Virtual Methodist

A few months ago a meeting of ministers I was in was bemoaning the glib use of the word "salvation" in contemporary Christian patois. "Salvation from what?" was the question... Could another word be used in it's place with greater resonance in the world of today? Does anyone outside the church have a clue what we are talking about?  Those thoughts were going through my head as I've been reflecting on the Song of Zechariah this week, then, today I came across this piece by Mitchell Lewis on the salvation from/for dichotomy present in this song... And in the light of this I thought I would list a few of the things that, according to Zechariah we might be saved from and for, mindful of the fact that within evangelicalism we often emphasise the former and not the latter: Salvation from my enemies and the hands of all who hate me my anger and desire to do down my enemies my guilt for the past and fear of the future my pride and self-righteousness my at...

Thirty years ago this very day, I made one of the key decisions of my life. At the last night of the "Alan Walker Crusade to the 80's" in the Grosvenor Hall, Belfast I made the conscious decision to follow Jesus... I was born again... converted... saved... whatever term you want to use for it... It wasn't particularly dramatic (certainly not on a par with that of St. Paul, as depicted here by Michaelangelo, or with many of those who do the circuit of churches and conferences telling the story of their conversions) and actually it was only one waypoint on the routemap of my journey of faith... The issue of what direction I should go had been bubbling within me for almost a year, and was based upon years of attending church... and it was followed by a number of key decisions and changes of direction... But I have no doubt that it was probably the most significant life-changing decision of my life... Whilst I was probably not as reluctant a convert as C.S. Lewis claims t...