“Institutions are the lengthened shadows of great men and women” (adapted from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, Self-Reliance). Bertha Munro (1884-1974) was the great woman who cast just such a shadow and Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts was, and is, the institution. She was a Christian higher education administrator, writer, speaker, and lay theologian, as well as a beloved professor, a dominant academic voice, and a driving force in the liberal arts tradition.

Nina Gunter, general director of Nazarene Missions International (NMI) shares with Holiness Today readers about her passion for missions and how the church around the world can work together for the cause of global evangelization.

Q. We are looking towards the Thanksgiving Offering for the World Evangelism Fund (WEF). Why is this important to the life of the church?

Nothing detracts more from the radiance of true Christian holiness than the judgmental spirit of legalism. Legality, the condition of conforming to law, is desirable. "Legalism," however, is a dependence on keeping law as the means of salvation. It is an excessive bondage to the letter of the law, which overlooks the law's purpose and fails to be motivated by love.

This is a poor substitute for genuine Christian faith.

“We can hardly stand the wait! / Please Christmas, don’t be late.” Most of you can hear the song in your head immediately, can’t you? Those squeaky, aggravating chipmunk voices singing the Christmas song we all love to hate. The song is a trite (and annoyingly persistent!) example of secular culture’s approach to Christmas commercialism.

The school years may predispose many to think of testing as a scary prospect. While in school, I had a recurring dream that the instructor handed out tests the first day of class, and the terror of not knowing any of the answers haunted me through the night. 

But here in Genesis, we see a different kind of test. God had confidence in Abraham. He knew the faith that Abraham possessed. It was time for Abraham to be proven, to fulfill his purpose. God presented him an opportunity for which he was hand-crafted to accomplish.

Superimposed over a picture of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, on the cover of the May 23, 2005, issue of Business Week magazine was the headline: "Evangelical America: Big Business. Explosive Politics." The feature article reported on the success of well-known mega churches, including Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, Bill Hybel's Willow Creek Church near Chicago, and Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in Southern California.

“The years teach much which the days did not know” (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Experience).

Bertha Munro’s autobiography was published in 1970 by Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, a former publishing trademark of Nazarene Publishing House (now The Foundry Publishing). She titled it The Years Teach:

"The Will of God." The phrase has a rather solemn ring to it, don't you think? Maybe it's because most disciples of Jesus Christ I know are striving to understand and earnestly seek the will of God. Authentic disciples are serious about finding it, surrendering to it, praying according to it, obeying it, and living in the center of it.

"I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it" (1 Corinthians 11:18). Paul's first letter to the Corinthians gives the distinct impression that leaders and laity in the church of Corinth didn't like each other. You almost get the sense that Paul's not sure he likes them either.

What is the secret to unleashing the full potential of the church? How do we call forth a congregation's full measure of creativity and love so we can fulfill the Great Commission in our communities? The answer begins with the leadership team. Today's most effective churches are those developing team-based leadership. Leadership is a function, not a position. That function is much larger than any single person.