Priscilla Shirer releases first book in five years, ‘I Surrender All’
By Marissa Postell Sullivan/Lifeway
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (BP) – “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give … I surrender all.”
The words of the old hymn are familiar to many, but do Christians today know what it means to live fully surrendered to Jesus? In her new book, Bible teacher, speaker and actor, Priscilla Shirer explores what surrender looks like in the life of regular people who want to follow Jesus with abandon in practical, everyday rhythms of their regular lives. Shirer’s first book in five years, “I Surrender All,” examines what it looks like for all of life to come underneath the rule and authority of Jesus Christ.
On August 6, B&H Publishing Group released “I Surrender All” as an accompanying book to the latest project from filmmakers Alex and Stephen Kendrick—“THE FORGE,” starring Shirer and scheduled to hit theaters August 23.
In “I Surrender All,” Shirer calls readers to radically follow Christ, encouraging them to not fear what it might cost them but rather to fear what they would be missing if they withheld anything from Him.
“It’s one thing to be a Christian, to have accepted His gift of salvation. It’s another thing to decide to be His disciple,” Shirer says. “One is a free gift, and the other one comes at a cost. It requires surrender.”
Everything surrendered
The eight chapters of Shirer’s book are focused around the word “everything” — what Shirer believes is “the crux of what the invitation to discipleship demands.” Acknowledging the enormity of the ask, Shirer calls readers to surrender their whole lives to Christ — everything you have, everything you need, everything you are, everything you’re becoming, everything you want, everything you face, everywhere you go, everything for Jesus. But Shirer says this sacrifice is worth it because losing one’s life is the only way to find it.
This call to surrender everything is a call for new and seasoned believers alike, Shirer says, recognizing many believers have been known for welcoming the Savior into some spaces of their lives without giving Him unfettered access to their whole lives.
“We’re afraid surrendering the whole of ourselves to Him, giving Him full access to our entire lives, will cause disruptions to our preferred way of living our lives. So we say to Him, in essence … Come in as Savior. But not as Lord,” Shirer says. “Here lies the thin line of demarcation that separates the believer from the disciple. The saved life from the surrendered life. Believing is where we begin, but being His disciple is the road we then start traveling.”
Moved to surrender
At the end of each chapter, Shirer includes a section she intends to help readers digest and internalize what they’ve read, creating space for readers to actively process what surrendering to the Lord means. She also hopes these portions that include space for journaling will allow readers to be able to recall what the Holy Spirit was teaching them as they worked their way through “I Surrender All.”
“If this experience we’re embarking on is going to be complete, we can’t just read about it,” Shirer says. “We need to do something about it. More accurately, we need to let Him do something in us.”
Shirer hopes this book will be impossible to simply read and instead beckon readers to make a decision about the kind of Christian they will be — one called to a surrendered life, an abundant life, a disciple’s life.
“I Surrender All” is published by B&H Publishing Group. It is available for pre-order now and will be released on August 6, 2024, at Lifeway.com and other places where books are sold.
Keith Harper retires after 28 years at SEBTS
By Mary Asta Halvorsen/SEBTS
WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP) – After serving faithfully for 28 years at Southeastern Seminary as Senior Professor of Baptist Studies, Keith Harper has retired from full-time teaching as of July 31.
Harper came to Southeastern in the fall of 1996 as an assistant professor of church history, having taught previously at Mississippi College after receiving his PhD from the University of Kentucky. His field was U.S. history with a specialty in Southern history, his dissertation title: “Southern Baptists and Social Christianity, 1890-1920.”
Over the next 28 years, Harper would continue to pursue scholarship with a passion and fervor somehow matched by his zeal for teaching others and guiding them into the world of academia. Though discreet, his influence has not gone unnoticed, and many of Harper’s students, colleagues, and friends have expressed immense gratitude for his influence in their lives.
Brent Aucoin, associate dean of The College for academic affairs and professor of history, reflected on his initial interactions with Harper: “From the moment I arrived on campus, Keith mentored me as a junior scholar in the field by graciously sharing with me his immense knowledge of Baptist History and by patiently answering all my questions.”
“Over the last two decades,” Aucoin said, “my understanding of Baptist history and my effectiveness as a teacher of Baptist history has increased significantly because of the efforts of Keith Harper. I know from my conversations with hundreds of his former students over the years that they join me in expressing our deepest gratitude towards Dr. Harper for teaching us more fully what it means to be a Baptist.”
