Surrender: Secure God's Best for Your Life

by Wayne Schmidt

God's transformational work in our souls is not a one-way transaction he designs for us to intentionally participate in our own spiritual formation. But how we join in has little to do with performance and much more to do with following his lead. Surrender challenges readers to develop a consistent capacity to hear God's voice and do his bidding. Intimacy with Christ, relational richness with others, and ministry effectiveness all spring from a fellowship with Christ that comes only from following him from followership. God's best design for your life can be reality; but the path to securing it begins in the last place many will look surrender. Buy one and get one FREE to share with a friend. All author royalties for the sale of Surrender will go to Wesley Seminary to be used for church multiplication scholarships.

208 pages, Paperback

Published March 31, 2017

About the author

Dr. Wayne Schmidt has been General Superintendent of The Wesleyan Church since June 2016.
He is the author of a number of books, and has been a contributing editor for Leadership Journal.
He was a cofounding, and later senior, pastor of Kentwood Community Church in Grand Rapids, from 1979-2009. He was chief administration officer of Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University from 2010-16.
In both positions he emphasized multiethnic ministry and his time was marked by growth.
He received his BA from Marion College (now Indiana Wesleyan), his MA from Calvin, and his DMin from Trinity Evangelical.

Reviews

[Edward Arrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I became familiar with Wayne Schmidt’s writings in 1992 when I read his book on accountability. When I saw the synopsis of this book, I knew I wanted to read it and called to order it right away. I am so glad I did. I was hooked from the moment I started reading. Our careers took different paths but I could relate to his questioning whether God was calling him into ministry or whether it was his grandmother. In my case, it was not my grandmother but there were folks in my home church who were ready to tell me what God wanted to do with my life. Looking back through the years, I would say Dr. Schmidt had a wise grandmother but more importantly, he had someone in his life who could help him understand the importance of surrendering to God and the potential fallout if he did not. I appreciate how he has been vulnerable to share his life experiences when he was faced with decisions that required him to again surrender to God. Many of us in the Wesleyan-Armenian tradition have been taught that we get saved and sanctified and we are on our way. When major hurdles arise in our pathway, we start questioning. As Wayne Schmidt explains, it is not a once and done deal but a continuing life of surrender to God. Using eight “offering plate moments” as he calls them, he shares times when he was faced with an opportunity to surrender to God and how that played out. In the chapter following each of these stories, he uses key verses from Romans 12 to reflect so the reader can apply the truth from God to his or her own life. Although we are never too old to learn, I especially recommend this book for young people who are starting their Christian journey and to every person preparing for the ministry. As a matter of fact, I think it would benefit every Christian to read it.