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April 2001
Back Issues
Contents
Blowers
Chair of Christian Ministries to be inaugurated
Emmanuel
School of Religion announces the inauguration of the Russell F. and
Marian J. Blowers Chair of Christian Ministries on Wednesday, April
18, at 10:45 a.m. in the Mildred Welshimer Phillips Chapel on the
campus of Emmanuel School of Religion.
This chair
will provide funding for the faculty position held by Dr. Bruce E.
Shields, Professor of Preaching and Biblical Hermeneutics. Shields
will be installed in the Blowers Chair during this special chapel
service.
Funds for the
Blowers Chair were given primarily through the efforts of the
members of East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, where
Russell and Marian Blowers served for more than 45 years. n
Come
one, come all!
First
Campus Work Day scheduled
Emmanuel
School of Religion will hold its first Campus Work Day on Saturday,
June 9. We are asking individuals, mission committees, youth groups,
and church service teams to rally behind this effort and bring folks
who are willing to roll up their sleeves and help Emmanuel in its
work of ministerial preparation.
Work Day hours
are 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m.,
and lunch will be provided as well.
Particular
tasks will be assigned once we know what groups and individuals are
coming. There are jobs inside and outside, so please let us know how
you would like to be involved.
We can use 100
volunteers who can give us six hours of labor. Please pass this
information on to any church group or individual who might consider
participating in such an event.
To register,
or for further information, contact Danielle Booth, (423) 461-1532
or boothd@esr.edu, at Emmanuel
School of Religion. n
Meditation:
The Real Issue
by Aaron Wymer
(MDiv ’95)
When
men and women came to Jesus with axes to grind, they usually found
they were seeking to sharpen the wrong things. More often than not
Jesus challenged them to put the axes down, bury them, and leave
them behind. They sought his approval only to discover that they
were blind to their own agendas.
“You eat
with sinners,” one says to our Lord. “So does everyone who eats
with you,” Jesus replies, “but God still doesn’t want you to
have to eat alone.” “Your disciples pluck grain on the Sabbath,”
says another. “Do you worship God or the Sabbath?” Jesus
replies. “Let my sons sit at your right and left hands,” pleads
a mother. “Do you not yet understand how God’s power works?”
asks the voluntary slave. “Make my brother give me my share of my
inheritance,” screams the wronged brother. “You’re seeking the
wrong father’s wealth,” Jesus proclaims.
We have to
watch our crusades with particular care. They are often the areas of
our lives that blind us to our own weaknesses, sins, or bruises. In
praying for God to pour light into our lives we are wont to throw a
thick blanket or two over the things we’ve left in the corners,
usually only shielding ourselves from their presence. The horrifying
thing is that the cluttered corners of our souls are frequently
obvious to those around us. Sometimes those closest to us try to
point our eyes in those directions, only to discover we are hurting
too much to address them.
Pay attention
to the areas in life that cause you the most anger and indignation.
Look with a praying eye toward the things that make you want to
preach. Be attentive to that thin line where your sense of humor
disappears and your look grows stern. These places may be tender for
a reason. They may be the places God is trying to heal or
strengthen. Like salt on a wound, or strain on a muscle, that sting
may be a sign of God’s activity.
When God is
our first priority, our second and third priorities lose their power
to control and manipulate us. When we rely on God for our security,
then we never need to be insecure or defensive. So be careful when
you bring your ax to Jesus, instead of grinding it he just might
show you how to beat it into a plowshare. n
Book
Review:
Preaching
Christ from the Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method
By Sidney
Greidanus
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999
Reviewed by
Dr. Bruce E. Shields
Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program and Professor of
Preaching and Biblical Hermeneutics
Considering
all the books on preaching published since 1975, there are
surprisingly few on Christian preaching from the Old Testament.
Perhaps it is because most Christian preachers use New Testament
texts for their sermons; but this does not solve the problem, it
merely illustrates it. Most Christian preaching is based on the
latter one-third of the Bible. Except for good or bad examples, we
rarely hear anything in sermons dealing with the other two thirds.
