by Jonathan Powers | Aug 4, 2026 | Uncategorized
Academies of Life
by Stephen Rankin
The philosopher and spiritual writer, Dallas Willard, of blessed memory, wrote the following exhortation in the introduction to his book, The Spirit of the Disciplines: “Our local assemblies must become academies of life as it was meant to be.” That phrase, “academies of life,” stimulates some thought.
What comes to mind when you think of an academy? Probably books and classrooms. The word “academic” conjures up images of tree-lined campuses and ivy-covered buildings, with erudite lectures and knots of students bent over books in the library, feverishly keying notes into their laptops, prepping for tests.
Willard joins “academies” with “life.” This is a crucial connection. Academies of life. Not book learning in isolation, but learning that is essential, existential, in our hearts, our guts, our bodies. Learning that matters in daily circumstances with all the joys and sorrows that, learning that makes us wise, gives us perspective, that holds us steady and makes us helpful to other people in their struggles. Learning that is not simplistic, not “dumbed down,” but adequate and continually refreshing as we negotiate life.
It’s one of the reasons I find Willard’s admonition intriguing. He served as a professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California for four decades and embodied so many of the qualities that we imagine college faculty embody, sometimes in stereotypical ways. He was an expert on Edmund Husserl, a German mathematician and philosopher well-known in modern intellectual circles as the father of modern phenomenology. You don’t get more “philosophical” than that.
At the same time, according to Willard’s biographer, he was an exacting and compassionate teacher who gave countless hours one-on-one to his students. About any time of the day, if you came to his hopelessly cluttered office, you’d find him engaged in probing conversation with a student. And they were not simply talking “philosophy.” They were discussing life. All of us have been in such conversations, but perhaps didn’t realize how truly philosophical they are, or how much they depend on substantive ideas.
Given the stereotypes about college professors, it may be a surprise that this demanding philosophy professor is best known in Christian circles for his work on the spiritual disciplines. I mentioned one such title already. There are others, like The Renovation of the Heart or The Divine Conspiracy. And if you haven’t heard of Willard, I’ll bet you have heard of Richard Foster and Celebration of Discipline. Foster was the John Mark Comer of his generation and he and Willard were extremely close. Iron definitely sharpened iron in their relationship.
In several pieces that I’ve written recently for Good News, I’ve been Johnny One Note, harping on the need to recognize that our intellectual lives live organically in our spiritual lives. The two domains cannot be separated. Ideas that you have gained through some form of study (reading, listening, discussing) directly contribute not only to how you think about a given topic, but also how you feel and respond. To think is to experience.
So much of what late-modern Christian culture says about the Christ life is easy to manage – the five-minute devotionals and the “Let’s have a quick prayer” moments and the six-week Bible studies with fill-in-the-blank answers. In truth, they demand next to nothing from us and they leave us unchanged. Jesus said that if we want life, we’ll go through the narrow gate, and take the hard way, not the wide, easy way (Matthew 7:13-14). Of course, he wasn’t’ talking about taking a theology class, but it is nonetheless true that, to follow Jesus requires serious intellectual engagement with him. Who is it that we’re following? What did he come to do? Is he mainly a teacher, sage, and prophet, or is he God Incarnate, who takes away the sins of the world? The answer matters. What we think about him shapes how we follow him. And you can’t answer such questions reliably without getting into some deep theological waters.
We need, therefore, exactly what Willard advocates. We need our assemblies (our local churches) to become academies of life.
For a long time, I have been meditating on how, in the early generation of the church, converts to the Christian faith were catechized into the faith. What sort of learning did they undertake? One example is the catechetical school in Alexandria, Egypt, led by the great scholar of the ancient church, Origen. A catechetical school was where converts studied, fasted, and prayed, in preparation to receive Christian baptism and enter fully into the life of the Body of Christ. I’ve read that the curriculum in this catechetical school could be thought of as akin to a solid university education for that day.
