The book that I co-authored, Reclaiming the Wesleyan Tradition: John Wesley’s Sermons for Today is now available. I don’t have a very good feel for where it is circulating (i.e. where you could walk into a store and pick up a copy). I know it is available in Cokesbury bookstores and it can be bought online through several book sellers.

Reclaiming the Wesleyan Tradition is primarily intended to be a small group study, though an individual could certainly go through it on their own. It is designed to have you read one of John Wesley’s sermons and an accompanying lesson that is intended to help you digest the main ideas in the sermon. There is a brochure about the book under the documents section of this blog, or you can click here to see it. (Note it may take a moment to load, as it is about 2MB.) The first link also takes you to the publisher’s website (Discipleship Resources) where you can view the Table of Contents and read an excerpt.

I was given a few free copies of the book, so I am going to imitate what I have seen a few other bloggers do: If you are willing to blog about this book, I am willing to send a free copy to the first person who emails me with their name, mailing address, and the url of their blog. In sending me this information you are agreeing to read the book and blog about it within a month of receiving it. If you are interested, send me an email at revkevinwatson@hotmail.com

You can also purchase copies online through Discipleship Resources (they are the publisher), or Cokesbury, or Amazon.com. Amazon’s website says 5-7 weeks for delivery. I am not sure why it would take that long, but it may be that Cokesbury or Discipleship Resources are better options.

This past Saturday I presented the keynote address at McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church for their workshop called “Pathways of Faith: Practical Methods for Putting on the Mind of Christ.” The workshop was a great experience and the people who attended had some excellent questions.

In my address I first talked about spirituality in general and came up with a working definition. Then I talked about a specifically Wesleyan understanding of spirituality. I tried to lay the theological foundation for a Wesleyan spirituality, and then I used the General Rules as a framework for discussing the specific practice of John Wesley and the early Methodists’ spirituality. Then I looked at what contributions Wesleyan spirituality has to make to the church today. I argued that a Wesleyan spirituality helps us to find a Scriptural balance between faith and works, and a balance between works of mercy and works of piety. I also argued that Wesleyan spirituality argues for the current need for small group accountablity, or as Wesley referred to is, “watching over one another in love.”

If you are interested in my take on John Wesley’s approach to Christian spirituality, I have posted my presentation under the documents page of this blog, or you can click here to go directly to the paper. I definitely consider this a work in progress, so let me know what you think if you take the time to read it.

This Saturday, September 29th, McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church is having a workshop called “Pathways of Faith: Practical Methods for Putting on the Mind of Christ.” The workshop will be held from 8:30-4:00 on Saturday. I will be giving the keynote address on Wesleyan Spirituality. I am excited to have the opportunity to explore the unique contribution that Wesleyan thought has to make to the church. I was also a member of McFarlin when I was in college at OU, so I am looking forward to the chance to go home. If you are interested in the workshop you can find a brochure of it at McFarlin’s website that has information on how to register here.

I always enjoy those moments where you have tangibly accomplished something important.  Those moments for me were always the most obvious when I was in school, like finishing your last final exam of a semester, or graduating.  One of the hard things for me about ministry is that those moments seem to be much more rare.  I always have a bit of that feeling after the sunday worship service, but I also know how fleeting that is, because Sunday comes every week!

Well, I just had that feeling of “Ah, it is nice to be finished. ”  I just mailed my final year of commissioning papers off!  That means, God willing, that I have completed all of my written work towards ordination.  It is a good feeling.  Thank you, Lord.

Andrew’s comment to my last post The Importance of Community has helped me to continue to think about this vision of community. Yesterday I was reading Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America and came across a wonderful description of the Methodist class meeting, and the role that it played in helping people faithfully follow Christ.

Much like the Methodist class meetings of the eighteenth century, it moves beyond individual edification or emotional support to an intentional and disciplined sharing of the challenges of following Christ in an indifferent and hostile world. Coming together in regularly scheduled gatherings participants share the bumps and bruises of encounter with the world, as they comfort and strengthen one another. John Wesley believed that intentional and disciplined small groups could be a wellspring for faithful Christian discipleship…

In the sharing of temptations and weaknesses, and of strengths and accomplishments, participants can begin realistically to confront and acknowledge their bondage to sin as they learn to live as a forgiven and forgiving people. The intent is to create a social space and climate that encourages honest, caring relationships within a community of people who make time for one another, who celebrate and rejoice together, who know and serve each other, and who are accountable one to the other. (171)

Well said!

I had an epiphany a few days ago. (I know, I know, as far as the liturgical calendar is concerned this is not the time for epiphanies…) Those of you who know me or have been following this blog know that I have a deep interest in small group accountability. In reading Doug Pagitt’s Re-Imagining Church: The Spiritual Formation of People in Communities of Faith, I realized that the deeper issue that I am trying to address in thinking about and writing about small group accountability is community.

It seems to me that there are so many people out there who are searching for authentic community, a place where they can belong, be known, and accepted. My theory is that if a church can succeed in creating meaningful community, then they will succeed in most every other part of their life together. But way too many churches are just acquaintance clubs, places where you rub shoulders with people week after week, but never really get to know them.

