Medearis is too busy now in Jordan (told him I understandtotally). I therefore request my immediate reinstatement at the Edmonton Institution. It forgives the unfaithful spouse, the racist, the child abuser. Surely I did not mean to mock them, and am sorry if it came across to you that way. Philip, Amen to that! Too much love and not enough Love perhaps, the latter which includes a bit more Yang and Rigour as part of it. I found a copy of your The Jesus I Never Knew at a local book giveaway recently, I felt the need to find a way to thank you for writing it. If true, this would have been a breach of confidentiality since Paul is my colleague, not my boss (I report to Bridges of Canada, the AWI and the Archbishop, and the AWI). On page 15 a man from Iowa said, I know there is a God: I believe he exists, I just dont know what to believe of him. These words rang true with me as I wonder if God set the world in motion and then decided to step away. Prayer: Thank you Lord for Your sacrifice, your unconditional love and for Your hope. Should I just believe? The traditional age for creation is 6000 years ago. In 1988, after 4 years as a well-liked chaplain at the TEDC [1], I moved to Alberta to become the Protestant chaplain at the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre (FSCC). Shortly afterwards, a couch appeared in my office. I have only just stumbled upon your beautiful library of books and would like to purchase the paperback version of an earlier book, The Question That Never Goes Away: Why? I have checked all book sellers (Christianbook.com; Barnes & Noble; and Amazon but could not find it. Well, Jesus was accused of being mad, and of having a demon too, so He knows how it feels! My days are all the same now.loneliness, unemployment, worry, conflict. That was because my wife and I once went through that similar situation. Your comments touch me deeply. i was introduced to your work by my lecture at Bible School in South Africa. .) I recommend it to you highly. I believe they are still in print in Portuguese, although you are fluent in English. This thank you note is long overdue. Let me read you some promises from the Bible. I knew, though, that behind me on the same platform twenty-six candles were flickering in memory of victims, proof that we have no immunity from the effects of a broken planet. Im curious if you might know what chapter or page it is included in so that I can cite the page number. I was becoming uncomfortable around them and the things they said. Are Christians truly called to do that, or are there circumstances where this doesnt apply? Just an observation of Jesus message in his parables about the undeserving, contrasted with his strong words against the Pharisees for their legalism. It has taken me over fifty years to find my way to the Jesus of the bible, and in so doing, to reach out in genuine love and compassion to the hurting, the lonely, the lost, the struggling. It warms my heart to hear that something I wrote years ago has such an impact on you. Disappointment with God: Three Questions Nobody Asks Aloud, Zondervan (Grand Rapids, MI), 1989. Id like to quote the correct source in another book Im developing. Always has, always will. Thus you maintained a relationship with Mel White. I was wondering if you could elaborate a bit on your understanding of the atonement, as I am curious about the way you briefly described the good news in chapter 9, ie. In January 2017, when I was in the V and C area, I saw the mother of an inmate in the visiting area. How could anyone be so cruel and hate me so much? Felipe. He was making a bet on one of the games at the property. I have read some of your books and enjoyed them all. Today's Christian Woman, September, 2003, Corrie Cutrer, review of Rumors of Another World, p. 98; January, 2007, Lisa Ann Cockrel, review of Prayer, p. 10. I was deeply moved and encouraged by these books and grateful thanking God for the profound and challenging thoughts I have read. We each attended a Bible college, though the school I attended has closed its doors. (With Paul Brand) Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1993. Maybe its caused by some incidents which had big impacts on my life. Thank you for your books (Prayer does it make a difference, and Reaching for the invisible God). Philip, did I misstep? Thank you so much for your writing in your books, your blog, your articles. This incident confirmed what Paul, Pastor Oliver Johnson and a number of prisoners had told me about Graham Spilsbys violent nature. + Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants In fact, as Ive pointed out before, the biggest group of givers on Kiva is Atheists, second are Christians. Then you feel betrayed." As I did so, I was physically assaulted by Mr. French, the Institutional Manager. But I dismissed it as an oddity. But I found nothing. I told him that I did not think I would be accepted, since Monty Lewis and Frank Costantino with Bridges of Canada had refused to give me a job due to my same-sex attraction and my frequent reporting of sexual abuse of children by priest and pastors in Canada and in the USA. . The fact that I was sexually abused as a teenager and still struggle with same-sex attraction was used as a weapon against me, even though I have honored my vows to God and the church by being celibate for 42 years. It is a good read to see the tremendous