This year during holy week we put “The Duty of Constant Communion” into practice. In this sermon from Feb. 19, 1732, in addition to refusing objections regarding frequently partaking of the Lord’s Table, John Wesley offers the following positive reasons for partaking from the bread and cup often: Continue reading The Duty of Constant Communion Practiced
All posts by Paul Tillman
Building Communities
When in California, my wife and I visited all the Spanish Missions along the El Camino Real. Some are still functioning churches, while others are only museums. The architecture of all the missions show their similar purposes: worship of God, refuge and provision for people, and a beacon to the traveler. People used to live, work, and worship, as well as visit, these missions. I wonder if churches can still do that today. Continue reading Building Communities
And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming
While I haven’t been blogging here much lately, I have been blogging. Readers probably noted that the majority of my posts over the last seven months have sent readers over to the Oakdale Wesleyan Church website. At that site, I had been posting the mission report from last Fall’s trip to Uganda. Seven months, sixteen posts, and many pictures and videos later, The Pathfinder Report is completed. Please head over and check it all out. Since that work is done (the writing, not the work in Uganda), I will now return to regular posting on spiritual formation on this site . . . sort of.
Readers have probably also noticed that the blog name has changed from In God’s Way to Imitatio Dei (Imitation of God), which I believe reflects more the intent of this blog, and would have been the name I first chose, had I thought of it. I have the goal of migrating all content over to imitatiodei.org (which already mirrors the blog home page) by the end of the year, and I am open to ideas about how best to use imitatiodei.org, which I have purchased as well.
I’m looking forward to continuing to grow with you all, individually and corporately, into a true reflection of God’s image.
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11 NIV)
Pathfinder Reports 9 and 10
Find out about orphan care and traveling in Uganda in the latest two Pathfinder reports.
Noah’s Ark Children’s Home (Pathfinder Report part 9)
Travel (Pathfinder Report part 10)
(Wilder than Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride!)
Building Bridges
Late last year I had the opportunity to contribute to the Wesleyan Multi-Ethic Task Force. We learned, dreamed, studied, discussed, had fellowship, and prayed. I do not feel at liberty to share all the details of that meeting, as much of the work remains in the seedbed, but I will share about a time of prayer.
The Integration of Life
Humanity strives for connectivity. Consider the innovations we have made in just the last 250 years: the postal service, telegraph, trans-continental railroad, telephones, flight, the interstate highway system, satellites, the internet, social media, and instant language translation. All these things connect us together, but not at the soul level. Continue reading The Integration of Life
The Investment of Jesus
Images of investors in the United States have not always been positive. Our history contains robber barons to modern patent trolls. Investment is thought of as a selfish act, speculation in order to make a profit like a Ferengi following the Rules of Acquisition. Jesus worked counter-culturally in his investment. Continue reading The Investment of Jesus
My Black Seder
A traditional New Year meal for African-Americans includes greens and black-eyed peas. It’s a “good luck” meal of soul food. I’m not superstitious, but I recall having this meal “all the time” growing up, not realizing until I was in college that we actually only ate black-eyed peas once a year. We had no ceremony around it, perhaps other than my dad jokingly shouting into the kitchen, “Where’s my black-eyed peas?” It was just something that happened. Continue reading My Black Seder
The Immigration of God
I found it difficult to find a fitting graphic for this post, as the faces of immigration have constantly changed over time and place. Immigration may be forced or voluntary, driven by need or opportunity, labeled legal or illegal. Immigration is full of positive and negative connotations and politics beyond the simple definition of the word. Yet regardless of one’s views on immigration, one individual’s move changed the world more than any whole people group’s migration affected the world, a country, or geography. Continue reading The Immigration of God
Pathfinder Report – part 5
Want to know some real details about how we served in Uganda? Check out part 5 of the report.
Pastor Training (Pathfinder Trip – part 5)
