Episode 23 Matthew Johnson: Entire Sanctification and the Guide to Holiness

In today’s episode, the Rev. Matthew Johnson and I talk about his interest and passion for the transformational message of Christian holiness. Matthew shares his own life experience as well as draws from mentors and his extensive research into contemporary and historical writings on entire sanctification. We also talk about his newsletter “A Guide to Holiness” that shares testimonies of God’s work of sanctifying grace.

How to connect with Matthew Johnson

revmhj.com 

scripturalholiness.com (sign up for newsletter there; content coming by end of year)

@revmhj on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.

Here are the books Matthew mentions in answer to questions:

Amy Caswell Bratton - Witnesses of Perfect Love: Narratives of Christian Perfection in Early Methodism https://amzn.to/3hZz68s

Chris Bounds Unholiness: Overcoming the Forces That Attack Your Soul https://amzn.to/3bjJAwC 

Kevin Watson Old or New School Methodism?: The Fragmentation of a Theological Tradition https://amzn.to/31SHr8g

These are Matthew's recommendations:

Samuel Logan Brengle - Helps to Holiness. http://wesleyanbooks.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WB&Product_Code=0388&Category_Code=

Dennis Kinlaw - Prayer: Bearing the World as Jesus Did. https://amzn.to/3lITjRU 

Preaching in the Spirit https://amzn.to/3hO0iGZ 

Robert Coleman - Nothing to Do But Save Souls. https://amzn.to/2QLuPcA 

Mildred Bangs Wynkoop - A Theology of Love: The Dynamic of Wesleyanism (2nd ed) https://amzn.to/3jG3wN8 

Bio:

Matthew Johnson is one of the associate pastors at Central United Methodist Church in Rogers, AR.

He has served as an United Methodist pastor for sixteen years. He graduated from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2003, was ordained an elder in the United Methodist Church in 2007, and has served his current church since July 2018. He also received from Asbury Theological Seminary the Doctor of Ministry degree in 2017. His project was on Reintroducing the Doctrine and Experience of Christian Perfection to United Methodists.

He’s been married since 2001 and he and his wife have one incredibly awesome daughter.

When he’s not reading, researching, or writing, he’s running, biking, or hanging with his family.

Links are affiliate links to Amazon. This podcast receives a small fee from Amazon. This does not increase your sale price. Thank you for supporting my show by purchasing recommended books and resources.

Episode 21 Dr Elaine Heath: Contemplative Spirituality, Sanctification, and the Healing of Trauma

In this week’s episode, Dr. Elaine Heath takes us deep into contemplative spirituality, entire sanctification, and the healing of trauma. Dr. Heath draws on her expertise in Scripture, spiritual formation (rooted in contemplative spirituality), mission and the theology of Phoebe Palmer. We have a rich conversation about inner healing and holiness. 

Books by Dr. Elaine Heath:

The Healing Practice of Celebration, (Nashville: Abingdon, 2020). https://amzn.to/3iWxSuB   

Healing the Wounds of Sexual Abuse: Reading the Bible with Survivors (A revised and retitled new edition of We Were the Least of These: Reading the Bible with Survivors of Sexual Abuse) (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2019). https://amzn.to/3hdOSvY 

The Mystic Way of Evangelism: A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach, Revised and Updated 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2017). https://amzn.to/3aD90oC  

Five Means of Grace: Experiencing God’s Love the Wesleyan Way. Nashville: Abingdon, 2017. https://amzn.to/3j0jstv 

God Unbound: Wisdom from Galatians for the Anxious Church. Nashville: Upper Room, May 2016. https://amzn.to/3kZXRDf  

Missional.Monastic.Mainline. A Guide to Starting Missional Micro-Communities in Historically Mainline Traditions. Eugene: Cascade, 2014. https://amzn.to/3kWBjTQ  

The Gospel According to Twilight: Women, Sex and God. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2011. https://amzn.to/3iOi90C 

We Were the Least of These: Reading the Bible with Survivors of Sexual Abuse. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2011. https://amzn.to/3hdOSvY 

Longing for Spring: A New Vision for Wesleyan Community, co-authored with Scott Kisker. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2010. https://amzn.to/3iWylNn 

Naked Faith: The Mystical Theology of Phoebe Palmer, Princeton Theological Monograph Series. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2010. https://amzn.to/34dMJwq

The Mystic Way of Evangelism: A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008. https://amzn.to/3aD90oC 

More Light on the Path: Daily Scripture Readings in Hebrew and Greek, co-authored with David Baker, with a Foreword by Eugene Peterson. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1999; electronic version published by Logos Bible Software, 2006.

