Discipling Life

Have you ever noticed how the heaviest thoughts seem to wait until the house is completely quiet, right before the dawn? It is in those moments, when our worries press in, that the prophet’s words in Lamentations 3:21-23 offer a lifeline: “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Notice that hope does not just happen to us. It requires an intentional act of the heart. The prophet chooses to “call to mind” God’s love right in the middle of deep grief. Grace is already there, waiting for us, but we are invited to actively pivot our attention toward it, cooperating with God’s Spirit to find a way forward. These verses are especially powerful because they are found in the middle of a book filled with grief and sorrow. Lamentations mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the suffering of God's people after the Babylonian conquest. Rather tha...

In 2 Peter 2:17-22 , the apostle warns about people who appear spiritually confident but whose lives do not reflect the truth of Christ. He describes them as “waterless springs and mists driven by a storm” (2 Peter 2:17). They promise life, but they cannot truly satisfy the deep thirst of the soul. Peter’s words are sobering because he knows how easily people can be led astray by impressive words or selfish desires. False teaching is not only about incorrect ideas. It also concerns the shape of a person’s life and heart. These teachers spoke about freedom while remaining “slaves of corruption” themselves (2 Peter 2:19). Their lives lacked the transforming power of God’s grace. They had knowledge without holiness, words without faithfulness, and influence without love. Yet even in this warning passage, we can hear the heart of God calling people toward something better. The grace of God does not merely inform us. It transforms us. In the Wesleyan tradition, we believe the Holy Spirit ...

Here in North Carolina, we are surrounded by the evidence of springtime. Amid the discomfort of the yellow haze of pollen, we see the blossoming of Dogwood trees, the blooms of the daffodils by the roadside, and hear the burst of songbird melodies. There’s something about this season that mirrors the confidence of Psalm 16 . The psalmist prays, “Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge… The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup” (vss. 1, 5). This is a trust that believes life, not death, has the last word. The psalm begins with refuge and ends with resurrection hope. “You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (v. 11). These words take on deeper meaning in the light of Christ’s rising. What the psalmist glimpsed, Easter reveals. The path of life leads through death but does not end there. God’s faithfulness holds us beyond what we can see. In Psalm 16, the psalmist declares, “I keep the Lord always before...