Monday, December 16, 2013

The Old Paths


An old friend sent me a note of encouragement after I had started posting here again. He said that “we who claim a Wesleyan heritage have wandered far from the old paths... and we are suffering and shall suffer for it.”

I paid close attention when I read this in Wesley's Journal last night:

Jun 20, 1760 “I exhorted them to 'ask for the old paths and walk therein,' that they might 'find rest to' their souls.”

And imagine my surprise when I read today, from Jun 31, 1761, that Wesley preached in Newcastle, exhorting the people to “stand in the ways and see” and “ask for the old paths” and “walk therein!”

Wesley was quoting from Jeremiah 6, here is 6:10-19 for some of the context:


To whom can I speak and give warning?
Who will listen to me?
Their ears are closed
so they cannot hear.
The word of the Lord is offensive to them;
they find no pleasure in it.
But I am full of the wrath of the Lord,
and I cannot hold it in.
“Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the young men gathered together;
both husband and wife will be caught in it,
and the old, those weighed down with years.
Their houses will be turned over to others,
together with their fields and their wives,
when I stretch out my hand
against those who live in the land,”
declares the Lord.
“From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.
Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish them,”
says the Lord.
This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
I appointed watchmen over you and said,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But you said, ‘We will not listen.’
Therefore hear, you nations;
you who are witnesses,
observe what will happen to them.
Hear, you earth:
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to my words
and have rejected my law.






Monday, December 9, 2013

Faith in Action

One of the blessings of reading John Wesley's Journal is that it is like having someone come alongside you and teach you about pastoral care.

Aug 10, 1760.  "I took an account of the society, and was grieved, though not surprised, to find such decline.  I left 290 members, I find only 233. And what will the end be, unless those that remain learn to bear one another's burdens?"

Dec 24, 1760. "I visited as many as I could of the sick.  How much better is it, when it is practical, to take relief to the poor than to send it!  For both our sake and theirs.  For them, because it is so much more comforting, and we can help them in both spiritual and physical needs.  For our sake because it is more likely to soften our hearts, and to make us naturally care for each other."

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Selections from Wesley's Journal

Jan 29, 1759
"By repeated experiments we learn, that though a man preach like an angel, he will neither collect, nor preserve a society which is collected, without visiting them from house to house."

June 4, 1759
"After preaching I rode on to Newcastle. Certainly if I did not believe there was another word, I should spend all my summers here; as I know no place in Great Britain comparable to it for pleasantness.  But I seek another country, and therefore am content to be a wandered on earth."

June 24, 1759 "What marvel the devil does not love field-preaching.  Neither do I: I love a commodious room, a soft cushion, a handsome pulpit.  But where is my zeal if I do not trample all these under foot, in order to save one more soul?"

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Back...

Hi All,

Something tells me it is time to start posting here again.  We'll see how it goes.  For the moment, some research I am doing gives me material for this blog.  I look forward to giving us some meat from Wesley and the early Methodists!