Just over one year ago, two dear friends went to be with the Lord: Peter and Sally Ann Doyle. Peter was born in Pensacola, Florida on May 13, 1930. Sally Ann was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 2, 1934. In 1951, he attended Washington and Lee University in Virginia, while at the same time, she enrolled in the nearby Mary Washington College. They met while performing in an American Revolutionary drama entitled The Common Glory, she as a dancer, and he as an actor. After graduation, they married and pursued a calling into vocational ministry. After Peter graduated from Seabury Western Theological Seminary in 1957, they served two years as missionaries in Liberia, West Africa. From there, they went to Basel, Switzerland, where Peter pursued doctoral studies under the eminent 20th-century theologian Karl Barth. Peter did his doctoral dissertation on Jonathan Edwards, the 16th-century pastor/theologian who was perhaps the brightest theological mind that America has ever produced. Barth and Edwards differed on some important doctrines, but what they had in common bore much fruit in Peter and Sally Ann’s life, which was the centrality of God in everything. In Scripture, in life, and in everything, God is the capital-R-reality to which everything else in time and space must refer, THE Subject from which all other subjects derive their meaning. For Barth, Edwards, and especially for Peter, the fact that God is Triune – the one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – had profound implications for not only his theology but also his character. Our Triune God is a dynamic community, an eternal fellowship of persons in relation to one another. What Edwards brought home to Peter and Sally Ann is that the essential nature of this inner-trinitarian relationship is love. One of the most breathtaking chapters of any book I’ve ever read is the final chapter of Jonathan Edwards’ Charity and Its Fruit. The chapter is entitled “Heaven, a World of Love.” God is the fountain of love, as the sun is the fountain of light. And therefore the glorious presence of God in heaven, fills heaven with love, as the sun, placed in the midst of the visible heavens in a clear day, fills the world with light. The apostle tells us that “God is love;” and therefore, seeing he is an infinite being, it follows that he is an infinite fountain of love. Seeing he is an all-sufficient being, it follows that he is a full and over-flowing, and inexhaustible fountain of love. And in that he is an unchangeable and eternal being, he is an unchangeable and eternal fountain of love. There, even in heaven, dwells the God from whom every stream of holy love, yea, every drop that is, or ever was, proceeds. There dwells God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, united as one, in infinitely dear, and incomprehensible, and mutual, and eternal love. There dwells God the Father, who is the father of mercies, and so the father of love, who so loved the world as to give his only-begotten Son to die for it. There dwells Christ, the Lamb of God, the prince of peace and of love, who so loved the world that he shed his blood, and poured out his soul unto death for men. There dwells the great Mediator, through whom all the divine love is expressed toward men, and by whom the fruits of that love have been purchased, and through whom they are communicated, and through whom love is imparted to the hearts of all God’s people. There dwells Christ in both his natures, the human and the divine, sitting on the same throne with the Father. And there dwells the Holy Spirit — the Spirit of divine love, in whom the very essence of God, as it were, flows out, and is breathed forth in love, and by whose immediate influence all holy love is shed abroad in the hearts of all the saints on earth and in heaven. There, in heaven, this infinite fountain of love — this eternal Three in One — is set open without any obstacle to hinder access to it as it flows forever. There this glorious God is manifested and shines forth, in full glory, in beams of love. And there this glorious fountain forever flows forth in streams, yea, in rivers of love and delight, and these rivers swell, as it were, to an ocean of love, in which the souls of the ransomed may bathe with the sweetest enjoyment, and their hearts, as it were, be deluged with love! [1] The Trinitarian circle of love is not a closed one, isolated, insulated, or turned in on itself. Instead, it is like a fountain, flowing ever outward. So it is entirely consistent with his outward-moving, others-centered nature for his love to flow outward and create others with whom to share his love. He is a God for whom love of the other is central to his being. Because we spurned his love, the cross was the only way to repair the breach. He loves us this much and in this way. If God were like us, the cross is an utter absurdity, but God’s love took the shape of the cross because this is who God is. He cannot be otherwise. On the cross of Christ, we see God acting in perfect harmony with his being. At the cross, we see God for who he is – a God who lays down his life for those he loves. In time, Peter and Sally Ann were conquered and overwhelmed by the love of God. We could say many wonderful things about them, but their most enduring legacy is this: a lifetime of having the Triune God of love at the center of everything – their marriage, their ministry, their life – resulted in them becoming people for whom sacrificial love of others was their most essential quality. Anyone who knew them would agree. And this is what God is about in our lives, too. He wants to transform us into a people for whom sacrificial love of others is our most essential quality. After 68 years of marriage, Sally Ann went to be with the Lord on November 16, 2023. Peter followed shortly thereafter on January 2, 2024. A month or so later, one of their dear friends, Betty Thomas, suggested we start a scholarship fund in their honor. So, with the support of the Doyle family, we started the Dr. Peter and Sally Doyle Memorial Scholarship to encourage Christlike character in aspiring leaders. Why the Doyle Memorial Scholarship? In seminary education, we could aim to equip students to understand all mysteries and grasp all knowledge, become scholars, and publish books. We could aim to train students to be the best exegetes of Scripture and wow audiences with rhetorical power. We could inspire in them the kind of faith needed to grow churches, plant new ones, send missionaries, reach the unreached, and make many sacrifices in Christ’s name. But without love, what would it accomplish? Nothing. As Paul told Timothy, “The aim of our charge is love” (1 Timothy 1:5). Students will graduate and be able to teach, preach, evangelize, disciple, and more. But are they being increasingly conquered and ruled by the love of God? Are they increasingly becoming people for whom sacrificial love for others is their most essential quality? In their relationships with their spouse, children, co-workers, friends, neighbors, and strangers, are they becoming more patient and kind, less envious and boastful, more humble and gentle, less demanding and resentful? Do they repent more quickly and know their desperate need for grace more deeply? Do they celebrate the gospel more fully? Tonight at our annual banquet, we will be awarding the Doyle Memorial Scholarship in honor of two servants of the Lord Jesus, for whom we can respond to these questions with a resounding “Yes!” May this scholarship in their honor encourage many others on this path toward Christlikeness. -- For more on Peter and Sally Ann, listen to a two-part podcast interview we did in 2023 with Peter and Sally Ann: part 1 and part 2 . References: [1] Edwards, Jonathan. Charity and Its Fruits: Christian Love as Manifested in the Heart and Life . Edited by Tryon Edwards. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2000. P. 326-7