Elizabeth
Achtemeier and Donald Gowan were earlier exceptions to this
tendency, and now Sidney Greidanus has graced us with this book. His
earlier work, The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text (Eerdmans,
1988), was a step in the right direction, but this book deals
exclusively with our preaching from the Old Testament.
The first two
chapters deal with the importance of preaching from the Old
Testament and the necessity of preaching Christ from the Old
Testament. Chapters three and four survey the history of such
preaching, and here Greidanus deals with allegorical, typological,
four-fold, Christological, and theocentric approaches. The second
half of the book is devoted to explicating the author’s approach,
which is a carefully nuanced Christological reading of biblical
texts. He shows how many of the available hermeneutical models can
be used to get us from Old Testament texts to a Christ-centered
sermon.
In a very
helpful move, Greidanus uses the final twenty plus pages of his book
to walk the reader through the process of developing Christ-centered
sermons starting with a number of different texts.
I am not
totally comfortable with all of Greidanus’ means of getting here
from there. Even after pointing out how people have twisted Old
Testament texts to make Christian applications, he appears to do
some text-twisting of his own. However, on the whole he has done
Christian preachers a great service by reminding us that we should
not neglect the first two thirds of our Bible and by showing us how
we can be true to the text and relevant to our Christian contexts in
preaching. n
Clipnotes
CINDY (CORNWELL) McCACHERN
(MDiv ’88) recently
became a National Board Certified Teacher. Cindy resides in Edmond,
Okla., with her husband, John.
BOB GAILEY (MDiv ’99)
is the campus minister at the University of Florida. He and his
wife, Celeste, reside in Gainesville.
JIM KIRBY (MDiv ’86)
has taken the position of Director of Development for the Oregon
Christian Convention. Jim and his wife, Carla, reside in
McMinnville, Ore.
KEVIN MOONEY (MDiv ’00)
serves as Minister to Youth at East Paulding Christian Church. He
and his wife, Mandy, reside in Hiram, Ga.
CAROL PIERSON (MAR ’97)
will serve on the Preparation for Ministry Committee of Holston
Presbytery. Carol is the Program Director at Rogersville
Presbyterian Church. She resides in Rogersville, Tenn.
TIM AHO (MDiv ’92)
wrote an article on church planting for the joint British Australian
June 7, 2000, edition of The Christian titled “Aerial
Manoevres and Other Risky Business”. Tim and his wife, April,
reside in Solihull England.
MICHAEL BIGELOW (MDiv
’93) received the Navy Achievement Medal and has been promoted to
Lieutenant. Michael and his wife Debra reside in Virginia Beach,
Virginia.
MICHAEL BIGERTON (MDiv
’99) has recently published his novel, Distant Voices: Birth of
the Dream Keeper. Michael resides in Johnson City, Tenn.
WAYNE EMERY (MDiv ’73)
was the speaker for the Southern Indiana Christian Ministers and
Wives Retreat, Feb. 5–6. He gave three presentations on “Maintaining
Energy For Ministry.” Wayne ministers with East Unaka Christian
Church in Johnson City, Tenn., where he resides.
TERRY L. FIGGINS (MDiv
’76) is beginning his second year at Mountainview Christian Church
in Gresham, Ore., as one of two Lead Pastors. Terry and his wife,
Ardith, currently reside in Milwaukie, Ore.
GENE (CHIP) FOWLER
(MDiv ’78) left Bosnia March 5. He served there as the
Stabilization Force Theater Chaplain, a NATO command. Chip worked
with the senior religious leadership throughout Bosnia, as well as
Croatia, to develop a mutually acceptable spiritual environment.
Chip worked with the senior level defense officials in both
countries to establish a viable Chaplaincy within their armed
forces. Chip also helped facilitate non-government organizations
with their missions in Bosnia. Chip will be stationed at Fort Bragg,
N.C., where he will reside with his wife, Lou.
ANDREW GILL (MDiv ’00)
recently wrote an article for the February 4 issue of Christian
Standard titled, “Worship in Community.” Andrew and his
wife, Denise, reside in Pittsburgh, Penn.
