Seven years ago*, God dragged John Mohan "kicking and screaming" into a new career.

Mohan, an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene, went from being a self-described "typical white suburban pastor, with little awareness of homelessness," to chief executive officer (CEO) of Siloam Mission, an urban Nazarene Compassionate Ministry Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, arguably the coldest capital city in the world.

Call and consecration are two powerful aspects of holiness and they relate to our status in relation to God. Through God's call and our consecration to God, we have been drawn into a special relation—we are God's possession and are dedicated to God's exclusive service.

We have been spiritually transferred from the fallen world into God's presence. Through the Holy Spirit, we have been introduced into the fellowship between the Father and the Son.

Nearly every morning, Annie (my Golden Retriever) and I go for a walk. I’m fairly certain that our walks are different than some: ours is an adventure in discovery. We stop at every telephone pole and every pillar. Every blowing leaf has to be examined and trash is a gold mine just waiting to be pounced upon (she is still a pup after all). While I walk in straight lines, she is a constant back and forth zig-zag. But, she is growing up.

The Church recently celebrated Pentecost. Christians rejoice that the Holy Spirit has been poured out in such a way as to expand the Church beyond all borders and boundaries. Acts 2 (echoing the prophetic words of Joel 2) and the Gospels demonstrate that God seeks to extend His Church and His redemptive love to all creation.

Ann Cubie Rearick and Mary Rearick Paul, mother and daughter, were both raised in ministry homes and are both still in ministry. Here, these women express their perspectives regarding the experience of growing up in a holiness environment.

Ann Cubie Rearick:

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14, KJV)."

Agatha was only 16 years old. Although she was a teenager, her pastor trusted Agatha to plan a mission trip for her youth group, leaving their home town of Nilopoli, Brazil, to work in Curitiba, Brazil. Agatha, now a mother of three young children recalls how she "took applications, rented a bus, contacted pastors, and calculated money to spend on food." As a leader in her youth group planning these "social action days," Agatha was given hands-on experience that taught her to be "both a social activist and a preacher of the gospel."

Something has happened in the communication world that is driving me crazy. Robots call my cell phone several times a day with exciting news that I have won an exotic cruise, scored an amazing price on car insurance, or am eligible to receive a government rebate on a walk-in bathtub. Thankfully, my cell phone company knows my plight and flags those calls. When the caller’s number appears on my phone screen, the words “Scam Likely” appear in red letters.

I was traveling down the highway in the cab of a large flatbed truck, sitting next to an Over the Road (OTR) driver who was new to my church congregation. Over our seven-hour ride, I asked him many questions and learned about some of the ins-and-outs of the business. I had just asked him about training for becoming an OTR driver when he down shifted and pulled off at the nearest exit. We stopped before hitting the stop sign at the top of the ramp and I heard a loud psssshhhh as he popped the air brakes on. “Load problem!” he said, as he opened the door and hopped out.

Traditionally, we Wesleyans have always looked a little odd when compared to our surrounding Christian culture. John Wesley himself seemingly spent his entire career in the British Isles clashing with the Calvinist majority over doctrinal issues, and the Anglican majority over issues of church practice.

Our churches maintain a strange silence about the resurrection.

I don't mean that we are silent about Jesus' resurrection, especially around Easter time. Like the Early Church, we affirm it wholeheartedly. But unlike the Early Church, we often consider it as God's chief miracle in a showcase of other miracles without being able to articulate why it is significance for us. I'm not inferring that we are silent about "life after death" or "going to heaven when you die" either.