Wesleyan Integration Article Accepted

In January I was asked by the President to serve as chair of an ad hoc committee on "Hallmarks of Wesleyan Higher Education." The committee consisted of Diane Leclerc, Rhonda Carrim, and Gene Schandorff. Diane and I decided to do additional work to prepare the article to be published. Diane wrote the theological hallmarks and I worked on some of the educational aspects. Diane and I sent the article to the editor of the Wesley Theological Journal to see if it might be considered for publication. The article is titled, "Wesleyan Integration: A Distinctive Philosophy of Education." We recieved word on that the article will be published in the WTS journal, Fall 2010.

Attended Worship at Meridian Valley Shepherd Nazarene

Today we visited the Meridian Valley Shepherd Church of the Nazarene. We enjoyed our time of worship and fellowship at Valley Shepherd. Pastor Tim Pusey was finishing a sermon series in 2 Corinthians. He preached from I Corinthians 12: 7-10. He focused the sermon on Paul's "thorn" in the flesh. He talked about the range of interpretations of what "thorn" means such as physical or emotional, but concluded that biblical scholars are not sure. He emphasized that all of us will face situations as Christians where we will put in situations where we think we are not capable of handling. He reminded us that whatever our "thorn" may be that "God's grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (v. 9). Pastor Pusey did a great job communicating the important of when we are weak, God is strong.

It was also very rewarding to see two of NNU graduates, Tom Foisy and Casey Wilkerson. Tom is the youth pastor and Casey the children's pastor. They both made us proud in the service. Several other NNU students serve as interns, Matt Dayton and Roland Teddar.

We enjoyed lunch with Pastor Tim and Cindy Pusey along with his daughter Krista and her friend Josh. Pastor Pusey's parents, Paul and Louise Pusey were friends of the senior pastor where I served on staff ministry in Lexington, Kentucky. It has been reconnecting with the Pusey family.

Articles Accepted for Publication

I have been busy writing this week. I finished a chapter on "Christian Spiritual Formation" for a book being written by two of my close friends, Jim Estep and Jonathan Kim titled, "Christian Formation and Development" by Broadman-Holeman.

I also submitted the following articles a couple of weeks ago and they were approved for publication.

• Book review: “Teaching That Transform: Worship as the Heart of Christian Education.” Christian Education Journal, Debra Dean Murphy (Fall 2009).
  
• Maddix, Mark A. John Wesley’s Formative Experiences: Foundations for his Educational Perspectives. Didache (June 2009)
  
• Maddix, Mark A. Christian Spiritual Formation, In Foundations of Christian Formation and Development. James Estep and Jonathan Kim, 2009 (Nashville: Broadman-Holeman).
  
• Maddix, Mark A. John Wesley and a Holistic Approach to Christian Education. Wesley Theological Journal, Fall 2009 (44: 2).

I am waiting to hear on the other articles I submitted for publication. I should hear about them in the next few weeks.

I will be working on the book project next week. Dean Blevins from Nazarene Theological Seminary and I are writing a Christian Education textbook for the Church of the Nazarene. The book is titled, Didache: Faithful Discipleship. We hope to have the book project done by this summer.

Catholicity of the Chruch-February 15

During my sabbatical I plan to visit several local congregations in the Treasure Valley. I always value the opportunity to worship with my brother and sisters from other faith traditions. I am reminded of the catholicity of the church and the important role we all play in proclaiming the good news of peace.

This Sunday I attended two local congregations in Nampa; Bethel Church of the Nazarene and First United Methodist Church. I enjoyed attending Bethel Church of the Nazarene and hearing Pastor Doug Wilson preach. His sermon on Hebrews 13:15-25, which concluded a sermon series on the book of Hebrews. His sermon focused on continuing to offer God a sacrifice of praise (v. 15). He tackled a difficult section of the passage that focused on "obey leaders and submit to their authority" (v. 17). He talked about the challenges that spiritual leaders face today and the need for us to pray for our pastors and church leaders. It reminded me of the importance of praying for all leaders who have authority over others, especially those in spiritual leadership. Before the sermon, the worship team lead us in worship and participation in communion. This was a very meaningful time of worship.

I also enjoyed attending First United Methodist Church. I met Pastor Kim Fields at the Wesley Conference a couple of weeks ago. We talked about the changing landscape of the church and the need to develop new avenues of ministry. Pastor Fields preached a wonderful message on "pouring new wine into old wineskins." He talked about how hard it is to move from the past into the future. Tradition is important, but sometimes we are called to move beyond tradition and the old to the new. He challenged us to move beyond the comfortable to minister to those who are not like us, including those who might make us uncomfortable. He ended the sermons by talking about the new changes the church has made recently, all of which were hard, but necessary to be missional. The service focused on the thinking of new possibilities of what God might be calling us to do. I enjoyed my time of worship with Pastor Fields and the folks at First United Methodist.

I look forward to worshipping with other local congregations in the Treasure Valley during the next few weeks. It reminds me again of the catholicity of the Church and the oneness we have in Christ Jesus.

Articles Submitted for Publication

During the last few weeks I have been working on several articles for publication. Some of have been developed out of my dissertation from a few years ago. Others are more recent work in Christian Education. I am always hesitate to submit articles for review in fear they will be rejected. I submitted the following articles and a book review. I hope they are published...time will tell:)

• James Michael Lee's Social Science Theory: A Critical Analysis of his Theory and implications for Christian education. (Journal of Research on Christian Education).
• The Clergy Laity Dichotomy: A Biblical Model of the People of God (Christian Education Journal).
• Toward a Postmodern Approach to Christian Education (Christian Education Journal).
• John Wesley’s Theology and Educational Perspectives: Toward A Holistic Approach to Christian Education (Wesley Theological Journal).
• John Wesley’s Formative Experiences: Foundations for His Educational Ministry Perspectives (Didache: Faithful Teaching)
• Teaching that transforms: Worship as the heart of Christian education. By Debra Dean Murphy. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press. 2004. 255 pp. $26.00. (Book Review for Christian Education Journal).
• Transformational, Experiential, and Non-formal Learning: Foundations for Adult Christian Education. (Journal of Religious Education).

Wesley Conference at NNU, February 5-7

The 2009 Wesley Center Conference theme "Christian Love: Theory and Practice" was a great event. Over 350 people attended along with 1000 via a live simulcast. Tom Oord, my colleague and friend, did a great job of organizing and planning this years event. The plenary speakers included Michael Lodahl, professor of theology at Point Loma Nazarene University. Michael has authored several books including The Story of God: A Narrative Theology, God of Love and God of Grace, and When Love Bends Down; Stephen Post, professor of ethics at Stoneybrook in New York. He has author numerous books including, When Good Things Happen to Good People, Altruism and Health, Altruism and Altruistic Love. http://www.stephengpost.com/

I presented presented a workshop, Emerging Discipleship: Cultivating a life of love, learning, and compassion, and facilitated a panel discussion that included college and seminary students. The panel discussion was titled, Love for the next generation.