SHANE WOOD
Professor of New Testament,Â
Ozark Christian College,Â
Joplin, Missouri
Shane Wood is one of those rare jewels whose intellect is exceeded by his passion to make Jesus famous. His scholarship is obvious to anyone who has ever sat under his teaching at Ozark Christian College or accessed the growing repository of online lectures he provides for free at shanejwood.com. He is, in my estimation, the foremost expert on the book of Revelation in the Restoration Movement.
However, what is most impressive about Shane is his heart for the dispossessed. For example, he is an active board member of Black Box, an organization that saves boys from the sex-slave industry. Or again, when Shane”s car was stolen, and his colleagues were infuriated, Shane prayed, without vengeance, for the thief.
He and his wife, Sarah, have had people live in their humble home most of their married life, even though they are raising three biological children of their own. I”ve never met a disciple more diligent to chase hard after Jesus, regardless of where that trajectory takes him. Because of that self-abnegation, Shane”s influence has been increasing exponentially. His maturity and contribution to the kingdom are well beyond what his years would predict.
“”Mark Moore, teaching pastor, Christ”s Church of the Valley, Peoria, Arizona
Paul said: “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). When I withdrew from relationships with other church leaders, I wasn’t bearing their burdens or allowing them to bear mine. That isolation wasn’t just unwise. It was disobedient.
Church can be one of the most powerful places for this kind of growth, a community where children learn to love like Jesus, share joy, and build relationships rooted in faith and grace.
This article looks at the lessons two very good friends have learned over four and a half decades of friendship.
Love, as defined as friendship with Jesus and God through Jesus, is not sentimental but ultimately realized in the cross. Abiding in Jesus produces fruit which makes us friends with Jesus.
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