Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
“Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
“Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. ”
— Revelation 1:4-7 (NRSV)
These scripture passages remind me of the words of an old favorite Gospel chorus:
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”
The season of Lent is certainly an invitation to turn our eyes upon Jesus once more.
And, it is interesting to note that this is the message of the book of Revelation, also. Here, continually, Jesus Christ is held before us as Savior, Lord of history and the center of our hope. A study of the book of Revelation ought to bring to us a clearer vision of Jesus Christ. If it doesn’t, we have missed the point of it all. It is “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev 1:1), and he appears in it continually. He is the Son of Pan, the Lamb, the White rider. He is always the central character. If we were to spend a lifetime studying this book (and you easily could) and miss the vision of Jesus Christ that lies at its heart, we would have wasted our time. John wrote this book to encourage people encountering persecution to “turn their eyes upon Jesus.” (more…)
Ash Wednesday
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. This begins the important Church season of Lent. Robin & I will be getting up early tomorrow morning to participate in the 6:30 a.m. Ash Wednesday Service at the Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville. They offer Ash Wednesday Services at 6:30 a.m. and at noon. I was asked to assist with the Imposition of the Ashes at the early service. I appreciate being asked.
You see, Ash Wednesday services are important to me — when I can attend. Some years, since my retirement, I’ve had to kind of search around for a nearby church that was holding such a service — this is not generally advertised on the church signs or on the church web sites.
I feel like something is missing if Ash Wednesday isn’t part of my Lent.
But, I haven’t always felt that way about it. (more…)
Lent: Then and Now
“Even now,’ declares the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your hearts and not Your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”
— Joel 2:12, 13
The season of Lent begins this week on Wednesday. It is Ash Wednesday that begins the season of the Church Year called Lent. Historically, the season of Lent is one of the most important seasons of the church year. The season of Lent moves toward Holy Week: the time when we remember the crucifixion. Lent looks toward the Cross — and then beyond it to the miracle of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus.
Ash Wednesday arrives this week: Wednesday March 5.
The history of the season of Lent is interesting for us today. Though we do not celebrate it as people did in the past, a look at the history of Lent can give meaning to this season of the Church year. (more…)
Allan R. Bevere: How Does One Keep Preaching Fresh?
Allan R. Bevere
Guest blog by Allan R. Bevere. Allan is one of the most widely-read United Methodist bloggers — and he’s been doing it for a long time. He blogs at: Allan R. Bevere. He is a clergy member of the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. He pastors the First United Methodist Church in Akron, Ohio and is also a Professional Fellow in Theology at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio. He received his Ph.D in theology from the University of Durham, U.K. He has also written several books including The Politics of Witness: The Character of the Church in the World. (more…)
Where’s the Revival Now?
I think I must be some kind of Methodist “throwback” or something. But, I’m actually rather glad about it. My early experiences in the faith included Revival meetings and Camp Meeting and Prayer Groups and Evening Worship Services and Midweek Prayer Meetings, etc. They were all aids to discipleship. They were important.
But, I don’t mean that the “form” was important.
I know many of these are considered to be the evangelistic techniques of the past. It is felt that they need to be laid aside for new techniques. And, I’m fine with that. Really. I strongly believe in function over form. Times change. Strategies change. They should. Great. I’m all for new and better strategies.
But, here’s my (major) gripe about the present state of United Methodism: what has replaced the old techniques? (more…)
Derek Ouellette: Did Early Christians Serve in the Military?
Derek Ouellette
This is a guest post by Derek Ouellette, whose web site is here. If you are not currently following him, you should be.
Derek used to work in marketing and advertising for Cameron’s Bookstore in Windsor, Ontario. That was his job at the time he wrote this. He says: “I’ve worked in the Christian book industry for more than seven years and in spite of the struggles the retail end of the industry has faced recently, I love my job.” He also is a Classics Major at the University of Windsor. His interests include guitar, theology and history.
Derek does some great thinking and writing about the Christian faith and theology. This is a good example. (more…)
Ed Stetzer Explains the Missional Church Movement
In one of Asbury Theological Seminary’s Seven Minute Seminary series, Dr. Ed Stetzer briefly explains the missional church movement (how a mainline church conversation became a mostly evangelical church conversation) and what it means to be a missional church.
This video is a great explanation for people who have heard of the missional church movement but don’t know what its all about. (If you’ve never heard of it before you might get a little lost.)
It says on Stetzer’s Christianity Today blog site: “Ed Stetzer is the President of LifeWay Research, a prolific author, and well-known conference and seminar leader. Stetzer has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches, trained pastors and church planters on six continents, holds two masters degrees and two doctorates, and has written dozens of articles and books.” (more…)