January 9, 2024 (Part 2 of 3) As I shared last week, I’ve been reading Dr. J. H. Hamblen’s autobiography, “A Look Into Life.” The early pages are memoirs and recollections of his early days growing up in a dirt-floor cabin in East Texas. Later, he shares the origins and early developments of the denomination that he led for nearly two decades. I very much encourage every EMC’er to obtain a copy and read along with me. In conjunction with my Tuesday Brief series, our office is making it available at a deep discount. We have a few hardbacks left for $20/each, but the discount is on the paperbacks, which we are offering at half-price for $7.50. Reach out to the office by email at publications@emchurch.org or by phone at 317-780-8017 and we will get copies on their way to you promptly.
$20 plus shipping
$7.50 plus shipping
Last week I shared an excerpt of Dr. Robert Shuler’s description of the beliefs and convictions of the EMC, which Dr. Hamblen included because of his friend’s eloquence and accuracy. This selection is a continuation of Dr. Shuler’s thoughts: From “A Look Into Life”, p. 118 “It seems to me that the Evangelical Methodist Church is a God-sent organization if for no other reason, in that it offers tens of thousands of loyal Methodists, who cannot go with present Methodist leadership, a church home, in which they may continue to be loyal active Methodists. But that is not the only reason for its existence. So far as I can discover, the Evangelical Methodist Church is in every particular what original Methodism proposed to be. It is a Bible-centered Methodist Church and a soul-saving centered Methodist Church. … [It is more than] a city of refuge. It is an aggressive, outward-going, marching, militant expression of the Methodist faith that belted the world more than a century ago. For, sad as it is the truth, the Methodists of fifty and a hundred years ago would not even recognize the Methodist Church of today. “The Evangelical Methodist Church is pulpit and altar-centered. The preaching of the gospel of deliverance from sin, and salvation from hell is the first thing of importance … It does not invite its people into a candle-lighted mausoleum, it is still a church. “John Wesley at least would recognize the Evangelical Methodist Church. “The Evangelical Methodist Church becomes the natural custodian of the original doctrines of Methodism, not just one, but all. … This [church] does not make a hobby or a fetish of any one of these doctrines. Proper and deserved emphasis is put on every one, and in scriptural fashion. Undoubtedly original Methodism believed in the Bible as a revelation from God. Evangelical Methodism believes thus, and proclaims her faith fearlessly.”