PERRY HAAGEN (MDiv ’98)
returned from a seven-month deployment to Guam. Perry and his wife,
Debbi, are now stationed in Port Hueneme (USN), Calif., where he
fills in for many of the duties of the base chaplain and is starting
a contemporary service for the base in the fall.
TOM HARNED (MDiv ’73)
is stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany as the Chief of Plans,
Programs, and Evaluations Division for the Command Chaplain. Tom
will be providing commanders and senior chaplains with professional
program expertise, resource material, and training necessary to
ensure an effective chaplain program designed to meet the needs of
40,000 personnel serving in seven countries. Tom also serves as the
chaplain member of the HQ USAFE Inspector’s General’s Office and
serves on several cross-functional committees.
MICHAEL HILLEY (MAR
’86) and his wife, Terri, have recently moved to Jacksonville,
Fla., where he serves as the Senior Minister to Fort Caroline
Christian Church.
NEIL JOHNSTON (92–96)
now serves as Senior Minister with Norkenzie Church in Eugene, Ore.
Neil and his wife, Alisa, reside in Eugene.
MARK KNOX (MDiv ’89)
concluded 15 months of training at the US Army Family Life Chaplain
Training Center at Fort Hood, Texas. In addition to 500 hours of
supervised marriage and family counseling, Mark also earned a Master’s
Degree in Counseling Psychology. Mark now serves as the Family Life
Chaplain at Fort Knox, Ky., where he and his wife, Diane, reside.
LAURA LOVEJOY (MDiv
’94) was granted Board Certified Chaplain status by the
Association of Professional Chaplains. She also recently appeared in
a Mayo Clinic produced program on the connection between
spirituality and healing to raise awareness of chaplain presence
within the healthcare team. Laura is currently working with St. Mary’s
Hospital in Rochester, Minn., where she resides with her husband,
Dean.
GLEN MILES (MDiv ’88)
will present the paper, “An Exegetical, Theological and
Hermeneutical Study of Jeremiah 31:31–34 as a Model for Pastoral
Preaching” to the Society of Biblical Literature’s international
Meeting to be held in Rome July 8–12, 2001. The meeting sessions
will take place in the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the
Pontifical Gregorian University. Glen currently serves as Senior
Minister with Sandy Springs Christian Church in Atlanta, Ga., where
he lives with his wife, Julie.
DEBORAH M. POWELL
(MDiv ’98) will be sponsored by the Florissant Rotary Club to be
the Ambassador to Brazil for the Rotary International Group Study
Exchange in Parana, Brazil. Deborah is the Librarian for St. Louis
Christian College. She resides in Florissant, Mo.
BRUCE L. SMITH (MDiv
’72) wrote an article for the February 4 issue of Christian
Standard titled, “How to Have Better Preaching at Your Church.”
Bruce is a Professor of Preaching at Cincinnati Bible College. He
and his wife, Brenda, reside in Covington, Ky.
KEN SMITH (MDiv ’97,
current DMin student) and his wife, Wendy, celebrated the birth of a
son, Jacob Randall, January 26. Ken is an Associate Minister with
Coquille Christian Community Church in Coquille, Ore., where he
resides with his family.
DAVID TYSINGER (MDiv
’83, current DMin student) is now serving as Minister to Franklin
Heights Christian Church in Vincennes, Ind.
MICHELE WOLLERT (MAR
’90) recently presented a paper in conjunction with Dr. Russell
West of East Tennessee State University to the Mid-South Educational
Research Association. Michele is an Associate Minister at Grandview
Christian Church in Johnson City, Tenn., where she resides with her
husband, David.
n
Annual
Spring Phonathon benefits General Fund
Our Spring
phonathon for Eastern and Central time zones is now complete, and
gifts to meet the deficit in the general fund have been very
generous. We continue to be awed by the way God works through
His people to accomplish great things for the Kingdom.
