I don’t get the opportunity these days to do much deep consideration of theology, so when I learned that the Firebrand Theology Seminar would focus on the work of Billy Abraham this summer it was too good to pass up.

I think I first met Billy sometime in the 1980s. I don’t remember when it was exactly – it could have been while I was at Asbury Seminary, at a Texas Conference event, a special theology meeting, or a Good News Convo. Later (in the 90s) when I was doing my doctoral work, Billy was the external reader of my dissertation. His doing that – and the conversations we had over it – were a blessing to me. In the past 25 years I was able to reconnect with him mostly at Wesleyan Theological Society meetings. I was in the audience as one of many cheering him on when he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at Seattle Pacific University.

The seminar gave me the opportunity to review Billy’s works that I’d read over the decades – and to read some I’d missed. Of all his works, Crossing the Threshold of Divine Revelation may be my favorite. His recent four volume work, Divine Agency and Divine Action runs a close second. The basic idea of both – the claim that God is living and active (an agent) in our world – is essential to my own theology and practice of ministry.

It was also nice to get to see some old friends and to make new ones. Though more participated online than in person, I was able to meet many people that I’ve engaged with online.