Firstfruits of a New Creation (Doug Serven, editor, 2019)
Firstfruits of a New Creation
Several years ago, I set aside time to attend a lecture series by Jerram Barrs. As I was about to leave, I remarked to Margie that I hoped to learn how better to apply the Scriptures creatively to cultural issues. Jerram is gifted as a Bible teacher and exhibits keen insight into how to speak the truth of God’s word into our increasingly post-Christian world. Don’t bother, she replied. You already do pretty well with that. I’d rather you learned his gentle, lovely godliness.
Friends, former students and colleagues of Jerram were asked to contribute chapters to Firstfruits of a New Creation in his honor, a festschrift as it’s known in academic circles. There are essays on a wide variety of topics, and reflections and memories of Jerram as a person. I contributed a chapter on film, “Being Human at The Box Office.” Firstfruits is an exercise in thinking Christianly across all of life, culture and reality, of taking seriously the claim of Christ to be Lord of all. All in honor of a beloved mentor of mine.
Book recommended: Firstfruits of a New Creation: Essays Honoring Jerram Barrs edited by Doug Serven (White Blackbird Books; 2019) 265 pages.