good that was generated during that time. Hi Philip, Thanks for the reply. I live in Germany and have been reading your books. With his wise words of faith based on biblical accounts, especially in the book of Job, I awakened to life. Now that I read a lot of your favorite authors (Endo, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chesterton, Lewis, etc.) All the editions of the book itself, regardless of cover, are the same. Therefore, there was no Creation , Eden, Adam and Eve, Fall of Man, Noahs Ark, or Tower of Babel. Saul, well (I am expecting the religious here to go and spew scripture in my face by saying this and the reasons el al). All I can say is Wow! Rarely attending any synagogue or church and then mainly to accompany a friend or out of curiosity. I held her as she cried. I live in Zimbabwe. Let Jesus deal with the rest. N. T. Wright, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Vaclav Havel, Richard Rohr, Will Campbell, Jimmy Carter, Wendell Berry, George Herbert, Ernest Gordon (amazing POW survivor of the River Kwai Japanese camp who became chaplain at Princeton)the list goes on. I wrote about it in my blog, the website below. Im humbled by your comments, and hope that Buechners writings do make their way to Singapore; just last week I spoke at a writers conference in his honor. Instead he shows how ordinary people, himself included, conduct their daily lives in a way that best magnifies God's grace. There are many of them in the crumbling part of town where I live. The doctor declared her status free from cancer, post operation and surgery. I had read before an article for you about how important it is to attend the church Even If It Is Toxic. Theres either evidence or there is not. 2022-06-30; glendale water and power pay bill I havent read much of Spong, but Borg was helpful in researching The Jesus I Never Knew, and Brian McLaren is a friend and a favorite of mine. When I speak to college students, I challenge them to find a single argument against God in the older agnostics (Bertrand Russell, Voltaire, David Hume) or the newer ones (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris) that is not already included in books like Psalms, Job, Habakkuk, and Lamentations. I dont know when a person begins to feel like a real writer, or that something he (or she) has to say might do a stranger good instead of harm. Discovering God: A Devotional Journey Through the Bible, Zondervan (Grand Rapids, MI), 1993. Much of my childhood prayer life was spent begging God to save me from the horrors of hell, in the fear that I was not sincere enough in my young faith to truly be saved. Philip says, History staggers under the weight of suffering brought about by human hatred and ambition. Yes, this appears true. Then he is not omnipotent. Im going to send the devotional I wrote, but I do not know what the translation will be because Ill use google translator. Philip Yancey, author of books like Disappointment with God, The Jesus I Never Knew, and What's So Amazing About Grace, is one of the best selling Christian authors alive today.His interactions with Christians from around the world and his early church experiences inform his writing on faith, the problem of pain, and unexpected grace. Every day I felt as if I was in a war zone. Find more content and resources on the FamilyLife's app! Sometimes we learn most by staying with a group that may not be our first preference. Philip. Once I found out that the batteries were defective, I replaced them and the hearing aids resumed functioning normally. I shouldnt comment specifically as I, in another country, know few of the details, though Im aware of the turmoil in Brazil. Capt. Our study, Prayer, Does It Make Any Difference has turned out to be a great faith builder for me and probably the most helpful (to my understanding of God) than any of your other books. Your writing is incredibly thought-provoking. Now I will go back lurking, Very helpful website, thank you. The tone you use to characterize the Bible college you attended is almost snide. The Memos Jesus can deal with the details in his life, just as he deals with the details in all of our lives. With life issues coming up on daily basis, The Las Vegas shooting killing 58 and over 500 injuired; only yesterday the Texas Church shooting killing 26 and many more event in 2017. If nothing else could you please pray I could be more of worth to my family and God would help with my depression and chronic pain. For now my faith is limited. Thank you. He immediately calmed down. Dont drive yourself crazy in asking the why questions, but to seek to see Gods love, concern, and care every day of our lives. I have received much love and respect from prisoners and the elderly [6] [7] [8] [9], and have therefore considered it my duty to keep them from being abused. I have now just re-read it (still inspirational!) Mourning and dancing touch each otherthis is a beautiful concept, straight out of the Bible, of course. Philip Yancey to Speak at December Commencement Kind regards from Cape Town, South Africa (and you would be amazed at how many people in the USA do not know where that is situated). More secure. Im so grateful to Philip Yancey for helping me understand modern Christianity better. Is there someone I can contact for permission? The guard had come to see me in my office and asked if we could talk privately. I