David B McEwan

Embracing a Doctrine of Holiness-Although they have not always been kept connected, entire sanctification and Christian perfection are integral parts of a biblical doctrine of holiness. The roots of the doctrine go back into Scripture and can be traced in every age of Church history. This short book seeks to help Christians understand, experience, and then live out the biblical and theological truth of heart holiness in their own life and in their community. It assumes a knowledge of the companion books in the series.

In the Gospels we encounter many people who were shunned by their society because they lived with some form of impairment. In stark contrast, Jesus embraces these people and offers compassion without condescension, relationship without ulterior motive, and provides them with practical help. Subsequent history has rarely matched his ministry, particularly for people living with intellectual impairment and their families. Based on personal interviews with a number of families who have children living with intellectual impairment, two major challenges constantly impacted them--a longing for people to treat their child as a person and to form genuine friendships with them. Written from a Wesleyan perspective, this book seeks to address these two issues from a theological and pastoral perspective. It offers practical help for anyone to initiate and develop healthy friendships with people who live with moderate to severe intellectual impairment, their families, and carers.

About the bookAs a member of the Wesleyan family of churches, the Church of the Nazarene centres our understanding of the Christian faith in a loving relationship with God. We focus on practical theology that deals with our life in God and life with the neighbour in God's good creation. Such theology is dynamic, because we continually reflect on our life of faith as we seek to remain faithful to the unchanging Gospel of Christ in an ever-changing world. This book uses the Agreed Statement of Belief as a framework to briefly explore the critical elements of the confession we make together in becoming members of the Church of the Nazarene.About the AuthorDavid B. McEwan, PhD - Associate Professor of Theology and Pastoral Theology, Director of Research and Academic Dean at Nazarene Theological College in Brisbane. Dr McEwan is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene and for the past five years has been the pastor of a Pacific Islander congregation in Logan in addition to his ministry at NTC. He pastored Nazarene churches in Scotland, England and Australia before coming to the college in 1997. His latest book, The Life of God in the Soul, has recently been published by Paternoster.About the SeriesScripture tells us that believers are "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9). This means that all Christians, in one form or another, are called into places of ministry and leadership. Not only is this a great privilege, it is also a great responsibility. Men and women desiring to serve in church leadership in some capacity undergo basic training to assure that they understand the foundations of the Christian faith and of our Nazarene identity. This includes a deepening knowledge and appreciation of Scripture, Theology, Ministry, Mission, History, and Holiness. Frameworks for Lay Leadership is a series of six books designed to do just that--equip lay leaders for ministry in the Church, whether local, district, or general. These books have the greatest impact when they are read, processed, applied, and contextualised in partnership with a qualified mentor.Welcome to this journey of transformation The Frameworks of Lay Leadership Series: Engaging the Story of God Exploring a Wesleyan Theology Embodying a Theology of Ministry and Leadership Entering the Mission of God Expressing a Nazarene Identity Embracing a Doctrine of Holiness

The book examines Wesley's understanding of the three qualities of love, holiness and happiness and how they are intimately related in his understanding of salvation and discipleship. This forms the basis for examining some of the implications of his understanding for spiritual formation today.

During the last 40 years a considerable amount of scholarly attention has been given to John Wesley's way of doing theology. There is extensive debate within Wesleyan circles (particularly in North America) regarding the conception and utility of his theological method, usually identified as the Wesleyan quadrilateral (Scripture, reason, tradition and experience). Many claim it is a unique and fruitful model, with invaluable application for the church today. In this book, Wesley's theological methodology is uncovered from the perspective of his holistic vision of the God-human relationship being centred in love and defined by the qualities of trust and passion, rather than an intellectual comprehension of propositional truths about God. Accordingly, pastoral theology is much more important than academic, systematic theology for Christian experience and spiritual formation. In Wesley's theological method Scripture, reason, community ethos and Christian experience are utilised in an interconnected dynamic network, energised by the presence of the Holy Spirit. God is clearly the sole theological authority and the elements of the system are the means he uses for communication with his people.