Books Recommended by Dr. Elaine Heath:

Besser van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma https://amzn.to/3gdqB7G  

Morton Kelsey, Psychology, Medicine, and Christian Healing

Andrew Sung Park, The Wounded Heart of God: The Asian Concept of Han and the Christian Doctrine of Sin https://amzn.to/2EdhNS9  

Julian of Norwich, Showings https://amzn.to/328qy8d   

Ann Taves, Fits, Trances, and Visions: experiencing religion and explaining experience from Wesley to James https://amzn.to/34e5q3h 

Full Bio:

Elaine Heath is an author, retreat leader, speaker and consultant. Her work is interdisciplinary, weaving together the study of Scripture, theology, and Christian spirituality with the practices of ministry in ways that help the church to reach beyond its walls and into the community. She is the former Dean of Duke Divinity School as well as the former McCreless Professor of Evangelism at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. She is co-founder of Missional Wisdom Foundation, President of Neighborhood Seminary, and an Elder in the United Methodist Church. She currently lives in intentional community at Spring Forest, a farm in North Carolina, where she serve as Abbess.

Connect with Dr. Heath:

Her website is www.elaineaheath.org 

The website for Spring Forest, the intentional community, farm, and decentralized mission church that I help to lead is www.springforest.org. 

The website for Neighborhood Seminary is www.neighborhoodseminary.org. 

Links to Amazon are affiliate links. Deep Dive Spirituality Conversations gets a small fee if you purchases products through the links. This does not affect the price you pay. Thank you for supporting my podcast by ordering some of the suggested resources.

Episode 17 How Scripture, Spirit, Community, and Mission Shape Our Souls...

In this week’s episode Dr. Evan Howard shares his deep knowledge and wisdom regarding the process of how God shapes our souls.
Evan B. Howard, Ph.D. is the founder and director of Spirituality Shoppe, a Center for the Study of Christian Spirituality. He is also an affiliate faculty with Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality, A Guide to Christian Spiritual Formation: How Scripture, Spirit, Community, and Mission Shape Our Souls and other books and articles. He leads workshops and seminars on Christian Spirituality and enjoys living a simple life with family and animals in rural Colorado.
websites and social media
website - spiritualityshoppe.org;
Youtube channel - www.youtube.com/channel/UCgBNf5GVUgUuqEwslXvOfQ
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/evan.b.howard

Books by Dr. Evan Howard:

Praying the Scriptures: A Field Guide for Your Spiritual Journey (IVP, 1999) https://amzn.to/32GDYdH 

The Brazos Introduction to Christian Spirituality (Brazos 2008): https://amzn.to/2CCrj0I

Discovering Lectio Divina: Bringing Scripture into Ordinary Life (IVP, 2012) https://amzn.to/30C9SFp

Guide to Christian Spiritual Formation: How Scripture, Spirit, Community, and Mission Shape Our Souls (Baker 2018) https://amzn.to/2OMwu0r 

Book Mentioned and Recommended by Dr. Howard

Toyohiko Kagawa: An Apostle of Love and Social Justice https://amzn.to/31ZGdsi 

The links to Amazon are affiliate links. Amazon pays a small royalty to Brian Russell for any materials purchased through these links (your purchase price is not affected). Thank you for supporting the Deep Dive Spirituality Conversations podcast!

Episode 11 The Wesleyan Renewal, Holiness, and Transformation with Dr Ryan Danker

In this week’s episode, Dr. Ryan Danker helps us to understand the context of the Wesleyan renewal in 18th century England in ways that will help us think about Gospel ministry in the 21st century. We take a deep dive into true power and optimism of Wesleyan theology by discussing its proclamation of holiness of heart and life. 

