I have been job searching in my profession and interviewing for months with no success. What an honour to have an opportunity to write to you and express my sincere gratitude in your work. Dr. W.E. Having himself undergone crises of faith, Yancey understands the varying degrees of belief amongst his readers, and he challenges Christians to become less judgmental and more childlike in their faith. The first such institutions include Nyack Missionary Training Institute, founded by A.B. Here is my email address. Having been brought up in a brethren church that had a penchant for embracing legalism, my sheltered beliefs were only challenged after I graduated, moved back home, and started worshiping at a different church. I have honored this pledge by giving my whole life to the vulnerable in this country; to the young, the elderly, the sick, the dying, to prisoners and anyone in need. And I need to review the book to see what you mean about my comments on prayers of other religions. Instead he shows how ordinary people, himself included, conduct their daily lives in a way that best magnifies God's grace. I felt I had been lied to. Hi Philip. Normally I would happily agree to your request. Just an observation of Jesus message in his parables about the undeserving, contrasted with his strong words against the Pharisees for their legalism. Your note moves me deeply. My ultimate goal is to absorb every context in the bible and the book of Prayer. Thanks! Your story encourages me, and I know through your writing that it will encourage many others. You are a very gifted person. The next day she took me aside and said she was going to make me into a real man . Philip. So, thank you for bridging, in an inspiring way, the gap weve created between Christ and real life. I did. I listened to her stories, and at one point she asked me if I would like to see a photo of her husband. I know that you view Jacobs time on earth, troubled as it was, as a gift. I could empathize with the path youve trod through the years, and many of your words resonated strongly with me. However, Paul made it a big issue and dragged me along into it. Philip. From that time until today, I was exposed to some many coincidences that I had to marvel and wonder at what was happening. Thats how the light gets in. Your books have always been challenging my traditional beliefs in Christianity, and I thank God they do. I believe that is the biblical definition for a non-believer. Through the grace of which you write I have been won back and come to the realisation, of which Victor Frankl wrote so ably, that the only choice that cannot be taken from us is that of how we will respond to whatever happens to us. My Small Group is presently studying The Jesus I Never Knew. And actually, Im not very expressive facially myself, so Im glad that when I speak, not everyone in the audience responds like me. Thank you, again, Phillip, for being such a tremendous blessing to so many you have a heart of gold! Mourning and dancing touch each otherthis is a beautiful concept, straight out of the Bible, of course. If anyone will manage to get a fire going under my butt to get me writing more just reading your writings would do it! I loved that book but Im not writing you now for any renumerationI was more impressed (and touched) by your letter. It is fascinating to explore as I continue to write. Upon arrival at the Edmonton Institution I was met by a Mrs. Cunningham, but not the Assistant Warden of Intervention (AWI). She is currently more open to the Lord. Philip. I was nineteen years old at the time. What Makes a Church Toxic? I guess the kind of sympathy contained in your reply is something I dont hear much from people around me; too few ears, too many mouths, including my own, to be fair. He does indeed stand for everything that Christianity is against! Now get out of my office! It felt wonderful, but Paul used this later to further discredit me [30], claiming that I had meant my demand to leave my office to be permanent. As was my practice, I asked the V and C guard if I could go in and visit her. I have just read in Devotionals Daily your write up Do Yo Want To Know God? By far it has given me the best understanding into the body of Christ. Like an oracle, Mr. Yancey only seems to give you one kick at the can. This haunts me from time to time, especially the second paragraph of the following quotation. This did not surprise me, since I knew firsthand that Brian was no better than Paul when it came to bullying others. While serving as chaplain there, Monty spoke in chapel services at my invitation on several occasions. This truly encourages me. Thanks for asking, though. You cant very well save someone with a spirit of condemnation. Politics stirs people up, so your group may need to exercise grace even as they learn about it. Lets be clear here. Later renamed Threshold Ministries, the Church Army in Canada was an arm of the Anglican Church of Canada. He then stormed out of the chapel, leaving me shocked and yes, deeply hurt. In your place, I would simply be honest in the endnote, saying that you were unable to track down the original source. In fact, a Jewish prisoner was stabbed later that same week. Dear Mr. Yancey, (Its also mentioned again in 1 John 4:21). And Kristin and I were married a month later. Ted B. I just finished rereading Whats So Amazing About Grace, since my pastor chose it as this years Lenten study book. Im sure you thought the true church would react by going back to works. Certainly Jesus did come bearing grace and truth but above all he came with love. I have read Where was God when it Hurts ? As the warmer weather approached in 2016, we constantly had flies buzzing around in the chapel and offices. Anyway, I know I am preaching to the choir, but it feels good to get some of these things off my chest. Theyre actually helpful. My Church is experiencing a major challenge shaking us to the roots. I told him to let the doctors do the surgery and to trust God for the outcome. 