just finished your book Disappointment with God. I had been sexually abused by older men when I was a teenager, so I began to feel targeted. Similarly, she would not allow the Jewish inmates from different units to mix on Friday evenings for prayers and Torah readings. This book has been such a ministry to me and it literally breathes life into me every time I read it. During this time, Paul mocked me for being hard of hearing, shouting at me and shaming me. And all of us Americans are addicted to Comfort. . No one knows a mans heart, except God. That inspired me to write a memoir, but my teaching duties put it on the back burner. While living in the Chicago, Illinois suburbs, in 1971 Yancey joined the staff of Campus Life magazinea publication directed towards high school and college studentswhere he served as editor for eight years. Shame on the Church for making him feel so unwanted. Your book is helping me. Reaching for the Invisible God: What Can We Expect to Find?, Zondervan (Grand Rapids, MI), 2000. People who say they care about me dont understand the condition and what really bothers me is that they dont even try to. In 2010 Bishop Dorrington of the REC was cruel beyond words ,never have I met such a cruel man in my life,he tortured me emotionally until he broke me. For the first month or so I had a running commentary on Pauls hatred for evangelical Protestants in general and Barry in particular. I applaud Yancey for his disarming honesty and for giving us a story that will cause us to reflect about our own life and also to thank God for his wisdom and grace. The tiny globe would continue to turn, serenely ignoring its subdivisions, presenting a unified facade that would cry out for unified understanding, for homogeneous treatment. I am so sorry to hear of your loss. I have just started reading Prayer and confess to a kind of disappointment, for two reasons. While reading Whats So Amazing About Grace? God impressed on me to teach and write about forgiveness. When he found out about it he reported me and told me to stop doing it, even though he had no authority to do so. But I have questions.so many questions right now. The next day the couple came in. Its the abject smallness of the earth that gets you. Stuart Roosa, Apollo 14, We learned a lot about the Moon, but what we really learned was about the Earth. that we should live with death always before our eyes [so that] we will not expect to live on earth forever, but will have one foot in the air. I had never experienced this quote/teaching by Brother Martin and cannot find it in his writings. He has picked those whom HE wants. The problem was that I had reason to fear for my life. Is Peterson something similar? I wonder if God is still really there. I packed up my things and was excited about the years of study ahead ,as I stood on the Train platform in Saint John waiting for the train to take me to Toronto and the Church Army,./now called Threshold Ministries. This article was originally posted on October 1, 2003, on Christianity Today. The Bible says we can have the faith to move mountains, but without love. . This story does not recall the literally hundreds of God-incidents that fill the last very few years, but the sense of the Lords miraculous and powerful actions is clear. It is fascinating to explore as I continue to write. He would tell Chaplain Paul that some of the inmates Rabbi Ari had said were Jewish were actually not Jewish. I am reading VANISHING GRACE now and wanted to comment on Chapter 7, SCRIBBLES IN SAND. Your book, Whats so Amazing About Grace is my seventh book in my quest to immerse myself in the topic of grace. I use evangelical in its original meaning as good-news-messenger, and call those labeled as such to work harder on truly expressing that good news. I now view the churches I grew up in with more empathy. HI! Whats so Amazing About Grace is a book that has changed my life, so thank you for writing it. And, inspired by some of your words, I began to see faith as not unlike personalities that we have different types, that some people may experience and hear God often (and it is not my place to doubt those experiences), while I may long and doubt and wait far more than I hearand that that is okay that these different kinds of relationships with Him might be something He delights in, something He finds beautiful. Like yourself I have been exposed to toxic churches and if I am honest I was left badly wounded. Pray for the losers and the winners. I always feel like Im five steps behind everyone else. It affirms mine. Have you read any of N.T. I thank you for your work and would cherish the opportunity to meet you in person. Many of these are old, probably unavailable, so Ill include extras. Were all somewhere along the Order/Disorder/Reorder paradigm that Richard Rohr describesespecially those of us from the South. Thanks for your kind words. This weekend to come I anticipate having the privilege of speaking at a small church Christian womens retreat and my kick-off question is Do you see God working through all of the prayers He hasnt answered the way you would have wanted? So most likely you are the person who built that foundation in my life. I wanted to share a few of those excerpts. It really is an honour to communicate with you! Only relationships turn around lives." I see that you will be speaking in Bristol this weekend as part of the