with me”

S: And although this wave is stringing us along

I: Trials and heartache can make every second feel like an eternity.

B:1 Corinthians 15:30 “why also do we endure trails every hour?”

S: Just know you’re not alone

I: But, God is with us. We’re not alone.

B: Matthew 1:23 “They will name him Immanuel. (Immanuel means “God with us”)

S: Cause I’m going to make this place your home

I: This is all in His plan and if we ever need to go home all we have to do is go to Him.

B: 2 Corinthians 5:8 “So I say that we have courage. We really want to be away from this body and be at home with the Lord"

S: Settle down, it’ll all be clear

I: It’s said countless times in the Bible; Do not be afraid.

B: Matthew 17:7 “Do not be afraid”

S: Don’t pay no mind to the demons

I: Our God is stronger than them, and he will fight the battle for us.

B: Mark 1:34 “[Jesus] forced many demons to leave people”

S: They fill you with fear

I: If we don’t let him fight it for us, we will surely lose.

B: Job 3:25 “everything I feared and dreaded has happened to me”

S: The trouble it might drag you down

I: We can get so caught up in all of life’s messy inconveniences.

B: Job 3:26 “I have no peace or quietness. I have no rest, only trouble.”

S: If you get lost you can always be found

I: But all we have to do to find our way back to look back to Him.

B: Luke 15:9 “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin”

S: Just know you’re not alone

I: Because he will always be there.

B: Joshua 1:9 “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go”

S: Cause I’m going to make this place your home

I: And he has a place prepared for you. You weren’t made for this life. Earth is not your home. Heaven is.

B: John 14:3 “After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am”

S: Settle down, it’ll all be clear

I: So don’t be afraid.

B: Romans 15:33 “The God of peace be with you all. Amen.”

S: Don’t pay no mind to the demons they fill you with fear

I: When we’re scared,

B: 1 Corinthians 2:3 “I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling”

S: The trouble it might drag you down

I: Full of hurt,
B: 1 Peter 1:6 “though no for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials”

S: If you get lost , you can always be found

I: And lost your way,

B: Luke 15:32 “We had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

S: Just know you’re not alone

I: You don’t have to face it alone.

B: Matthew 28:20 “Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.”

S: Cause I’m going to make this place your home.

I: And you can find your way back home.

B: John 14:23 “Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

            This song is part of Billboard’s top one hundred. Most people would think of it as secular. I, however, think that God likes to use what would surprise us the most to communicate with us. Jesus was called the Word. God communicated with us with the Word. With Jesus. He surprised everyone when he did too. Using a virgin girl, about to married to a carpenter, to give birth to a baby in a manager. Then even when Jesus grew up, he wasn’t a political figure or war hero. He spoke of peace, and love and acceptance.  If God could surprise us then, what makes you think he can’t surprise us now? What makes you think he can’t use a pop culture song to tell his children that he loves them?

            Thank you guys so much for coming back to read my posts. Don’t be shy! In the comments, tell me what is something that you see God in that most people wouldn’t think of as spiritual?

Studying the Books of the Bible; John

"When they finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs”

John 21:15

Welcome back all! This week I want to talk about one of the gospels. One that is different from the rest. John. While Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the synoptic gospels, John is not, because despite being a gospel and writing about the same overall topic and time period, John many differences from the other Gospels. Perhaps because John was very different from the other disciples.

“God loves the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life”

John 3:16

I’ll admit it, before researching for this, I never really thought much about the apostle John. When I thought of the apostles my first thought was always Peter and my second always Judas. I never knew how close John was to Jesus. I should have, I’ve read the gospels enough, but I never really noticed.

“A new command I give you; love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:34-35

As told in Matthew 2:21-23, John is the son of Zebedee, and him and his brother, James, were a pair of inseparable fishermen. They weren’t the only fishermen, or the only brothers, or the only brothers who were fishermen out of the disciples. Peter and Andrew were also brothers who were fishermen. There was something special about John though. In Matthew 17, John goes with Jesus, his brother James and Peter up a mountain for the famous Transfiguration where they see Elijah and Moses. Only three disciples went on that mountain and John was one of them. Then in Mark 10:37-38, John and his brother ask Jesus if they can sit at his right hand in heaven. Though, as you know, Jesus wouldn’t promise them that, you know Jesus loved John because when he was about to die on the cross he looked to John and asked John specifically to take care of Jesus’ mother (John 19:26-27). Also you may or may not know this fisherman was the author of four other books of the bible as well; 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and Revelation.

“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

John 14:23

So, we get it. John was important. How was his gospel so different that it couldn’t be called synoptic though? Glad you asked.

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

John 15:12-13

The Temptation of Jesus that is found in Matthew 4:1-11,  Mark 1:9-13 and Luke 4:1-13 is no where to be found in John. Same with the Transfiguration. Even though John was there he was the only one not to write about it (Matthew 17:1-13,  Mark 9:1-8, Luke 9:28-36). The Lord’s Supper is missing in John (Matthew 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-26, and Luke 22:7-20). The Sermon on the Mount, so famous in Matthew 5-7 and the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13,  are only in Matthew, not in John. Also John doesn’t have any parables or talk about Jesus casting out demons. Why would that be? Why did John decide to not include these important things?

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

John 17:24

John wanted the focus to be on love. He didn’t want to show Jesus the strong in temptation, or the holy in the transfiguration. Not Jesus the all knowing, who predicted his own death at the last supper, along with predicting that he would be betrayed and that Peter would pretend not to know him. He didn’t want to write about Jesus that teaches at Sermon on the Mount, that teaches with parables or taught us the lord’s prayer. He didn’t want to focus on the miraculous casting out of demons. He wanted to focus on Jesus’ love. He also had stories not in the other gospels. Jesus’ first miracle at a wedding, Jesus and telling the Samaritan Woman about the Living Water, the death and resurrection of Lazarus, were all only in the book of John. All acts of love.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”

John 15:9

Over time, along with some other fun things, I plan on going through all the books in the New Testament and talking about them. What would you like to know about the books? Do you want to hear more about the history or what’s actually in it? Would you like interpretations of specific stories in them? Whatever you want, I’ll try to incorporate.

Thanks and God Bless!

Jillian