In those days, when outsiders were trying to figure out what this new religion was, one of the points of comparison was with the philosophical schools that existed. They were schools of wisdom for life. No division between “the academic” and “the practical” existed. To study with a philosopher was to deepen one’s understanding of life’s meaning, to think about and practice what makes a good life. To study in a philosophical school meant to undertake the disciplines that led to true happiness.
In that catechetical school in Alexandria, new believers in Christ experienced the same sort of process. They knew that they were entering into a radically new way of living. They learned the scriptures. They faced the intellectual challenges of the day. They understood that, all around them were people who found their faith alternatively ridiculous and terrifying. To live well in such a world required both intellectual substance and the disciplines or means of grace of Christian piety.
The catechetical school was an academy for life, just as Willard exhorted us to try. We need the serious, systematic, careful, detailed experience of intellectual engagement with the rich resources of the church. We need to drink deeply from the well of our Christian theological tradition to develop a faith adequate for the times, that enables us to live with joy and confidence so that we can be a true blessing to others.
What if local churches were to take up this call to become academies for life? What if our church libraries became lively gathering places for people to read and think and ponder and discuss and try? What if our middle school and high school kids could go to any number of the grown-ups in their church (not just the pastor or youth leader) and ask the hard questions that they’re thinking about but afraid to ask? What would it do for their faith? What would it do for ours?
May God grant us the grace to take up Willard’s challenge. May our local assemblies become true academies for life.
Stephen Rankin is the Contributing Editor for Good News Magazine.
by Jonathan Powers | Jul 7, 2026 | Uncategorized
Spiritual Leverage
by Mike Powers
Katherine Lee Bates was inspired to write the poem America the Beautiful after a visit to Pikes Peak in 1893 in a covered wagon with fellow teachers from Colorado College. Little did she know that those words would become one of the most patriotic songs in the history of our country. As we celebrate the 250th birthday of our nation, America the Beautiful is being sung with passion and pride in concerts, churches and ballparks across the land as a tribute to the highest ideals of our nation. The refrain is a supplication for God’s intervention:
“America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!”
Contemplating the familiar words of this refrain, one must wonder why should God shed His grace upon our country and crown our goodness with brotherhood? This is a proper prayer and noble notion, but as inspiring as these words may be, are they taken seriously? An adage goes, “Methodists don’t tell lies; they sing them.” When Americans sing America the Beautiful with such devotion and passion, do we sincerely desire the intervention of God’s Spirit and seriously yearn for unity across our nation or are these merely words we mindlessly sing in church on national holidays?
We also may ask why we dare to ask God to be gracious to the United States of America? We obviously need such an infusion of divine benevolence, but are we trustworthy of such gifts? Another adage advises, “Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.” Jesus stated it very bluntly: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48, NIV). According to Jesus, we are stewards of grace, responsible for all the blessings God has lavishly shared with us.
The Experience of God’s Grace
Upon whom, therefore, is the grace of God shed? The biblical answer is quite simple.
But he gives us more grace. That is why the Scripture says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).
He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble and oppressed (Proverbs 3:34).
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time (1 Peter 5:6).
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way (Psalm 25:9).
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14:11).
Note the common thought in these verses: humility is spiritual leverage. Humility is the catalyst, a means of grace, the very power of God for the spiritual transformation of the individual, the church and the nation. The Word of God consistently decrees that God sheds his grace upon the humble. On the other hand, God resists, ignores, and opposes the proud. Pride is spiritual sabotage. Nothing hinders the presence of God and destroys human relationships (community) more quickly or completely than being self-serving, self-seeking, self-willing, self-satisfying. If we are serious when we petition God to shed his grace upon our nation, our communities, our churches, our families, ourselves, we choose the path of humility – God’s will, first and foremost.
Thy love divine hath led us in the past;
in this free land with thee our lot is cast;
be thou our ruler, guardian, guide and stay,
thy Word our law, thy paths our chosen way.