But what if the church were a community of people united together in a deep commitment to becoming faithful followers of Jesus? What if the church were a place where you knew you had people who you could share your deepest struggles with, and they would not judge you, but they would encourage you, pray for you, walk with you in the struggle towards a deeper relationship with God. I wonder if one of the main reasons that people are not more dramatically growing in their faith is because they are not opening up their lives to anyone else. As a result, they are not aware of how stagnant their relationship with the Lord has become.

I have a dream that the church would become a place where people enter deeply into each others lives and where people are in ministry with each other as we meaningful growth in living towards the Kingdom of God, in our own lives and as communities of faith. I believe that small group accountability, then, is a very helpful tool in teaching people how to let others in and how to care for one another.

Thank you Lord, that with you all things are possible.

For the two people out there who actually keep track of this on a regular basis, you may have noticed that I have not been posting with much regularity, especially other than posting my sermons. I am not sure why, but it has been a struggle to post lately. I also have even left my reader unchecked for long periods of time. (Is there anything more terrifying than signing into Google Reader and seeing that you have 100+ posts to skim… Ok, yes- lots of things are more terrifying than that.)

Earlier this week I did log into my reader, and there were just so many great posts. I am thankful for the people who are spending time and energy thining about the Kingdom of God and doing their best to present it to others. Reading these posts made me want to recommit myself to contributing to the conversation.

It also made me want to say thank you. So, in order to give thanks to these blogs, here are my top 5 blogs that keep me blogging: (listed in no particular order)

1. Catching Meddlers (We roomed together at licensing school, and he has since become an important friend in the Oklahoma Conference.)
2. Thoughts of Resurrection (A good friend of mine from seminary.)
3. Come to the Waters (A blog I have come to really enjoy reading, though I have never met the author.)
4. 33 Names of Grace (Another blog I have come to really enjoy reading, though I have never met the author.)
5. Step By Step (Act now, and you can see a picture of the author with a mohawk! In light of said mohawk, I am struggling with whether I want to acknowledge that he is also a fellow Wesley Seminary grad…)

So, thank you. There are other blogs I read and appreciate, but these are the five I was reading that motivated me that fateful day. I’m not sure if you all feel this, but it is sometimes hard to know if there is anyone out there and if what you are saying is connecting to anyone. You each have said something that has made me think, smile, or laugh and for that I am thankful.

I have posted last Sunday’s sermon (August 26th, 2007) on my podcast. As always, you can listen to it by clicking on the deeply committed sermons link on the right or by clicking here .

The Scripture reading for this sermon is Luke 13:10-17, which tells the story of Jesus healing a woman who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. Jesus said to the woman, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Imagine Jesus saying those words to you today, what would come to mind? What are you bound to that Jesus wants to see you free from? These are the types of questions that this sermons discusses.

If you listen to it, I would love to hear your thoughts.

I just posted the sermon from August 19th, 2007 to my podcast. You can listen to it here .

This Scripture reading for this sermon was Hebrews 11:29-12:2, the great cloud of witnesses. Be forewarned, the tape turns over at the end of the sermon, so there is a bit of a pause, and then you get that last sentence or too…

By the way, does anyone have a program they use for hosting podcast that they really like? I use gcast and it gets the job done, but I dont’ think there is anyway to track whether anyone is actually listening to it. The statistics aren’t that important to me, but it would be nice to know if any is finding the sermons and actually listening to them. I would appreciate any thoughts or advice you might have.

Not that long ago I picked up a copy of Switchfoot’s CD “nothing is sound.” I have enjoyed several of their earlier albums, but this one is fantastic. I love the music and the lyrics. It is the lyrics that have especially caught my attention on this album. Maybe it is just me, but it seems like there are several Christian artists out there who are increasingly writing songs not just to sell records and make money, but out of a sense of calling to speak to the church and challenge it to become what it is called to be (see Derek Webb’s She Must and Shall Go Free ).

When singer/songwriter Jonathan Foreman writes: “I pledge allegiance to a country without borders, without politicians” in the song “Politicians” for example, I am challenged to remember that my ultimate allegiance is to Jesus Christ.

Foreman seems to speak to the confusion, anger, and desperation that many young people feel today in “Lonely Nation” when he writes: “She’s just reminiscing, blood, sweat and one thing’s missing. She’s been breaking up inside, inside. Singing without tongues, screaming without lungs, I want more than my lonely nation, I want more than my lonely nation. Desperate we are young. Separate we are one. I want more than my desperation. I want more than my lonely nation.”

Not everyone will agree with the perspective in every song, but one thing is for sure, if you are listening, the songs on “Nothing Is Sound” will make you think. Like so many other things, Christian music can sometimes become so predictable and familiar that it ceases to challenge us or encourage us to grow in our faith. Albums like “Nothing Is Sound” excite me, because I think they give people an opportunity to think through some parts of their faith that may have previously been unexamined in a bit closer light.

At least, I can testify that I have found this album to be thought-provoking. Oh yeah, and it rocks!