Baptist history is one of Harper’s primary passions in research. He has written extensively on the Southern Baptist denomination, from its past to its present. However, Harper’s scholarship involves a plethora of other interests as well, including Southern history, U.S. religious history, and U.S. social history. He also possesses a deep interest in the state of Kentucky, where he completed the entirety of his academic education. In all of this, Harper most noticeably has a heart for the unheard voices.
As a storyteller, Harper has sought to represent in his writing those who are often overlooked in history. Along with many other academic works, Harper edited and published the following books: “Between Fetters and Freedom: African American Baptists Since Emancipation,” “Rescue the Perishing: Selected Letters from Annie Armstrong and Other Writings,” “Send the Light: Lottie Moon’s Letters and Other Writings,” and “Esteemed Reproach: The Lives of Rev. James Ireland and Rev. Joseph Craig.”
Harper’s articles and book review publications reflect this same motivation in even greater depth, consistently wrestling with and seeking to represent the history of Black people, of women in America, of children and of missionaries.
“Dr. Keith Harper is a gift to Southern Baptists and to Baptist scholarship,” said Walter Strickland, assistant professor of systematic and contextual theology. “His keen mind and warm-hearted scholarship emerged from a passion for the purity of the church’s witness to God’s kingdom. While Dr. Harper is a scholar who influenced the masses with his pen, I can testify to his investment in individuals who will never be able to return the favor. His legacy will reverberate for generations to the glory of God.”
Pam Blume, wife of longtime NC pastor Allan Blume, dies after cancer battle
By Chad Austin/Biblical Recorder
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Pamela Lee Walker Blume, wife of longtime N.C. Baptist pastor and ministry leader K. Allan Blume, died early Monday, Aug. 5, following a courageous battle with cancer for more than 12 years. She was 72.
While she supported and served alongside her husband for more than 50 years in ministry, Pam also made her own impact in Baptist life in a variety of leadership roles she held at the local, state, national and international levels, including as an International Mission Board trustee and a member of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Committee on Committees.
“Pam was the most gifted and talented person I have ever known,” Allan Blume said. “She got to serve in a lot of different areas. God used her, and she made an incredible impact on a lot of people through the years.”
The Blumes first met in 1970 while Allan was a student at Carson-Newman College and preached a youth revival at Pam’s home church in the Tidewater region of Virginia. They married two years later in 1972 and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where Allan attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Pam was active in the churches Allan pastored in Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina and later supported him when he became the editor of the Biblical Recorder in 2011. During interviews with various churches through the years, Allan says Pam often left a positive impression on people.
“Twice during my ministry with Pam sitting in the room, two different search committees have said, ‘We’d like to have you, but we really would love to have Pam,’” Allan Blume said.
In the churches Allan served, Pam frequently utilized her musical gifts by singing in the choir or playing an instrument. She also made strong connections and cared for members of the congregation.
“She was super friendly, and I think that’s one of the things that endeared people to her,” said Ashley Allen, a former staff member with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina who now serves as assistant to the president and assistant professor of women’s ministries at Southwestern Seminary. “She made people feel comfortable around her, she was approachable and she was funny.
“Pam had a really good sense of humor, and she always had a smile on her face. She was just a warm-hearted person who loved and cared well for people.”
Pam Blume was part of the team that helped Ashley Allen launch a brand new women’s ministry through the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina in 2009 known as “Embrace.” Ashley Allen led the ministry for nearly 12 years until 2021 and said during that time Pam became “not just a ministry partner, but one of my closest friends.”
Through the Embrace women’s ministry, Ashley Allen witnessed the Blumes’ heart for missions, evangelism and discipleship firsthand. Pam served in a variety of capacities with Embrace, which included planning annual mission trips and events.
In 2011, Ashley Allen and the Blumes joined a missions team that traveled to Moldova to establish a formal partnership between the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the Baptist Union of Moldova. The team consisted of a number of N.C. Baptist and Southern Baptist leaders, which included the late Bobbye Rankin, whose husband, Jerry, had recently retired as president of the International Mission Board (IMB).
Ashley Allen, Pam and Rankin traveled throughout Moldova, speaking to women in local churches for an entire week. Ashley remembers how Pam developed an instant connection with pastors’ wives in those churches.
“She was able to connect with them because she knew what their experiences were like,” Ashley said. “Even though she didn’t know the language, she could still minister to them, she connected with them and they enjoyed her.”