—Daniel C. Roberts (1876)
The Expression of God’s Grace
The Christian life has been explained as a heartbeat, the rhythmic expansion and contraction of the arteries as the heart pumps blood through the body. Which activity is more important: expansion as blood flows into the heart or contraction when blood is sent out of the heart? That rhythm of blood flowing in and then being pushed out is our lifeline. Both, of course, are needed to be healthy and alive.
Likewise, the normal, healthy Christian life is an experience and an expression of grace. Humility is the leverage point for a healthy heart spiritually.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. Philippians 2:3
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus; who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8
If we genuinely desire to experience the grace of God and responsibly, as stewards, express our desire to be a “brotherhood” (an authentic, healthy, growing, loving community), it begins by having the heartbeat and mind of Christ who came to serve and not be served. Such humility gives leverage to grace in the daily stuff of life, beginning with our loved ones who are close and extending across our spheres of influence. God’s grace is shed generously through the Christlike attitude of valuing all others above ourselves. Another adage, popularized by President Harry Truman, goes: “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” God is ready and willing and able to shed his grace upon anyone and everyone who is ready and willing to humble themselves.
Impossible? Too naïve? Simplistic? Unrealistic? Several thousand years of human history confirm that humility is the road much less traveled while Scripture reveals that God’s ways are contrary to human wisdom. Jesus’ life and words affirm that true greatness is demonstrated in humble service. The apostle Paul noted, “God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (I Corinthians 1:27).
An Example of God’s Grace: Radical Humility
Every now and then there is a clear witness of the reality of spiritual leverage. God shows up, and through a person or an event, we experience an uplift of grace. Many of us were blessed to observe such a moment at the Outpouring on the campus of Asbury University in February 2023.
Spontaneous revivals have occurred often throughout the years of Asbury University (College). Many books and articles have been written as scholars, Christian leaders, sociologists, et al have sought to understand and explain these spiritually awakening experiences. The availability to announce this latest movement of the Holy Spirit at Asbury across the world immediately on the internet created a phenomenon quite different from previous revivals when the communication and impact of the awakening were much slower. Within hours, thousands of people gathered in Wilmore from across the nation and around the world to experience God’s Presence in Hughes Auditorium and other venues provided for the overflow.
Almost as rapidly, skeptics questioned the legitimacy of this remarkable experience as an authentic spiritual “revival.” Several called for its excitement to be tempered and its value to be validated in terms of social justice and cultural transformation. I regret that these critics were posting comments from afar, having not been on campus nor engaged personally with anyone on site. As one who was present and involved with seekers and believers in Hughes Auditorium, the confirmation of the Spirit’s presence and power that I observed during the Outpouring can best be expressed in two words often repeated by others during those two weeks: radical humility. The authenticity, transparency, and vulnerability of the students broke our hearts as we heard their confessions, saw their brokenness, felt their pain, admired their honesty, and celebrated their joy as they humbled themselves before the Lord. Their radical humility was spiritual leverage for more than a college campus in a small town in Kentucky. As noted, thousands upon thousands of people descended on Wilmore with their brokenness, pain, and desperation. Students from other colleges arrived from all over the nation. People of all ages dared to fully surrender their lives and wholly follow the Lord. Eventually, they journeyed home with peace, hope and unalloyed joy, stewards of God’s grace shed abroad in their hearts. But he gives us more grace. That is why the Scripture says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble and oppressed (Proverbs 3:34). The legitimacy of the Outpouring continues to be affirmed through radically humble souls who have become a means of grace to a world desperately needing an uplift.
If we are serious when we sing patriotic songs, properly asking God to shed his grace upon us, and pledge our allegiance to become one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, the leverage point is right there in front of us: Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time (1 Peter 5:6). Our greatness as a nation can never be determined nor adequately measured by our might or power, personalities or political proclivities. God will raise us up only at the point of truthfulness, obedience, faithfulness and radical humility. That begins with us who claim his name.
If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Mike Powers is a retired Elder in and the former President Pro Tempore and Conference Superintendent of the Mid-South Conference of the Global Methodist Church.
