Posts by Denny

SOCIAL MEDIA AND YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH

May 23, 2023 By dwayman

“A Surgeon General’s Advisory is a public statement that calls the American people’s attention to an urgent public health issue and provides recommendations for how it should be addressed. Advisories are reserved for significant public health challenges that require the nation’s immediate awareness and action.”

More research is needed to fully understand the impact of social media; however, the current body of evidence indicates that while social media may have benefits for some children and adolescents, there are ample indicators that social media can also have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. At this time, we do not yet have enough evidence to determine if social media is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents. We must acknowledge the growing body of research about potential harms, increase our collective understanding of the risks associated with social media use, and urgently take action to create safe and healthy digital environments that minimize harm and safeguard children’s and adolescents’ mental health and well-being during critical stages of development.

The influence of social media on youth mental health is shaped by many complex factors, including, but not limited to, the amount of time children and adolescents spend on platforms, the type of content they consume or are otherwise exposed to, the activities and interactions social media affords, and the degree to which it disrupts activities that are essential for health like sleep and physical activity.6 Importantly, different children and adolescents are affected by social media in different ways,

JONAH, A LEGACY OF LOVING OUR ENEMIES

May 21, 2023 By dwayman

JONAH, A LEGACY OF LOVING OUR ENEMIES

Rev. Dr. Amelia Traylor, M.D.

This sermon was given July 2022 at Northern Hills UMC

Rev. Dr. Amelia Traylor is a candidate for bishop.

You can hear Dr. Traylor’s introduction here.

You can hear her interview here.

Amelia Traylor is a medical doctor who is also a Superintendent in the River Conference.  This sermon is given when Dr. Traylor is a guest speaker at a UM church and her sermon begins 24 minutes into the service.  You can watch the video by clicking here.

THE GOD WHO SEES AND HEARS

May 21, 2023 By dwayman

THE GOD WHO SEES AND HEARS

Genesis 16

Rev. Dr. Michael Traylor, M.D.

Rev. Traylor is a candidate for bishop.

You can see his introduction here.

To see his interview click here.

This sermon was given on October 30, 2022 at New Hope Free Methodist Church.  Click here and start at the 49th minute into the service with the Scripture reading and Rev. Traylor’s insightful study follows.

PowerPoint for the sermon imbedded in the video:

 

ORDINATION SERVICE

May 16, 2023 By dwayman

Bishop Matt Whitehead

at the Ordination Service of the Free Methodist Church in Southern California, May 2021

II Timothy 4:5

Matt Whitehead is a candidate for Bishop.  See his introduction here.  Hear his interview here.

It’s wonderful to be with you. Obviously, with COVID, we’ve all been dealing with this reality of not being able to be together. It’s been an incredible learning curve, this new role that I’ve been in. My wife said recently, “It will be a shame to come to the end of your four years as a Bishop and never get out of our basement!” So, I’m glad to get out of the basement to be here with you and celebrate.

I’m going to take a few minutes to talk to the ordinands and the ministerial candidates. The rest of you are certainly welcome to listen, but I want to direct my thoughts to you, specifically today, who have taken this significant step of signing on and saying, God, use me! And some of you are coming to the point of ordination, and you’ve been on a journey, and boy, it is not easy to be ordained in the Free Methodist Church. We don’t want it to be frustrating, but it’s not easy. There’s a challenging road. And I know some of you,

PRAYER, MOSES & THE HOLY SPIRIT

May 4, 2023 By dwayman

THREE SERMONS PREACHED AT THE ARBOR CHURCH

KAYE KOLDE, 2023

Kaye Kolde is a candidate for bishop.  Her introduction is available here.

1. BOLD PRAYER

CLICK HERE.  Bold Prayer, Part 1 We look at how Jesus gave us access to a new kind of prayer life, inspired by the Spirit and calling on a good Father. Paul has given us examples of some of the boldest and most inspired prayers to learn from in the book of Ephesians, and they are the basis for this 2 part series.

* 2. THE STORY OF MOSES:  Kill Me Now CLICK HERE.  This message, “Kill Me Now,” is part of a 14 week series called, The Story of Moses. It was a deep look at the life of a man who came to know the Lord intimately while withstanding all the difficulty of leadership and opposition from the Lord’s enemies. * 3. EMPOWERMENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:  Spirit-fueled Movement CLICK HERE.  The basis of renewal at The Arbor Church has been seeking the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, just as it must be for The Free Methodist Church and our mission of catalyzing a Spirit-fueled movement. This message is part 3 in a 7 part series,

THE VINE, THE WINE, and THE SIGN

May 3, 2023 By dwayman

The Vine, The Wine, and The Sign

Linda J. Adams, February 21, 2021

The Arbor Church, Spring Arbor, MI

Linda is a candidate for bishop and is introduced here.

Since I grew up in this church, you will understand why I know almost nothing about wine. So, for much of my life, some the most prominent symbols in the Bible have been invisible to me. My limited experience with vino blinded me for many years to some rich, beautiful, and powerful images in Scripture.

Let me put it this way. In my family, grapes were for eating, or maybe for turning into grape juice, which we almost never drank except once a quarter at church in a tiny little Communion cup. One time my Grandma Beardslee served me home- canned grape juice—it was brownish purple, unpasteurized, pulpy and not nearly as sweet as Welch’s.

My earliest introduction into how wine is made came from an episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy and another woman stomped grapes in a giant vat. Remember this?

I pastored for 10 years in Rochester, NY, near the Finger Lakes with their famous vineyards. Down in Naples, I learned the proper way to eat a Concord grape. Walking through the vines, you pluck a little cluster of grapes off the vine, hold one grape up to your mouth and squish it till that succulent little thing pops into your mouth.

