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ROME (CNS) -- Catholics, Anglicans and Methodists filled Rome's Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls with some of the most famous hymns written by Charles Wesley at a service marking the 300th anniversary of the Methodist reformer's birth. The songs, featured in hymnals across denominational lines, were the focal point of the Dec. 3 ecumenical evening prayer service in the Catholic basilica. The Rev. John Barrett, president of the World Methodist Council said, "It was mind-blowing really" to celebrate Wesley and sing his hymns "in Rome with an ecumenical gathering." "I think Charles Wesley would be thrilled. He did...

For nine years I served the Lord Jesus Christ as a United Methodist pastor in New Jersey; for five of those years I had no thought of being anything else. I had a growing church, I was happy in my denomination and pleased with my prospects, and I was satisfied. I believed that denominations were not only inevitable but good. Since Christians would always disagree about their beliefs and practices, having different denominations kept them from fighting. I didn’t believe that visible unity was necessary for the Church, nor doctrinal unity. At the same time I insisted strongly on my...

...the United States will be defined by our environment, both our physical environment and our legal, Constitutional environment...we must do more to protect our natural resources, enabling us to extend their economic value indefinitely... We may also have to assist market-driven adjustments... with transparency and accountability,....we will assure continued access to the courts... and a vibrant competitive media that informs our people and enables their effective participation in civic life... If we are to remain competitive we will have to do more to develop our "human potential." ... we should help every American...For some this means only providing a framework...

When painting the portraits of great figures in the history of Christendom, we have a distinct tendency to airbrush the warts. Hagiography is the perennial and natural temptation of the devout historian. When it comes to church history, the love that "believes all things" (I Cor. 13:7), does not always exhibit the serpentine wisdom enjoined by Christ (Matt. 10:16). The problem is complicated by the secular myth surrounding the study of history, i.e., that it is a value-free, neutral discipline. Under the cover of this myth, the secularist historian debunks various popular heroes from the past. This type of debunking...

Because of Iraq IRAQ VETERANS TAKE ON “THESE ARE THE STAKES” OSAMA BIN LADEN AD IN NEW AD OF THEIR OWN vv_becausetv.jpg Blunt new ad says the world is more dangerous… because of Iraq NEW YORK – VoteVets Action Fund, a 501 (c)4 made up of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, is today unveiling an ad that directly takes on the now-infamous “These Are the Stakes” ad that began airing earlier this month. Featuring four Iraq veterans and VoteVets.org Advisory Board Member, retired General Wesley Clark, the ad reminds Americans that the next time they see ads declaring the world is...

I have a small group lesson on prayer I would like to give based on the John Wesley quote "God will do nothing, but in answer to prayer." I need some help finding the John Wesley sermon that this quote comes from. Or if anyone knows some resource that would validate whether or not that this quote is Biblically sound. I had never heard this before I came across this lesson nor have I ever heard of this concept. I find the idea intreaguing, but am hesitant to present a lesson where I am not familiar with the background. Any...

Wesley Snipes was indicted Tuesday in Tampa, Fla., on conspiracy to defraud the IRS and failing to file income tax returns. The Blade actor and two other men, Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas P. Rosile, are charged with eight counts of conspiracy to defraud the IRS for falsely claiming nearly $12 million in refunds. Snipes, 44, is also charged with six counts of failing to file tax returns for the years 1999 through 2004. ... A warrant has been issued for his arrest... According to the indictment, Kahn was the founder of American Rights Litigators and its successor, Guiding Light...

Whitefield's Letter to Wesley George Whitefield Bethesda in Georgia, Dec. 24, 1740 Reverend and very dear Brother, God only knows what unspeakable sorrow of heart I have felt on your account since I left England last. Whether it be my infirmity or not, I frankly confess, that Jonah could not go with more reluctance against Nineveh, than I now take pen in hand to write against you. Was nature to speak, I had rather die than do it; and yet if I am faithful to God, and to my own and others' souls, I must not stand neutral any longer....

Tape Shows General Clark Linking Iraq and Al Qaeda NY Times ^ | Jan. 12, 2004 | EDWARD WYATT MANCHESTER, N.H., Jan. 11 — Less than a year before he entered the race for the Democratic nomination for president, Gen. Wesley K. Clark said that he believed there was a connection between the Iraqi government and Al Qaeda. The statement by General Clark in October 2002 as he endorsed a New Hampshire candidate for Congress is a sign of how the general's position on Iraq seems to have changed over time, though he insists his position has been consistent. "Certainly...