As the Church in Auburn/Opelika, may we humbly repent of our character flaws and the damage it causes to those inside and outside the Church. As his disciples, may we abide deeply in Jesus Christ and be transformed more and more into his likeness. And as leaders, may we embrace the role of a servant, giving our lives away for others in joyful obedience to the Father.

Though Valentine's Day has been captured by consumerism, it's still a day that calls the whole world to reflect on the nature of love. For some it's a joyous day; for others it touches on a void. Either way it brings us near to the reality that the human heart has an inner thirst. We long both to love and to be loved. We want to truly be someone to someone. To be fully known and fully accepted. The Bible not only acknowledges this universal human experience, but it reveals why this is the case.

In his book, "The Gospel in a Pluralist Society," Lesslie Newbigin describes the Church as "a sign, instrument, and foretaste of God's redeeming grace for the whole life of society" (p. 233). It is the place in the world where "the reality of the new creation is present, known, and experienced." (p. 232). It is the time in history when the light of God’s tomorrow breaks into the darkness of our today. By drawing together such a diverse body of believers from over 220 nations, the Lausanne Congress offered us a profound glimpse of where he is taking all of history and allowed us to experience a bit of his tomorrow today.

During the middle of the Fourth Lausanne Congress, a friend from the States texted me asking how it was going. I replied, “The content has been good, but the context has been incredible.” Over the next four blog posts, I want to share four aspects of the context that deeply impacted me. The first contextual aspect was the Congress setting: Incheon, South Korea.

