“The United Methodist Church has been in the death spiral for nearly a half a century, seen primarily in the loss of millions of members, the dramatic decline in catechesis, and a diminished enthusiasm about evangelism”Isaiah 49:6

John Wesley gazed to the West, across the Atlantic Ocean he had long since crossed, no doubt feeling like a ministry failure from his time in America, seeking God’s assurance in his soul. He reflected on what followed. A warming of his heart to God, an experience of spirit-filled religious zeal, preaching in fields to the working-poor, and an amazing country-transforming movement across England.

But even England could not contain the movement. Wesley’s influence would travel across the Atlantic in the other direction. No doubt he marveled at how it had spread like wildfire across the new world. God was now using other people to reach those he couldn’t reach.

He decides to write these people in his movement. It is called, appropriately, “Advice to the People Called Methodist.”

The old Wesleyan and Methodist movement is no longer a movement, but instead a fractured bunch of spin-off denominations, each of whom are doing their thing, and reporting some kingdom gains. But none are truly a movement any longer. We have institutionalized. And what about The United Methodist Church?…

 

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