My Utmost for His Highest
IF YOU TOOK A CLASS from TFC missions professor Dr. Norm Allison, you were sure to hear Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest read to you on a regular basis. Dr. Allison introduced many of his students to this devotional book that is prized by thousands of Christians who have received inspiration, comfort, and challenge from its succinct meditations.
I confess to daydreaming at times when Dr. Allison read the devotional of the day. Why did he take valuable class time to read word-for-word the thoughts of an author far removed from our contemporary context?
Only later, already on the mission field, did I begin to discern the motives of the good doctor. For if the plan of God is truly to call out a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to worship Him forever, then certainly He is most glorified in the salvation of individuals whom he transforms by the redeeming work of His Son, Jesus. If this indeed is for his highest honor and glory, does it not call for our utmost faith and love as we respond to the Great Commission? Dr. Allison understood that head knowledge without heart devotion is powerless for Christian service. Both are included in TFC’s mission statement. My professor bonded the academic with the spiritual in preparing us students to exalt the Lord’s name among the nations. In his classes, I learned the importance of integrating devotion with my continuing learning processes in Christian ministry.
Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. (Isaiah 26:8)
(Dr. Steve M. Irvin, Charlotte, NC, TFC Alumnus, TFC Missionary-in-Residence. Taken from the book: Leaves From the Tree God Planted © 2006 by Toccoa Falls College, p. 104-105)