Emmanuel has experienced many wonderful blessings recently through
our students, our new student housing, and our expanded
Library. However, now is the time to turn our focus to our general
fund. Emmanuel has worked hard to be fiscally responsible as
evidenced by the fact that we have completed 14 consecutive
years of operating in the black. With the help of our
friends we can continue that record and make it 15. There is
still time to participate in this balance-the-budget effort.
Gifts should be earmarked for the budget deficit and
received at the seminary before the end of our fiscal year on
May 31. n
Western
Student Scholarship Dinners
The second
round of Western Student Scholarship Dinners to benefit Emmanuel
students from the West will be held on the east slope of the
Cascades from April 29 through May 5.
The Western
Scholarship Dinners raise funds to provide tuition aid to students
coming from the west. The generosity and hard work of our friends
and alumni living in the west enabled fourteen students to benefit
from full tuition scholarships this fall.
Terry
Schofield, an M.Div. student who will receive his Master of Divinity
degree this May, will be the featured speaker at these dinners this
spring. Terry has served in various ministry positions in Tennessee
and Kentucky over the past 15 years. His post-Emmanuel goals include
planting a multi-cultural church within the next ten years.
The schedule
of dinners is:
- Twin
Falls Area Dinner, Sunday,
April 29, First Christian Church, Dave Drullinger, Chair
- Meridian
Area Dinner, Monday,
April 30, Cherry Lane Christian Church, Steve Moore, Chair
- Imbler
Area Dinner, Tuesday,
May 1, Imbler Christian Church, Irwin Smutz, Chair
- Nezperce
Area Dinner, Wednesday,
May 2, Nezperce Christian Church, George Kraus, Chair
- Dayton
Area Dinner, Thursday,
May 3, First Christian Church, David Bruce, Chair
- Central
Oregon Dinner, Saturday,
May 5, High Lakes Christian Church, LaPine, Rich Butler, Chair n
Faculty Notes
ELEANOR A.
DANIEL attended a steering committee meeting for “The Nature
and Assessment of Theological Learning” in Chicago on March 27.
She will attend the TCM board meeting April 6–7. On March 3 she
was an evaluator for Destination Imagination, a program designed to
encourage creativity among school age children at East Tennessee
State University. On April 28, Dr. Daniel will lead a workshop on
medicine and faith in Johnson City, Tenn.
JACK B. HOLLAND
will be the featured speaker for the Fig Tree Fellowship Brunch
April 21 at Emmanuel School of Religion.
THOMAS F. JONES
Jr. has been coaching church plants at Community Christian
Church in Charlotte, N.C., in New Orleans, La., and Greenville, S.C.
BRUCE E.
SHIELDS led a worship service at Appalachian Christian Village
in Johnson City, Tenn., February 27. He presented a paper on worship
at the joint Emmanuel-Pepperdine University faculty retreat in
Malibu, Calif., February 10. He preached at Bluefield College of
Evangelism in Bluefield, W.V., February 20.
n
Development & Recruitment
on the Road
DAVID FULKS to
Berry College, Atlanta Christian College, Georgia Tech, Auburn
University, West Hills Christian Church, University of Southern
Indiana, St. Louis Christian College in March; to Ozark Christian
College, Central Christian College, Murray State University in
April.
DAN LAWSON to
Florida in March; to Idaho in April; and to Colorado in May.
JEFF MCNABB to
East Tennessee, Virginia, Chicago area and Canton in March; to
Virginia and Indiana in April; and to Indiana and East Tennessee in
May.
JERRY RUDBERG to
Twin Falls, Meridian, Imbler, Nezperce, Dayton, and to Central
Oregon for the Western Student Scholarship Dinners (East Slope) in
April and May.
C. ROBERT
WETZEL preached at Hays Christian Church in Hays, Kan., Oakley
Christian Church, in Oakley, Kan., and The Christian Church in Los
Alamos, N.M., in March. Dr. Wetzel toured Garden City, Liberal, and
Hugoton, Kan.; Santa Fe, N.M.; and Choctaw, Okla., in March. In
April, Dr. Wetzel will be in the Philippines and Korea.
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