Hoffman Rhyne, President & Academic Dean of Christ Our Redeemer Seminary In 1955, Billy Graham and John Stott formed a friendship out of a common burden for the unity of the Church and the fulfillment of the Great Commission. At the time, the Church in the West was fractured by the fundamentalist-modernist controversy. To the non-Christian world, the Church’s infighting betrays her gospel of reconciliation. The Church at that time needed a way out of the slums of fundamentalism and the swamp of theological liberalism. What was at stake? Nothing less than the name of Jesus in the Church and among the nations. Also at this time, the global Church was in the midst of a major transition. Largely due to the missionary efforts of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Church in Africa, Asia, and Latin America had witnessed dramatic growth. Graham’s ministry over the years had afforded him the opportunity to befriend and partner with leaders in these young but vibrant churches. He had won their trust and they, his. And yet, many of these leaders did not know each other. Graham gained a vision for bringing these leaders together to seek the Lord together as the global Church. But for his vision to be realized, Graham needed Stott. John Stott was one of the world’s most trusted theologians at the time and Graham enlisted his help to form a doctrinal basis for evangelical partnership in missions. Through their efforts, around 2,700 Christian leaders from 150 countries traveled to Lausanne, Switzerland in July 1974 for “the First International Congress of World Evangelization.” Time magazine reported at the time that it was “possibly the widest-ranging meeting of Christians ever held.” It was not only marked by diversity but by humility, genuine dialogue, and repentance. Perhaps the most important and lasting contribution of this gathering was the Lausanne Covenant . It not only provided a theological definition of evangelicalism, it is perhaps the most influential document in modern evangelical missions. This is because it is not merely a statement of belief but a covenant. By the end of the congress, the delegates who signed the covenant pledged themselves to cooperative action with one another for the fulfillment of the Great Commission. It was truly a historic moment. When Graham was interviewed by Newsweek in 2006, he reported that the ‘74 Lausanne Congress and the resulting Lausanne Movement was perhaps his most significant contribution to the world. This movement convened again in Manila in 1989 and Cape Town in 2010. In keeping with Lausanne ‘74, the purpose of these gatherings was to call leaders from the global Church together to affirm our unity in Jesus Christ, our commitment to doctrinal faithfulness, and to partnership in the Great Commission. These were not mere conferences but congresses that hammered out decisions leading to committed action in the years ahead. As we seek to be faithful to the Great Commission in the 21st Century, the need for a comprehensive, coordinated, and collaborative global mission has never been more pressing. The Lausanne Movement is therefore convening for the Fourth Lausanne Congress this week in Seoul, South Korea. CORS at Lausanne 4 We are honored that CORS president Hoffman Rhyne is able to join the 5,000 participants from around the world in the Fourth Lausanne Congress. He is there now and is excited about what the Lord will do and the longterm fruit that we pray will come from this gathering. There are three ways that you can participate in this as well: Pray . You can participate in this event through prayer . Lausanne has a prayer guide as well as a 24-7 online prayer room. The prayer room has information to guide your prayers as you join with Christians from all over the world in prayer for God to make Christ known everywhere! Listen . Lausanne also has a great podcast series you can check out. Mission Shift is another excellent podcast on global missions today. Learn . Also, for our next quarterly seminar on Thursday, November 14th , Hoffman will be sharing with our community key lessons and insights from this gathering of the global Church and how we can increase our participation in God’s global mission. Click here to go ahead and sign up for that seminar. Also, to learn more about the Lausanne Movement, here are some good places to start: History of Lausanne CT article by Joshua Swamidass , A Theological Monument to Unity Amid Diversity An Exposition and Commentary of the Lausanne Covenant by John Stott

While Auburn’s population has been rapidly increasing, Auburn’s crime rate has been going in the other direction and is, in fact, much lower than state and national averages. In fact, Auburn’s reputation for public safety is one of the factors behind the population growth. While this is something to be celebrated, how can we continue to strengthen the justice system and public safety as witness to God's ultimate protection and salvation in Christ?

While our community here on the plains is undergoing rapid transformation, Auburn University remains the central pillar, shaping the identity of our community. It provides the most jobs, draws the most diversity, and produces the most economic output. More importantly, in our late modern age, the urgency of campus ministry has never been greater. For the Church to be faithful to God’s mission here, we must continue to be deeply involved there.

In 1966, Rosemary and Ronnie Anders started Anders Book Store on Magnolia Ave. With a population of only around 16,000 and a slow pace of life centered around the university, Auburn could be described as a village back then. But now, with a population of over 82,000, we’ve transformed from a village to a city.