{"id":152,"date":"2019-06-10T12:47:57","date_gmt":"2019-06-10T17:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/seminary\/?p=152"},"modified":"2019-06-10T12:47:57","modified_gmt":"2019-06-10T17:47:57","slug":"worshipful-winsome-wisdom-a-tribute-to-dr-david-powlison-1949-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/seminary\/worshipful-winsome-wisdom-a-tribute-to-dr-david-powlison-1949-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Worshipful Winsome Wisdom: A Tribute to Dr. David Powlison (1949\u20132019)"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday, June 7, 2019, after suffering from\u00a0pancreatic cancer, David Powlison passed away peacefully at his home in Glenside, Pennsylvania, surrounded by his family. He was 69 years old.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Our Friendship<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

David would have teased me about all the \u201cWs\u201d in my title: W<\/em>orshipful, W<\/em>insome W<\/em>isdom. I can hear him now:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou do<\/em> like your alliterations, don\u2019t you, Bob!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I can hear his chuckle now\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Those who knew David only via his rich writings or his deep teaching might have missed the playfulness <\/em>of David Powlison. David enjoyed life. He enjoyed laughing and joking with and teasing his friends.<\/span><\/p>\n

David Powlison was my friend.<\/em> We served together for six years on the BOD of the Biblical Counseling Coalition. We ministered together at over a dozen conferences. We shared many a meal and literally 100s of emails.<\/span><\/p>\n

David and I had somewhat similar backgrounds, both earning seminary degrees and both earning doctoral degrees in counseling outside the typical biblical counseling circles. We both worked on secular psychiatric units. Because we both maintained a commitment to the sufficiency of Scripture, we both taught biblical counseling for decades at seminaries.<\/span><\/p>\n

So many have already written tributes and testimonies to David. Many more are coming, I\u2019m sure. I\u2019d like to add my tribute to my friend, using my 3 \u201cW\u201d words: Worshipful\u2014Winsome\u2014Wisdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Worshipful<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

In one conference we ministered together at, David was speaking on Biblical Counseling and the Psalms<\/em>. One particular sentence has captivated my mind ever since:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe person who talks well to God will talk well to people.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t know David and if you didn\u2019t hear this presentation, you might think that \u201ctalks well to God\u201d implies \u201cspiritualize, polite Christianese.\u201d Nothing could be further from the truth David was emphasizing. David took us through psalms of lament with their real-and-raw candid conversations with God.<\/span><\/p>\n

David was urging us to be God-saturated people<\/em> in order to be biblical soul care-givers<\/em>. I have since come to summarize David\u2019s presentation like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBiblical counselors are so heavenly-minded that they are of great earthly good.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

David Powlison was heavenly-minded. He was God-saturated. He talked well to God\u2014meaning that David talked candidly to God; he walked with God in the cool of the day and in the heat of the night.<\/span><\/p>\n

David Powlison worshipped Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now David is worshipping Christ face-to-face.<\/span><\/p>\n

Winsome<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Some biblical counselors have been known at times for being\u2026shall we say\u2026\u201cin-your-face,\u201d \u201cblunt,\u201d \u201cfrank,\u201d \u201cconfrontational.\u201d I doubt anyone thinks of David Powlison and has those words come to mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read the various testimonials and tributes and you\u2019ll read words like \u201ckind,\u201d \u201cgentle,\u201d \u201cpatient,\u201d \u201cloving,\u201d \u201cpeaceful,\u201d \u201ccaring,\u201d \u201cgiving,\u201d even \u201csweet.\u201d I add to that\u2014\u201cwinsome.\u201d His spirit was gracious and his words were kind. Whether with friends in the biblical counseling movement or with people who disagreed with major tenants of biblical counseling, David was gracious and kind.<\/span><\/p>\n

David, in his life and ministry, embodied Proverbs 16:24:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGracious and pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

More than any Christian leader I know, David Powlison lived out Ephesians 4:29 and 32.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDo not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,\u00a0but only what is helpful for building others up\u00a0according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen\u2026. Be kind and compassionate to one another,\u00a0forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I was sharing a meal with David when someone at the table asked David:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow would the biblical counseling movement have been different if you<\/em> had launched it?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the context of the conversation, the person asking the question was highlighting David\u2019s winsome, pleasant, gracious way. A lesser man, a less mature Christian, could have easily taken the bait and waxed eloquent on his own humble greatness!<\/span><\/p>\n

Not David. He laughed out loud! Then he shared:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I <\/em>had tried to launch the biblical counseling movement, we\u2019d have maybe three members now\u2014me, my wife Nan, and you<\/em>. The biblical counseling movement needed the unique prophetic voice of Jay Adams, or there would be no \u2018movement\u2019 today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

You see, part of David\u2019s winsomeness was his humility<\/em>. He practiced JOY: J<\/em>esus first, o<\/em>thers second, y<\/em>ourself third.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, I know what David would say to me right now. \u201cEnough about me, Bob. I was a flawed and finite human being. Point to Jesus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wisdom<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

So\u2026I had better stop soon. One more \u201cW\u201d word\u2014Wisdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

David often used the phrase \u201cwinsome wisdom.\u201d David was a poet when he thought, spoke, and wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

David called the biblical counseling movement to winsome wisdom, which is embodied in 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were gentle\u00a0among you, like a nursing mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our own lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In Ephesians 4:15, Paul describes it as speaking or living\/embodying the truth in love. In Philippians 1:9, Paul speaks of it as love that abounds more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.<\/span><\/p>\n

That captures David\u2014love abounding more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.<\/span><\/p>\n

No one I ever knew was as brilliant as David and<\/em> as lovingly humble at the same time. We all know some smart people. We all know some humble people. How many of us know brilliant humble<\/em> people? How many of us know people who embody worshipful winsome wisdom<\/em>?<\/span><\/p>\n

David was flat-out smart! Intelligent. Scholarly. Intellectually gifted. But we all know intelligent people who can\u2019t do life and relationships very well. David wasn\u2019t just smart\u2014he was wise<\/em>. He was wise because he sought in his life and ministry to relate God\u2019s truth to daily life.<\/span><\/p>\n

David believed in, taught, and practiced \u201cdouble exegesis\u201d\u2014honest human experience meeting deeply understood biblical truth. He believed in God\u2019s eternal gospel story invading our daily life story.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I remember my friend, David Powlison, I think of worshipful winsome wisdom<\/em>. I think of Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday, June 7, 2019, after suffering from\u00a0pancreatic cancer, David Powlison passed away peacefully at his home in Glenside, Pennsylvania, surrounded by his family. He was 69 years old.\u00a0 Our Friendship\u00a0 David would have teased me about all the \u201cWs\u201d in my title: Worshipful, Winsome Wisdom. I can hear him now: \u201cYou do like your… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30806],"tags":[244,30806,30912],"yoast_head":"\nWorshipful Winsome Wisdom: A Tribute to Dr. David Powlison (1949\u20132019) - Faith Bible Seminary Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/seminary\/worshipful-winsome-wisdom-a-tribute-to-dr-david-powlison-1949-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Worshipful Winsome Wisdom: A Tribute to Dr. David Powlison (1949\u20132019) - Faith Bible Seminary Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Friday, June 7, 2019, after suffering from\u00a0pancreatic cancer, David Powlison passed away peacefully at his home in Glenside, Pennsylvania, surrounded by his family. 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