When Wes Clark ran for President, I was all for it. Here was a guy, the former commander of NATO who wanted to become the President. Soon thereafter I realized that just because Clark came from the military, he certainly was not a conservative. Clark took the pulpit to criticize Bush on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea without really putting together any ideas of what he would have done differently except that he would have built a 'coalition'. In a speech to the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors Association, Clark said that because of the recent round of military...

Federal law enforcement officials call a Nutley man a ``dangerous predator.'' Kevin Hildreth has admitted sexually assaulting nine children and videotaping at least two having sex in the basement of a church where he was an assistant scoutmaster. The 33-year-old pleaded guilty to federal charges of crossing state lines to sexually assault a child and possession of child pornography. Hildreth was arrested in June as part of an international child porn Internet investigation. He told investigators that he had fondled or raped nine boys in the past 16 years. The victims ranged in age from four to 13. One was...

(text from the 1872 edition) Preached on Sunday April 4, 1742, before the University of Oxford, by the Rev. Charles Wesley, M.A. Student of Christ-Church. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Ephesians 5:14 In discoursing on these words, I shall, with the help of God, -- First. Describe the sleepers, to whom they are spoken: Secondly. Enforce the exhortation, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead:" And, Thirdly. Explain the promise made to such as do awake and arise: "Christ shall give thee light." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. 1. And...

Wesley Clark's political career: Born 2003, died 2004. A little while ago, I compared Wes Clark's roman candle of a presidential campaign to inexplicable and regrettable momentary fads, like flash mobs, the XFL, Tickle-Me-Elmo, or New Coke. Wes Clark's just-barely-in-primetime address Thursday evening was like an edition of VH1's "I Love The 80s." For a brief moment, it was "I Love September 2003," the month Clark's campaign with a photo on the cover of Newsweek. But Clark's campaign destructed. He was the one who invited Michael Moore on stage with him, where the filmmaker could ignite the empty "deserter" attack....

  CHAPTER XI. Two Sorts of Methodists. Whitefield's Calvinism.--Arminians.--" The Queen of the Methodists."-- Trevecca College.-- Lady Huntingdon's Connection.--Time Heals the Wounds.--Whitefield's Candle Burns to the Socket. WHILE John Wesley was organizing societies and building preaching houses in England, George Whitefield was ranging through the American colonies kindling the old churches into new zeal by his flaming eloquence. He returned to England in March, 1741, prepared to take issue with his former leader on the doctrine of election. His intercourse with the New England Calvinists had made him a militant opponent of the doctrine of universal redemption as taught by...

Our Maronite Church has acquired an old churh that was boarded up for the past 50 years. It is located in Watervliet NY. Inside the church, there is a large sign that I presume once hung outside. It reads: Ohio Street Methodist Episcopal Church - 1850 The interior, despite peeling paint, missing plaster and years of accumulated dust, is just magnificent. We are applying to the NYS Historic Register, to have the building recognized. They have suggested that we try to find the name of the architect. In the meantime, one of their staff visited the building this week. He...

It’s the 2004 Democrat Veep Pageant!who’s gonna win???

THE REFORMATION OF BAPTISM FOR AMERICAN METHODISTS (Incomplete) I. Introduction There is so much division in the Church over Baptism that it must surely grieve the Lord Jesus very much. It seems that the very idea of sharing the joy of salvation with fellow Christians is undermined by doubts concerning Baptism. The nagging question of who is and who is not a true Christian sometimes revolves around Baptism, especially when we ignore other evidence in the life of an individual pointing to a right relationship with God. It is my purpose here to put forth an ecumenical view around which...

Calvin and Wesley on the Christian Life Richard M. Riss Glenwood Presbyterian Church, Glenwood Landing, NY Meeting jointly withThe United Methodist Church of Sea Cliff, NY August 2, 1998 With respect to the Christian life, most of what John Wesley said in the eighteenth century was in perfect agreement with what John Calvin had said two centuries previously during the time of the Reformation. In fact, on this topic, the comments of these two towering figures were very similar in many respects to what was said by many of the other well known devotional writers of history. One of them,...

JOHN WESLEY AS A THEOLOGIAN OF GRACE 193 JOHN WESLEY AS A THEOLOGIAN OF GRACE Robert V. Rakestraw* In the Institutes of the Christian Religion John Calvin writes: We shall never be clearly persuaded, as we ought to be, that our salvation flows from the wellspring of God’s free mercy until we come to know his eternal election, which illumines God’s grace by this contrast: that he does not indiscriminately adopt all into the hope of salvation but gives to some what he denies to others.1 Calvin goes on to amplify this seminal statement by. Contrasting God’s free grace with...