Check out the earlier articles in this series where Maxie shared about the need for personal holiness (part 1), surrender (part 2), and character (part 3). A couple of years ago I was smitten in my heart by a word I heard in the ordination service of the Free Methodist Church. It was verses 4 and 5 of Ezekiel 2:
So far in this series, I have shared how personal holiness and surrender have kept me spiritually alive throughout my ministry. Let me now make my case and offer specific notions which I pray might have at least some hints of wisdom. Spiritual, emotional, and relational growth takes time and energy. It requires discipline. It diverts us from “pastoral duties”
In my last article, I took the long way around to getting to where I really want to be in my sharing with you. Often the Holy Spirit speaks to us in some very personal way to lift us out of discouragement – but not only so, calls us to make an on-course adjustment in our pattern of life and
There are some experiences or encounters that are so solidly lodged in our memory they continue to invade our consciousness – to haunt us – to help us or to hinder our Christian walk, to call and challenge us to be more than we are. John Birkbeck is a person around whom for me a whole cluster of memories is
In my two previous articles (read part 1 here and part 2 here) we focused on two of the big truths the three wise men can teach us. One, only the wise know their wisdom is incomplete and limited. Two, the wise men not only know their wisdom is incomplete they know they can’t save themselves. Those who are wise always know that their wisdom
In my last article, I began reflecting on the Three Wise Men in the Christmas story. I began by insisting only the wise know their wisdom is incomplete and limited. These wise men had journeyed along a difficult path, looking for a king, using the very best science they knew, following a star. But somehow, along the way, their guidance
Two men were sitting together on an airplane, one an astronomer, the other a theologian. After a while each began to share his understanding of the other’s discipline. The astronomer said, “I believe that all religion can be summed up in the phrase, ‘Jesus Loves Me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’” The theologian, somewhat miffed at this simplistic
Even with modern technology, I like the daily newspaper. I pay close attention to the front page and read the articles there that get attention. Then I turn the inner pages to see what is there. It was an inside article, but the headline caught my attention: FORMER ADDICT OFFERS HAIRCUTS TO HOMELESS PEOPLE IN LOS ANGELES. I couldn’t resist
When Nathaniel Hawthorne came home in utter despair and failure after losing his job in the Customs House, his wife responded, “Now you can write that book you have always wanted to write.” Under that kind of uplifting support, Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter, one of the greatest pieces of literature the world has ever known. The truth is there
As Christians we do not emerge full-grown. Salvation is not a one -time event. To see it in its fullness, we talk about “going on to salvation.” If any doctrines within the whole compass of Christianity may be properly termed fundamental, they are doubtless these two—the doctrine of justification, and that of the new birth. The former relates to that
What? Count it all joy? After a brief greeting, James begins his Epistle, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” (James 1:2 KJV) There is no hesitation, no fumbling to get to the point. It’s really a shout, COUNT IT ALL JOY! He continues, “when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing
How could I even consider just briefly nodding my mind at the incarnation with the one article I trust you received, The Scandal of the Incarnation. So, here is more since this is Christianity’s unique and central claim: the Incarnation, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14) Our nearest English equivalent to the Greek term that
It’s interesting to note that Jesus’ final commandment to evangelize never mentioned ministering to the hungry and sick. Before his crucifixion he had pictured the last judgment as a time when his true disciples would be separated from the unfaithful. He made one distinction between the faithful and the unfaithful. The true disciples would be those who have carried out
How could Jesus be truly human and truly divine? That’s a question commonly asked. Theology calls it INCARNATION. In fact there is often talk of the Scandal of the Incarnation. After a little reflection, we may best put the question, not how but why did Jesus become both human and divine? Let’s think about it. Few men in the twentieth
We are in the midst of the Advent season. It’s Christmas time. Let’s stay with the story…at least reflect seriously a bit. A central figure is Joseph. He is perplexed, deeply perplexed. The woman to whom he is engaged is pregnant and he knows the baby is not his. He is wrestling with what to do. Will he expose her,
I’m Maxie. She’s Jerry, my wife. The setting is almost always the same. Someone introducing us to strangers will say, ‘These are our friends, Jerry and Maxie Dunnam.’ Far more times than not, the person to whom we are being introduced assumes Jerry is the husband and Maxie is the wife. I can’t begin to come close to telling you
This is the seventh installment in Maxie’s series on Core Convictions. You can find the first seven articles here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Someone will say “You have faith; I have deeds. ” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even
This is the seventh installment in Maxie’s series on Core Convictions. You can find the first six articles here, here, here, here, here, and here. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If
This is the sixth installment in Maxie’s series on Core Convictions. You can find the first five articles here, here, here, here and here. In previous articles, we explored the case that all need to be saved, all can be saved, all can know they are saved, and all can be saved to the uttermost. Having laid these forth, we now
This is the fifth installment in Maxie’s series on Core Convictions. You can find the first four articles here, here, here and here. In daily conversation of Christians from different denominational expressions, it’s difficult to talk long about salvation before someone raises a question or makes a claim about “falling from grace.” The term is used when discussing eternal security (what
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