Birthday Celebration!

Birthday Celebration!

Just a quick note to say, "Happy 306th Birthday" to John Wesley! - Wesley was born on June 17, 1703 to the Rev'd. Samuel & Susanna Wesley. He was either the 13th or 14th of their children; no one is quite sure. In any case, he was only the seventh to survive the first year of life. Oddly, he was the third Wesley child to be named "John" (the previous two had died). (cf. The Elusive Mr. Wesley, Vol. 1, Heitzenrater).

(From Rev. Dr. Todd Stepp's blog http://wesleyananglican.blogspot.com)

Weekly Commentary-How much is a Life Worth?
by Keith Kiper/from"The Circuit Rider"
A comparison was made last Monday between the assassination of Martin Luther King and the murder of late-term abortion provider Dr. George. Tiller has one relative of the slain civil rights leader outraged. Dr. Alveda King, a notable pro-life advocate and Martin Luther King's niece, lashed out to The Washington Times about comments made by Dr. Tiller's friend and colleague, Dr. LeRoy Carhart. What's next? Comparing Adolf Hitler with Abraham Lincoln? Martin Luther King, Jr. campaigned for equal rights for African- Americans. Surprising to some, the greatest resistance came from the Democratic Party who resisted anti-lynching and other laws until the mid 60's when Lyndon Johnson had to reach to the Republican Party for enough votes to pass his famous Civil Rights legislation. (Hard to believe,Click here to read in Democrat's and Republican's own words) This in ironic, considering that some African-Americans would not even consider EVER voting Republican.

I realize that no party or candidate is perfect, and as some would say, "I just vote for the man."
However, in this day of lobbyists and political party payoffs, there are only a few good men (and women) left. After all, we have seen some of the "Blue Dogs" turn yellow for Nancy Pelosi in recent weeks. Back to the Tiller/King comparison. Tiller snuffed out the life , by his own admission, of some 60,000 lives, more than the entire Viet Nam war. He often used the mental health exception as a ruse for his "practice." Dr. King risked his own life to better the lives of others. Not much similarity or sacrifice there. Tiller and others have made millions with the government sanctioned practice of infanticide. A large percentage of the abortions were performed on African-American women. Some would consider this to be a modern form of racism. We live in a day and age when there seem to some to be a lot of gray areas. They probably haven't read the same Bible I have read. Look at what 2 Peter Chapter two has to say,
"Many will follow their sensuality and because of them the way of truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words..."2 Peter 2,3 (NASB)

I don't write these commentaries in an effort to promote or condemn a particular political party. Unfortunately, there are more differences than there used to be. A Christian should pray about this and seek God's guidance. Galations tells us,"It is fine to be zealous as long as the purpose is good."Jesus commands us to shed light where there is darkness. As John wesley said about slavery, we can apply to the sanctity of life,"Where in the justice of inflicting the severist of evils on those who have done us no wrong?" There are many resources available. Just check out the left hand column of this blog. What do you think? Your comments and differing points of view are always welcome and will not be criticized here. I'll close with Father Frank Pavone's Prayer for Life.


Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life,
And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.
I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion,
Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by
the Resurrection of Your Son.
I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.
Today I commit myself
Never to be silent,
Never to be passive,
Never to be forgetful of the unborn.
I commit myself to be active in the Pro-Life movement,
And never to stop defending life
Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,
And our nation once again becomes
A nation with liberty and justice
Not just for some, but for all,
Through Christ our Lord. Amen!

Pentecost Sunday
Rev'd Dr. Todd A. Stepp
Grace Church of the Nazarene
Evansville,Indiana
http://wesleyananglican.blogspot.com


This past Sunday the Church celebrated the culmination of the great fifty days, the conclusion of the Easter season, the outpouring of the promise of the Father, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the birth of the Church. - John the Baptizer had declared concerning Jesus, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Luke 3:16, NRSV). Jesus assured the disciples that it would be to their advantage that He would ascend to the Father, because, in doing so, He would send the Holy Spirit (the Advocate/Comforter/Counselor/Helper - parakletos ) to them (John 16:7). The Holy Spirit would teach them everything and remind them of all that Jesus had said to them (14:26), and the Holy Spirit would "prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement (16:8). Further, Jesus told the apostles, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8, NRSV). On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples saw the fulfillment of the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit as told by John the Baptizer and the Lord Jesus, as well as the prophet Joel. It is that same outpouring of the Holy Spirit that we enter into by faith and through our baptism, for St. Paul declares, "For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body . . ." (1 Cor. 12:13, NRSV).* Pentecost is one of the major feast days of the Church, and it should be a great day of celebration for those of us in the Wesleyan/Holiness tradition. - I recall a conversation a number of years back with a Presbyterian (USA) pastor. He confessed, he really didn't know what to do with Pentecost. Now, I do not mean to imply that such is the case for all, or even a majority of Presbyterians. I don't know. However, Nazarenes, whether espousing a 19th century or a classical Wesleyan view (cf. footnote, below) ought to have no problem knowing how to celebrate Pentecost Sunday. You see, one of the main benefits of Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the possibility of having our hearts cleansed of sin. - As the prophet Ezekiel foretold, there was coming a day when God would ". . . sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statures and be careful to observe my ordinances" (Ezek. 36:25-27, NRSV). And St. Peter, referring to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the gentiles, argued, "And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us" (Acts 15:8-9). It is this heart cleansing that has been at the heart (no pun intended!) of the Wesleyan & Methodist movement, and especially so for the Holiness branches of Methodism. It has been referred to by Wesley in connection with the Biblical doctrines of Entire Sanctification and Christian Perfection. In fact, the spread of scriptural holiness throughout the land was the stated purpose of Methodism, first by John Wesley in London in 1733, and then in America, at the famous Christmas Conference in Baltimore in 1784 at the founding of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was the commitment to this purpose that gave rise to the 19th century Holiness Movement within Methodism. And Phineas Bresee said of the Church of the Nazarene, that it is ". . . a part of that body of believers raised up to spread sanctified holiness over these lands, and thus that we are a part of that company who are the real successors of John Wesley and the early Methodists" (Nazarene Messenger, July 15, 1909). And so, we Wesleyan Christians have special reasons for joining with our sisters and brother in Christ around the world to rejoice and give thanks to God on Pentecost Sunday for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as we seek to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. _____________________________ *At this point, those within the Holiness movement will recognize that I take my stand with John Wesley, the Church of history, and those in the classical Wesleyan theological tradition, rather than those who are more consistent with 19th century interpretations. Those debates within the Holiness Movement can be seen in The Wesleyan Theological Journal between 1973 and 1982. Mark Quanstrom discusses it in A Century of Holiness Theology: The Doctrine of Entire Sanctification in the Church of the Nazarene, 1905-2004, though his bias toward the 19th century view is apparent in his, not always completely accurate portrayal of members of "The Trevecca Connection."

Posted by The Circuit Rider at 8:22 AM 0 comments

New Wesley Movie Trailer

Movie Trailer

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Score for Trailer composed by Joel Steudler