12:21) No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed. (Is. He blamed them for destroying chaplaincy. I thought that being a Christian meant experiencing God and Jesus in the same way that I would experience my human family and friends, which I have never been able to do. We love your books and DVDs and use your Grace Notes each morning to start our day. Philip. This is where the start of a good conversation goes to die. I dont remember the details, but I do remember that it was while reading that section of the book that I realized I wanted to be a writer. Being able to verbalize a description of my experience is a bit of a relief, frankly. I would be remiss if I didnt thank you properly or tell you that. We visited each other in our homes in Canada and the United States, and in 1995, with the assistance CSC, the three of us organized a COPE conference in Edmonton for 300 people from across Canada. If so, where could I purchase it? Thank you for expressing things which have always made me feel awkwardand never a real Christians. He spoke of religious liberty being squashed by Hillary Clinton and quoted her discussing how she would change things along those lines. Even one of my own physical disabilities was used to torment me. I have believed in evolution since childhood, grudgingly, but it made no difference, I was always a believer in God. But, Atlanta has changed so much that I live an hour or so away (just far enough!). 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. Philip. You have made my journey of faith much less lonely. Absolutely. If I had ever memorized it, it would have been at least fifty years ago. Thank you. Rather, I expressed my disappointment that so many evangelicals hold up as their flagbearer a man whose life seems to contradict the most basic principles of our faith. Reed Fleming a senior officer told me to watch my back as Capt. Threshold Ministries did not fulfill this requirement; instead, they blacklisted me across Canada and discontinued their payments early, just as I was having my teeth fixed. So they are not able to reach and write English. I can feel my spirit giving up. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedicated service to God. Occasionally, the why question tries to bubble up but we try to let it evaporate. and God bless you Mr Yancey . Thank you. Yours was one of the few books Ive read so far in christian literature, that has freely placed catholics alongside protestants in Gods kingdom. Even he does not have it all right. Im thankful for the Jesus l never knew. Expose the middlemen; let them lose their lofty pulpit livelihood His career choice was at least partly inspired by your books (specifically those written about and with Dr. Paul Brand). You can't go wrong with these two contributors. Im reading The Jesus I Never Knew and trying to find some comfort in the fact that Jesus seemed to lean towards the oppressed, but Im finding that a bit hard because it doesnt seem to be like any of the oppressed in the bible had suffered hundreds of years of abuse as a people *solely* because of the colour of their skin. Again and again, I would offer them your name, hoping they would find a similar freedom in realizing their doubts and questions did not disqualify them from faith. Once I found one, the pastor remarked that he saw me teaching and created a new Sunday School class to teach, which I did for more than a year. It seems too good to be true. All this gets theoretical though, and doesnt help much when youre in the midst of the oppression. I have only one advantage: I am still alive! I recommend it to you highly. I want to be more like Jesus, I want to react as He would. Hanukkah We are a fellowship of Christian men who are struggling with lust, in one form or another. Through the years I have read and number of your books, and I appreciate your perspective in many areas of life and theology. Maybe it has always been this way, but I wonder it is possible to break through those dividing lines. For some reason when I was deep in my pit, where I had become comfortable living, I picked up that book again. I am always reminded of soldiers in WWII that were of fighting age, but were not drafted. Today is finally that day. According to POLISH FRIENDS of mine there is NO one similar POLISH word for these two English words. We read through Reaching for the Invisible God. They found her in a diabetic coma on Thanksgiving day and Hospice was called in a few days afterwards. We would like post your article Holy Sex, How it Ravishes Our Souls as a resource on our website. Just curious because I would love to read about a biblical response to racial injustices that is coming from someone on the receiving end of it. As I mentioned before, I have read most all of your books but have also enjoyed reading Bishop Jack Spong, Marcus Borg and Brian McLaren and would probably categorize myself as a member of the church alumni association. Im curious to know if you have ever read some of these authors, and, if so, what your thoughts are. I was lying on the floor of my daughters bedroom, trying to coax her to sleep (kids mental health has really suffered in this ordeal) while a million problems raced through my mind. 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. If so, is it appropriate to still use it and if so, how would I reference it in the endnotes of the book? Its wonderful that you have such an open line of communication with your parents. I kept waiting for the miracle to happen and it did not. We have had this discussion about Christianity when you came to Dubai a few years back! We were there, he explained, to devote our lives to more important matters than politics. It just seems like the bad far outweighs any good that can come of this short life. Brand. Here is the story. On April 1, 2022, the Wheaton College Alumni Association honored Philip Yancey M.A. The last weeks has been kind a nightmare full of choices, challenges and doubts. Basically, evangelicals take the Bible more seriously than some other shades of Christians, and tend to emphasize a personal conversion experience and the importance of spreading the message to others. Im sure you have an opinion on the matter. His remission status came several times in a year and it served as deduction for his sentenced. I have danced through phases and seasons, and been dragged through others, but my faith is intact, and even maybe even grown, in the process. Of course God will protect you. Youve helped me in some of my darkest hours and I thank you for that. Odin, by the way, took a spear and drove it into his side. I made an appointment with the Edmonton Legal Centre. Actually, I talked with Richard just last week. Years ago,early in my faith walk, I read the books you wrote with Dr. Thank you for taking the time to tell your story. Im a trainer and so I work with the four different learning styles: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, read-write. 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.