Giving Honor

This week I've been involved in honoring someone who has been a major influence in my life, Dr. Hollis Gause. Many of you who read my blog (and there aren't that many!) have also been a student in Dr. Gause's classes. How blessed we've all been to have 'sat at his feet'! The faculty at the seminary have been presenting papers in his honor this week. These papers will be collected and published in a fetschrift
in his honor, titled 'Passover, Pentecost and Parousia'. I presented a paper which re-evaluated spirit baptism in light of the early testimonies of the experience. I was asked to write a bibliographic essay on his writings, which I presented last night. It was an overwhelming experience for me. Dr. Gause seemed gratified by what I'd written and by entire week. Of course, he also blessed us with Gausian humor. He told us if he were to write an autobiography he would title it A Funny Thing Happened On The Way From Genesis to Revelation. This was followed by humorous interpretations of several biblical narratives. Great stuff.

Honoring Dr. Gause was, in Wesleyan fashion, a means of grace (albeit prudential) for me and for all of the faculty. The assignment "forced us" to do what we are gifted to do! So many times we are distracted, doing good things, needful things, but not necessarily the best thing, which is where we find the grace of God. I think grace is in the other events as well, but it's not necessarily an impartation of grace...just grace to go through.

For those of you who are interested in the scholarship of it all, here are the hi-lites: JCT on the mark of the beast, RDM on Ezekiel, LRM on Judges (of course), SJL on 'Holiness or Hell', AA on 'Cruicifixion in Galatians', KA on Gause's hermeneutic, CJ on women in ministry ('Spirited Vestments'), Bowers on Pentecostal practices, Han on atonement, JJ on polity, DR on centralized govt in COG, TJohns on Pent. Ethics, OMc on suffering in the Spirit, RW on Trinitarian Mission, DS on marriage etc., etc.