THE LORD WILL FILL HIS TEMPLE WITH GLORY

April 28, 2023 By dwayman

 “THE LORD WILL FILL HIS TEMPLE WITH GLORY”

KENNY MARTIN – at LifeWay FMC in Indianapolis 

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE: HAGGAI 2:1-9

Pastor Kenny Martin is a candidate for bishop.  Click here for his introductory video.

Pastor Kenny Martin is interviewed here.

THE COMING GLORY OF GOD’S HOUSE

2 1“IN THE SEVENTH MONTH, ON THE TWENTY-FIRST OF THE MONTH, THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME BY HAGGAI THE PROPHET, SAYING: 2“SPEAK NOW TO ZE-RUB-BA-BEL THE SON OF SHE-AL-TI-EL, GOVERNOR OF JUDAH, AND TO JOSHUA THE SON OF JE-HO-ZA-DEK, THE HIGH PRIEST, AND TO THE REMNANT OF THE PEOPLE, SAYING: 3‘WHO IS LEFT AMONG YOU WHO SAW THIS TEMPLE IN ITS FORMER GLORY? AND HOW DO YOU SEE IT NOW? IN COMPARISON WITH IT, IS THIS NOT IN YOUR EYES AS NOTHING? 4YET NOW BE STRONG, ZE-RUB-BA-BEL,’ SAYS THE LORD; ‘AND BE STRONG, JOSHUA, SON OF JE-HO-ZA-DEK, THE HIGH PRIEST; AND BE STRONG, ALL YOU PEOPLE OF THE LAND,’ SAYS THE LORD,’ AND WORK; FOR I AM WITH YOU,’ SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS. 5‘ACCORDING TO THE WORD THAT I COVENANTED WITH YOU WHE YOU CAME OUT OF EGYPT, SO MY SPIRIT REMAINS AMONG YOU; DO NOT FEAR!’ 6“FOR THUS SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS: ‘ONCE MORE (IT IS A LITTLE WHILE) I WILL SHAKE HEAVEN AND EARTH, THE SEA AND DRY LAND;

TWO OBSTACLES OF EASTER

April 25, 2023 By dwayman

Two Obstacles of Easter

Benjamin Wayman, St. Paul’s Free Methodist Church

Year A – Easter; 9 April 2023
Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-18

Today Mary helps us see the Lord. And I’m so grateful she does. In John’s Gospel, Mary appears
only twice, but her appearances are at the climax of the story. Her first appearance is at the
foot of the cross, standing with Jesus’s mother, bearing with her the pain of Jesus’s torture and
death. Her second and final appearance is narrated in our reading today: she’s confused by an
empty tomb and greeted by Jesus, whom she mistook to be the gardener.

I wonder how she mistook him. It is not that she didn’t know Jesus. What kept her from seeing
her resurrected Lord? And what is it today that causes us not to see the resurrected Lord?
On this Easter Sunday, I’d like to explore two obstacles that obstruct our seeing and believing
the gospel. My hunch is that one of these obstacles is more substantial for you than the other,
and today we hear stories of how each are overcome by the earliest Christians.

The first obstacle that obstructs our seeing and believing the gospel is death. The second is
resurrection. These two obstacles, the cross and the empty tomb, are what Christians call “the
mystery of Easter.” I’d like to suggest that these two obstacles – the cross and the empty tomb –

THE SIGN OF IMMANUEL

April 21, 2023 By dwayman

“The Sign of Immanuel”
Isaiah 7:10-17
April 16, 2023
Rev. Colleen Hurley-Bates
Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara

Our passage this week in Isaiah 7 brought to mind a parable Jesus told found in Luke 11. It is about persistence in prayer. Here is the main gist: You have a friend who has arrived at midnight and you have no food to give them. So you go to another friend’s home and knock on the door, telling them of your dilemma. This friend, whom you have ostensibly awakened says, “Don’t bother me. I am in bed, my whole household is in bed, and I can’t help you.” Jesus then says, “I tell you the truth, if you are persistent, your friend will get out of bed and give you what you need.” Then, Jesus tells us to ask because it will be given to us, search and we will find, knock and the door will be opened to us. If your child asks you for something good, would you give them something to harm them? No. How much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. (notice it doesn’t say, God will give you what you want. It says you will receive THE SPIRIT.)

This parable is an interesting one. When we read it, it often troubles us how this is about never giving up on prayer,

FOUR CHRISTIAN VIEWS ON SEXUALITY

April 2, 2023 By dwayman

In an attempt to provide clarity in the discussion on Christian responses to same-sex attracted individuals, Josh Proctor provides a nomenclature of Four Christian Views on Sexuality.  These views are stated simply providing resources in support of each view, while emphasizing the SIDE B position.

Proctor notes that this is not a grid for understanding transexual persons, and then says:

“When it comes to Christian understanding of sexuality, there is a wide spectrum of beliefs and perspectives. Today, one of the main systems which has emerged to categorize these perspectives is the “Sides” terminology which is predominantly encompassed by four Sides: Side A, Side B, Side Y, and Side X. No system of belief categorization is perfect, but it can help us better communicate nuances within the conversation.

Before delving into the detailed differences of the Sides, here are quick definitions for each one:

Side A – God intentionally created queer people to have sexual attractions to members of the same sex and blesses sex between members of the same sex within certain boundaries.

Side B – God intended sex to be reserved for the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman. Therefore, God calls all believers (queer and straight alike) to the vocation of celibacy within community or to a monogamous marriage with a member of the opposite sex. Still this does not erasure sexual orientation. Therefore queer identity is a healthy way of communicating one’s experience and desires.