FOREWORD FOR PREACHING JUDE
Acts 18:24–26 gives us the beautiful story of the exemplary leadership couple Priscilla and Aquila. This couple was instrumental in helping a phenomenally gifted young leader, Apollo, in having a better grasp of the faith he had come to embrace and of its message he had felt called to proclaim. Priscilla and Aquila’s action reflect definitely what has been the passion and sense of mission of author Rudy Morgan. From my earliest memory of him when we were young adults together, he has always been motivated and engaged like Priscilla and Aquila to help us all get a better grasp of our common faith. In the present work, Morgan draws on the disciplines of biblical theology, biblical interpretation, and the principles of expository preaching. Dr. Morgan, in his own long experience as a minister, makes available to all, but in particular to beginning preaching practitioners, insights that will inevitably give them a better understanding of the faith and, more importantly, of the preaching task. This book, like others such as A Little Exercise for Young Theologians, by Helmut Thielke, is a valuable resource in the process of ministerial formation. This work reflects the author’s deep Wesleyan roots. Albert C. Outler identities “the Wesleyan quadrilateral” as Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. Morgan indicates in these pages his absolute confidence in Scripture as the final authority and absolute basis for faith and practice. He also demonstrates the importance of a thorough knowledge of relevant church history and its benefit in the interpretive task. As a true Wesleyan, the author is not afraid to make scholarly inquiry; this is evident in the references used in the academic warrants for his conclusions. Finally, as with all true Wesleyans, Morgan, finds that experience is valid and essential. Therefore, he confidently refers to and draws upon his personal experience as a preacher to illustrate and elucidate vital points that he seeks to cause the reader to understand.
Readers, beware! This work set out not only to inform but also to challenge and change people in their thinking and practice. It is expected that the following pages will, therefore, be challenged by the engaged reader. This is not intended to be relaxing reading. The expectation is for the reader to wrestle with this material so that as in the message seen in the first four verses in the ancient letter to Christians from Jude, the reader will become a “champion fighter” for the faith—because it is indeed worth fighting for.
Dr. Samuel Vassel District Superintendent Metro New York District Church of the Nazarene
FOREWORD FOR SHAMELESS AUDACITY
It was in the year 1969, approximately fifty years ago, that the paths of Rudy Morgan and me intersected. We had both passed the Common Entrance Examinations for the same high school, Wolmer’s Boys. Little did we know that our paths would still be so closely linked fifty years later. Now he is Dr. Rev. Rudy Morgan, and here I am in 2019 privileged to be writing a foreword for his book, Shameless Audacity in the Pitfalls of Life. Rudy has been a very close friend over the many years since we first met. He had the privilege of leading me to Christ as a teenager, for which I am forever grateful. This came after he himself had become a Christian after a very tragic occurrence in his life. He became a shamelessly audacious witness for the Lord, a witness that has not diminished to this day. It is no surprise that his book would include the words “shameless audacity” as this speaks to the man who for so many years has boldly proclaimed and lived Christ in this world of ours.
Dr. Morgan and I are both ordained ministers in the Church of the Nazarene since 1984. We both attended Caribbean Nazarene Theological College (CNTC), now Caribbean Nazarene College (CNC), which is located in Trinidad and Tobago. We both served in Jamaica for some years after graduating from CNTC before he and his wife, Ann, left for viii the United States. This family would eventually include two lovely daughters. During this time Dr. Morgan and Ann, with shameless audacity, started several churches and are currently in the process of starting one more. In the midst of all of this, he has faced and continues to face some health challenges that probably would have shaken the core of most of us. However, today this book rises out of the ashes as a personal testimony and also as a challenge to humankind to follow the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and in doing so to be shamelessly audacious in living daily for Him, especially if, like the biblical character Job, you have been experiencing some seriously difficult personal pitfalls.
Shameless Audacity in the Pitfalls of Life is an easy yet enlightening and very effective read. It is a look into the life of Job and how he personally handled his own unsolicited pitfalls. It is also a book about how we should handle our own pitfalls, unsolicited or otherwise. This book is an easy ready also because of its personal nature. The author is not afraid to give us a view into his life and the afflictions he faced and continues to face to this day. Even though this has not been easy for him to do, it connects with readers because of its very personal content. One wants to find out how Job dealt with his issues but also how the author has dealt with the pitfalls he has faced. Dr. Morgan writes with words that are generally easy to follow and not overly academic. The book is also not a long one and so is quite reader-friendly. Shameless Audacity in the Pitfalls of Life is also quite enlightening. Many have heard about the man Job, the main character of this book, and how wealthy he was, how he had a precious family, and how God “boasted” about how upright he was and how he shunned evil (Job 1:8). Yet God allowed Job to lose almost everything without any explanation. How Job handled these pitfalls is what Dr. Morgan deals within his book and how we can also handle our pitfalls.
One area of enlightenment for me is when Dr. Morgan talks about the silence of God. This was new for me in reading about Job. He talks about God being able to trust us because we are shamelessly audacious in our love for Him; He is able to trust us with His silence. It is not easy to trust God when He is silent while you are expecting to hear something from Him. Yet God expected Job to keep trusting Him and so Hee expects it of us as well. This is not the only place of enlightenment as you will find out when you read this book. Another thing that was enlightening was the fact that I don’t remember ever including “Mrs. Job” in the happy ending the story. It was she who had told her husband to curse God and die. Yet she, like her husband, would have been experiencing deep pain with the tremendous loss of family and wealth. We don’t read about her death and so it is safe to assume she was there when God turned things around for Job. The author’s focus on Job’s wife is enlightening and worth the read.
Shameless Audacity in the Pitfalls of Life is also a book the reader will find quite effective in helping us apply the truths of the book of Job. For example, in chapter four Dr. Morgan highlights that Job’s friends said some things that were not x necessarily wrong but were not true for Job. We all need to be wise in what we say to persons who are going through their pitfalls. Pitfalls are not always a result of sin in the lives of persons as the book of Job so adequately illustrates in Job’s case. Chapter five of Morgan’s book illustrates something that is both enlightening and effective. The author speaks to the many questions given to Job by God. God needed to let Job know who was in charge, and He did so with some questions that left no doubt that He was in charge. I had read the book of Job several times, but this had not stood out to me.
Yet the author highlights this and in so doing effectively illustrates that even though Job was a man God could boast about, he was only what he was because of God. Dr. Morgan, thank you for your faithful friendship over the years and taking the time to write this book. Thank you for taking the time to make the book of Job more meaningful to us, your readers. Thank you for sharing those intimate areas of your life. Thank you for a book that is easy to read, enlightening to the heart, and quite effective in teaching truths that should be applied to all our lives. I pray many will read and also become shamelessly audacious for our Lord not only when challenged by our personal pitfalls—but always.
Professor Reverend Mark Lawrence,
Senior faculty member
Caribbean Nazarene College
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