Spiritual exercises of rejection and acceptance

Reflecting on the Book of Daniel led to this explanation and description of two spiritual exercises.  I shared it with my congregation in a worship service structured around the hymn "Amazing Grace," the call to worship was based on 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (MSG), and the scripture lessons were Daniel 1: 3-5; John 1: 45-51.

The Christian life-cycle

Reflection on Peter's denial of Christ and its implication for us.

Gluttony-- the first temptation?

I've started jotting down notes on the topic of gluttony.  My purpose here is to try to take seriously the notion that gluttony is the first temptation that is usually confronted when a person initially sets out to follow a more disciplined spirituality.  The first encountered and the first that must be overcome in order to progress.  Wesley certainly emphasized the need be practice self-denial when it came to food and drink.  This principle is no longer considered to be integral to United Methodist identity.  Do you consider this to be an advancement over Wesley, a loss of something vital to faith development, or something in between?