Buechner series. Yancey offers comfort for 'spiritual explorers' - Baptist News Global 1996. I know you answered a lot of questions about writing in your Q and A section but hopefully you will still read this. I am sitting enjoying the sunset over Purgatory Lake with 2 of my favorite things: Rumors of Another World and Punch Neapolitan Pizza. I do know where Cape Town is, and its one of the most beautiful spots in the world. I was then hired by Covenant Health as a hospital chaplain. It is a catalogue of stories that reveal the lives of three main characters: Yancey, his brother Marshall, and his mother. It seems like youre name keeps popping up as weve learned from these folks, so weve been reading Whats so Amazing About Grace. What questions would be in the minds of that community. If I knew this webpage exists, I would have come earlier. Im grateful you took the time to write and I am thankful for the open discussion youre willing to have with all your readers. Ive not yet seen it, though Ive heard good things about it. Like it is a game to Him. Id like to hear what you think, and no I do not expect you to have all the answers Im looking for, but probably reading what you have to say would help me see it in a different light. You quoted the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, as an example of human suffering and tragedy. English is not my native language. Not a miracle. Thanks again for sharing your openness and insightful work with the rest of us. In January of 2017, an inmate gave me a very large envelope to take to V and C for mailing. Then hung himself for nine days. As I read your recent memoir (thank you for your honesty in writing), I grieved over your journey, but I also appreciated SO MUCH when you wrote that none of it was wasted. Both were shocked and told me to hang in there, they found out that Debbie Lindsey a YWAM staff member in Saint John had (later a VineYard pastor with her husband) called Capt. I also just read about your harrowing car accident, and can now pray more specifically for your spinal condition. Anyhow, it would be interesting if you were to write a blog on this topic. Just a word of thanks & encouragement. As much as I appreciate your dedication to the Lord, I have to say that your comments in CT recently are off base. I have been so troubled by my Christian friends who have lashed out judgmentally at, well, at all Democrats! Brand, updating the medicine, cutting duplication, and improving the text. Chaplain Paul and Bridges Manager Brian Harder knew all this, but this did not stop their verbal attacks against each other and against me. Mere Christianity ~ C.S. But in your book, your honesty gave me hope. From there I received encouragement and God strengthened me at every step. Beyond that writers psychosis you were dead-on in describing, the truth is a huge part of me loves it. Ive stood in Eastern Samar in the Philippines were Typhoon Yolanda killed over 6,300 of Rubys countrymen and women. And Hebrews 11 is full of people who didnt necessarily get an answer.. Its been an important journey and one that I hope is resulting in opportunity to invite others to a walk with God based on grace and not fear. Thanks for asking, though. Many people are being diagnosed with various mental disorders (for lack of a better term) that can interfere with their Christian walk. We admired his faith. This is one of the most moving accounts of redeemed pain that I have ever heard. Korean young girls were dragged by Japanese soldiers, and they were terrible. Couldnt all of that money have been better spent? My interests include skiing, climbing mountains, mountain-biking, golf, international travel, jogging, nature, theology (in small doses), politics, literature, and classical music.. You have been honest and real and thoughtful as well as sensitive and encouraging in your writing and your speech as I have heard you on the radio. I would never hand the cards to the prisoners directly, but put them in the mailbox used by visitors at V & C. This way, the mail went through the right security channels. He is much less angry now, and open to spirituality and the supernatural, though more in a New Age kind of way than traditionally Christian. Barth, Karl And I was terribly disappointed to hear that James Dobson would be supporting Trump. But, all that was needed was the required wider exit. I loved the guest post by David Bannon in the fall. Thank you for the research and utter sincerity with which you present the Truth we all need. The ground feels like it has been shifting as I am re-examining much of what I was taught growing up in the church, and I have felt quite alone in knowing who to turn to to talk about my long felt but newly realised doubts. Clearly, as he quoted, we are in fact a momentary cosmic accident that would never arise again if the tree of life could be replanted. How you feel about established fact is not at issue. what truth is? I, too, was raised in a rather strict, confusing (Lutheran) church, seemingly focused more on law than on grace, even though the Word was preached by kind pastors. You know, dont break the connection just hang up and try again. This quote kept returning to me, and I began to ponder waiting on the Lord and in Gods time. But the rest of the Bible sometimes leaves me wondering what the truth really is; or perhaps what certain doctrinal beliefs have to