While visiting the Museum of Methodism in London this summer, I stopped to photograph this faded document hanging behind glass. At first glance, it looks like little more than an old chart filled with names, dates, and preaching places. But the description beside it...
There are chapters of our lives that simply do not make sense while we are living them. Joseph certainly had some. The pit did not make sense. Being sold into slavery did not make sense. The false accusation did not make sense. Prison did not make sense. Being...
While visiting Wesley’s Chapel and the Museum of Methodism in London this summer, I came across something that immediately caught my attention: a worn pair of leather saddlebags that belonged to John Nelson (1707–1774), one of the most remarkable lay preachers of the...
Some hurts are easier to forgive than others. A careless word or misunderstanding may pass quickly. But what about the wounds caused by people who knew exactly what they were doing? Joseph knew that kind of hurt. His own brothers had hated him, thrown him into a pit,...
We live in a world that often measures success by what we gain. A better position. More influence. Greater recognition. More opportunities. But God often measures success by what we do with what He places in our hands. In Genesis 41, Joseph’s life changed...
Standing before this pulpit in the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford is standing at one of the significant places in Wesleyan history. From this pulpit, John Wesley preached to the University of Oxford. Here he delivered Salvation by Faith in 1738, The...
One of the unexpected blessings of researching early Florida Methodism has been discovering not only the stories of the circuit riders, but also those who quietly served alongside them. History has preserved much about John Slade’s ministry, yet it says comparatively...
Joseph woke up as a prisoner but before the day was over, he would stand before Pharaoh. For years, Joseph had waited. He had been betrayed, falsely accused, forgotten, and confined. There was no indication when he woke up that morning that this day would be any...
As I’ve continued researching the early days of Florida Methodism, I’ve become increasingly convinced that history is often shaped by people whose names are largely forgotten. We tend to remember the circuit riders like John J. Triggs and John Slade, and rightly so....
As I've continued researching the lives of John J. Triggs and John Slade, one thing has surprised me more than anything else. When the Methodist Episcopal Church appointed these men to the Alapaha Mission, they were not sending them to an established church or even to...