Jerry Hickson interview - part 2

Below is part two of an exclusive CHOG Blog interview with Dr. Jerry Hickson, author of Are You Sure You're Right? (Click HERE for more information on the book, including my review and critiques).

 

Q. So, what prompted you to write this book?

 

The wisecrack answer is "Go read the Introduction."  (pause for laugh track)  Each chapter is the result of a thought process I have reflected on for years.  I kept notes in the back of my Bible on topics on which I would like to write if given the opportunity.  A charge from my department chair helped to bring them together into a single project.  I believe the Church of God is losing its identity.  Our passion for unity is causing many of us to set aside other things we have believed to become like evangelical Christians.  While we have much in common with evangelicals, the holiness movement from which we come has its own distinctives.  I was encouraged by a positive response from Warner Press that this book should be part of our centennial celebration as we mark 100 years of Church of God ministry based in Anderson, Ind.  It is also the 125th anniversary of the founding of the movement.  Since my book calls the Church of God back to her own heritage, the timing was perfect.  I was working on another book that in the long run will be more important to me.  But the old adage says, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."  So I set aside the other book to write the one for which I have a publisher. Other issues that make the book timely are the war in Iraq, the Terri Schiavo case (just a year earlier), the popularity of the Left Behind series, my role at Warner Pacific College, and the increase of women preparing for ministry.  I thought I was making a bold move and anticipated a hostile response from those committed to the ultra-right.  To my relief, the response so far indicates that I am speaking for many, if not most in the Church of God. I still don't expect that anyone will agree with me at every point.  That is the beauty of the Church of God.  We try not to major on minors.