Joe and Kim with their daughters

Thank you for praying for Joe Joslin and his family. His wife, Kim, their twin daughters Emma and Elyse, along with Kim’s mother and Aunt were in a terrible accident a little before 4pm on Friday, June 24. Joe has been a contributing editor to PneumaReview.com since its inception.

Joe wrote on his Facebook page early morning on June 25, about 12 hours after the accident:

Updates as far as I know them:
1. Kim has been discharged as of 3:30am. She left with Erin Mock who will stay the night with her. Kim is still dizzy, weak and vomiting occasionally. She is black and blue and purple from head to toe but is doing the best of the bunch.
2. Emma had her head sewn up by a wonderful plastic surgeon. She also has a broken rib(s) but they are not serious. She has been generally alert and chatty but also has bouts of concussion symptoms. Headache, nausea, blurred vision, etc. She was admitted to the Children’s Hospital. She struggles when she tries to tell about what she saw. She was very traumatized by it all but is trying to put on a brave face. She finally got to see mom an hour ago. Grandparents are sleeping in her room tonight.
3. Elyse was unconscious at the scene and for a lot of the Aeromed flight, coming to occasionally but very out of it. She has gotten steadily better since arriving. She has a couple of non displaced fractures of her pelvis but should be able to get up and around soon with few limitations. She’s been admitted to the Children’s Hospital just a few rooms down from Emma. I’m staying with her tonight.
4. Kim’s mom and Aunt were seriously hurt as well, especially the Aunt. I don’t have any updates so I will have to leave that to others. They are alive and expected to recover.
5. There’s no way I can ever thank you all enough for your concern, prayers, offers of help. It’s truly amazing and we will never forget it. We have a long road ahead of us, but I can rest in the fact that no matter what comes I have another day to cherish my wife and kids and kiss their beautiful heads. Yesterday afternoon I stared at the gut wrenchingly real possibility that I had lost all of that in the blink of an eye.

There are innumerable presentations, articles, and books being written on the subject of the Millennials and the Church. These angles include the Church’s lack of connection with the Millennials and the Millennials lack of interest in the Church. Or, more specifically, the approach recently presented in an article by Joe Hepler in Vital Magazine, “Four Ways To Connect With College Students In Church.” While reading this article, I find simple insights that could assist the Church to see from the collegiate Millennial’s perspective. The author is recently out of College himself and offers a unique look at the topic at hand.

The reason for the article is stated clearly in the title, the intent being to connect with college students “in Church.” The practicum offered by Hepler in the first point of his article is on point. It makes sense that if college students are studying at a College or University near a Church of choice, they have some level of interest in academics and growth. Capitalizing on that interest to increase their spiritual formation is noteworthy.

Image: Inbal Marilli

In the last point that Hepler makes concerning involving college students in leadership positions or roles in the Church, the structure and phrasing of the paragraph is a bit ambiguous. I sensed he had much more to say on this point but the article was rushed at this point. Still, his point is a good one. He uses the statement, “Many will give their hearts and souls to the churches they attend during college, and still many more may stay long after they have earned their degrees.” There are many avenues to developing young adults to lead in the local Church, including those that can be used with a transient crowd such as college students. Hepler seems to be leaning toward patience in discipleship, waiting before involving them. This is definitely the safest way to assure that they are quality leaders of integrity and understand the mission of the Church once they do get involved and lead.

Reviewed by Jeff Grenell

Read the full article: https://vitalmagazine.com/Home/Article/Four-Ways-to-Connect-with-College-Students-in-Church/

Joe Maxwell, “Martyred for the Message: We’ve forgotten how much blood was spilled so that we could read God’s Word” Charisma (Sept 2006), pages 38-40, 42-47.

A Thriller or Real Life?

Does this sound like an exciting book or movie? “A small group of radical extremists are publishing a book full of dangerous ideas. National governments and international religious groups search desperately for these peddlers of heresy and rebellion. Despite danger and hardship, the fanatics relentlessly push their version of truth on an unsuspecting world.”

It has often been said that the main difference between real life and fiction is that fiction has to be believable. Who would believe that the Christian church would oppose translating and publishing Scripture? Who would think that William Tyndale would be hunted as a heretic and martyred for making the Bible available in English?

The media elite will say you can’t make a movie or book about Tyndale’s life. The story just isn’t believable. No one would believe this as fiction.

Martyred For The Message

Joe Maxwell’s article recounts the life and times of Bible translators and publishers William Tyndale and John Wycliffe. Their work brought reform and revival to a Christian Church and world that practically ignored Jesus Christ. For their efforts, they were prosecuted and persecuted.

Tyndale’s martyrdom, and the desecration of Wycliffe’s grave, proves the disruptive nature of their work. They insisted, centuries apart, that Christian authority rest in unchanging Scripture, rather than fallible men. This radical theology made them the enemy of those who wear a crown or mitre.

As believers read Scripture for themselves the numerous corrupt practices and doctrinal errors in the Church and governments of their era became obvious. Those who profited from the status quo refused or resisted reform. Cheats and crooks called devout men heretics or traitors, then spilled their blood.

All too often, the blood of saints is a key ingredient in the formula for Bible ink. While salvation is free, the freight is costly. Sometimes that “transportation charge” is murder on the Godly man or woman who delivers Scripture to a lost soul.

Plow Boys As Theologians

Tyndale, who read and wrote 8 languages, was clearly a scholar. His actions mark him as more than just an intellectual. He relentlessly and boldly worked to bring the Bible to the common English man and woman.

The availability of Tyndale’s translation fueled the drive for literacy in general, and Biblical study in particular. An educated populous is more productive but harder to swindle. It is no surprise that 16^th century governments, both secular and ecclesiastical, objected to the availability of inexpensive, easy to read Bibles.