Bio:

An active United Methodist, Ryan Danker is a church historian with a passion for evangelical studies, and in particular the early Wesleyan/Methodist movement under John and Charles Wesley. Born in Portland, Oregon, Danker served United Methodist churches in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference. He currently serves as a member of the United Methodist/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Dialogue. He is active in the American Academy of Religion, the Wesleyan Theological Society, and the Charles Wesley Society. Before his appointment at Wesley, Danker served on the faculty at Greensboro College in North Carolina where he was also Special Assistant to the President and a member of the Advisory Board of the Royce and Jane Reynolds Center for Church Leadership. 

Education

• B.A., Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, ID
• M.Div., The Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC
• Th.D., The School of Theology, Boston University, Boston, MA

Twitter: @RyanNDanker

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5F9C_humHnVSZyz4tMy0yw

Books by Dr. Danker

Exploring a Wesleyan Political Theology (editor and contributor; Wesley’s Foundry books, 2019) https://amzn.to/2U5cXvo 

Wesley and the Anglicans: Political Division in Early Evangelicalism (IVP, 2016) https://amzn.to/2MtVUPb 

Books Recommend by Dr. Danker

Geoffrey Wainwright Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine, and life: A Systematic Theology https://amzn.to/2z7DLDT 

Robert Louis Wilken The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God https://amzn.to/2MuiqaW

The Book of Common Prayer 

Liberation, Sanctification, Mission: Reflections on the Meaning of the Exodus

In his song “Jokerman” from the album Infidels, Bob Dylan sings in part in the first verse, “Freedom just around the corner for you, but with truth so far off what good will it do?”  This is a poignant reminder that freedom is not something inherently good and desirable.  Dylan suggests that freedom apart from truth may not be the good that some make it out to be.    

In a popular reading of the book of Exodus, it is fashionable to emphasize Exodus as a story of liberation to freedom. Cinematic renditions of the Exodus tend to reinforce this understanding.  The animated file The Prince of Egypt ends with the crossing of the Red Sea.  Cecile B. DeMile’s epic The Ten Commandments does include the reception of the Ten Commandments at Sinai but its dominant focus is on the liberation of Israel as is the recent Exodus: Gods and Kings. Yet, when approaching the book of Exodus, the reader may be surprised that the story of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt encompasses only the first 15 chapters of its 40.  The dominant feature of Exodus in terms of space is not the story of liberation but God's encounter with God's people at Sinai in which the newly delivered nation of Israel learns what it means to live together as a holy community as the people of God for the sake of God's mission to the nations.

In other words, the book of Exodus is not a story of liberation, if one means by liberation a narrative of deliverance to autonomous freedom. Israel is not free at any point in the book of Exodus. In fact, there is no word for freedom in the Old Testament. The book of Exodus then is actually a book about mission and sanctification. God delivers his covenant people from an illegitimate ruler, Pharaoh, who sought to prevent Israel from fulfilling the purposes for which God had called Israel’s ancestors (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) to accomplish – namely serving as a missional community for the rest of creation by being the agents through whom God would bless the world. God does liberate Israel from bondage, but it is a purposeful deliverance in which Israel is not granted autonomous freedom (or even democracy) but is unleashed into the world in order to fulfill God’s creation wide salvific purposes. The narrative of Exodus then is about unleashing God’s people from bondage and shaping them into a holy community, which will embody the redemption that God seeks to work. The climax of the book of Exodus is God’s glory coming to dwell in the midst of his people. Israel becomes a nation that mediates the grace and holiness of God as it embodies its Sinai calling of living as a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod 19:6).

The focus of Exodus then is on shaping an ethos in which the liberated do not become the oppressors. Salvation for God's people is thus not merely about the elimination of sin or deliverance from some form of oppression. Rather Exodus is truly about a conversion to a mission – namely a participation in God’s salvific purposes for Creation. God’s people serve as a missional community that reflects God’s character to/for/in the nations.

This model of liberation for mission is the Biblical model of salvation and needs to inform our practice as followers of Jesus today.

© 2015 Brian D. Russell