say. I was tempted to stop writing and look for another job to provide to my family, because, you know, sometimes is not just enough that you feel your job as writer is useless, its also the Spains political and economical crisis; its look threatening poverty into the eyes. My husband has been unemployed for 16 months. I may have read it somewhere too, but I didnt write it. Acting as a Chosen one Pontificating his religious spirits secularism views! The book you mention, Rumors, was retitled A Skeptics Guide to Faith and is still in print. I just cant accept this as a Master Plan. Rather than standing up for me and defending my right to go into the visiting area, Warden Clovis cowered at French, a verbally and physically very powerful man. During that time, I was contracted to the Edmonton Institution, a maximum security prison operated by Correctional Service Canada. I still struggle with my image of God, but it is getting better little by little, and of course Satan is always prowling around, trying to turn me away from God and tell me lies about God. Here are my thoughts to my 74 year old Christian father, the most wonderful man I know. I am deeply concerned about the welfare of the inmates that I have gotten to know and love at the Edmonton Institution. We have so much in common, mainly the entire Protestant Bible (of course, Catholics accept a few extra books in addition). Thank you for your books, your columns and your wisdom that comes from earnestly seeking Jesus in a fallen world. He's burned out on religion, burned out emotionally. I belong to the evangelical part of the Methodist Church in the UK. There was no evidence that they had mental issues. Traveling widely for speaking engagements, he has visited over 85 countries. I got the book through an app and started reading it. Puzzled why mens faith lies impotent in a paper tiger called Christianity, The Trojan Horse now masquerades as the Church, in a great edifice It was appalling that something like this should happen to a small, elderly clergyman like myself. The Regional Chaplain for CSC kept promising me a contract over and over again, but after one year it still had not materialized. For me, heres the take-away: teacher. More faithful. Im sure you thought the true church would react by going back to works. While the customer support person was helping me he asked several questions about the book. This was my experience, and it had been the experience of the two chaplains before me. All I can say is Thank You. These things are not true, and Paul had no right to say them. . Philip. No lasting effects, other than a sore neck now and then after sleeping. May He continue to bless you. I believe that if Im faithful in my Christian walk, others will see love, joy, peace, patience, etc. In receiving all good things from God, we are greatly benefited. When I read Whats So Amazing About Grace, it feels like Im listening to a gifted story teller, with the occasional commentary or explanation following a story. This is the last story I need to reference and my book will then go to formatting. This lead to years of backsliding away from my faith. Shortly afterwards, I was taken into my office by Mr. Rasmus, the federal Director of Chaplaincy in Ottawa. You referred to how you have repeatedly had to field questions revolving around pain, suffering, and doubt. Brand so is that the next book we will be able to read? Education: Columbia Bible College, Columbia, B.A., 1970; Wheaton College, Wheaton, M.A., 1972; University of Chicago, M.A., 1990. Dear Philip, God bless you Phillip. (As to your friend, I attended one more moderate church in Atlanta but most of my toxic memories are of another, smaller and more fundamentalist churchthe two are sometimes confused, as again I do not use their names.) They say, We loan because: We care about human beings and understand that it takes people to help people. The Christians say, We loan because: Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world. Philip Yancey's Message of Grace - The Atlantic Welcome home. board and train for aggressive dogs; poundland pencil case; June 14, 2022 / / patron saint of those in mortal danger This same dean initiated a program where during one chapel service each week, a senior preached. I am now just beginning Part Three of Rumors of Another World and once again completely agree with all your suppositions. Thank you for having such courage to write such a book and I want to know how you did it. Im reading Disappointment with God again and just wrote a devotional to In the Upper Room speaking from my experience. Thats why, in desperation, Im contacting you. He gave me a big hug and left in good spirits. Again, thank you. Where is God When It Hurts and Christian books by Dorothy Sayers were my salvation during my years in Frankfurt. But then I heard the story above from a man who has suffered needlessly due to prejudice: Let the people around you know that you are serious about institutional corruption and the protection of whistleblowers. This is his call to be vindicated! I went to her church and was in fact loved on by total strangers in a way I had never experienced in my life! Tragedy and death were so often on her mind that she couldnt stop talking about what had happened to neighbors or in nearby towns, telling us in detail even when her two young and obviously unnerved grandchildren were visiting.