ABILENE TX (WGN)- Author and speaker Jimmy Jividen’s writing is limited to a couple of hours a day as his Parkinson’s Disease progresses. Jimmy had to curtail his speaking engagements, but still manages to do some writing.
In an email to WGN Nov. 21, Jimmy wrote, “I have difficulty in talking and walking and remembering things, outside of that I am dong fine.”
Phil Sanders, minister of the Concord Road congregation in Brentwood, Tenn., wrote, “I spoke to Jimmy a couple of weeks ago. He is limited to writing only a couple of hours a day. His Parkinson’s disease is progressing. Jimmy is one of my mentors and personal heroes. Keep him in your prayers.”
In his email, Jimmy, always concerned for the brotherhood, also mentioned that the Oldham Lane congregation in Abilene was searching for a preacher.
Jimmy is the author of many books, including Alive in the Spirit, Inspiration and Authority of the Scriptures, Miracles: From God or Man?, and Worship in Song.
When he was able, he spoke on many lectureships and workshops, as a preacher in great demand.
2007-11-28 at 4:06 pm
One of my first books purchased after I became a Christian (1983) was by brother Jividen.
Good man, as far as I am concerned.
2008-02-12 at 11:54 pm
I met Jimmy in the mid-1990s when he spoke at the Southern Africa Bible College Lectureship.
Brother Jivinden has been an inspiration to many preachers who have needed a steady hand to guide them through many problems that have faced our brotherhood over the years.
The body of a man may slow down, but the godly spirit of men of God speeds us on to our goal.
God bless you Jimmy.
2008-02-13 at 5:41 am
From the first day that I ever sat in Jimmy’s Discipleship Class at the Hillcrest Church of Christ, this great mentor said that a minister of the gospel must be fiercely independent. To be led by God through the Scriptures was the way to accomplish this, and I have embraced this as a guide throughout life. That hasn’t meant things would be rosy. From the first time Jimmy sent me out to Las Vegas, Nevada in the summer of 1979 as a sophomore at ACU to absorb the factions of both sides of an impending split in a local church there, I came to know the meaning of love of brothers and sisters and the pain that sometimes comes in times of disagreement. That split was allayed by more than eight years. There was no stopping it. But friendships gained and lessons learned about ministry in those early years of my own ministry, guided by a careful hand of Jimmy Jividen, were invaluable.
Jimmy and I have not always agreed. But I’ve always respected him. And I will always be grateful for his straight up expository preaching that I heard Sunday after Sunday for the first four years of my time in undergraduate school at Abilene Christian University and membership in the Hillcrest Church. It molded me and gave me a compass by which to try to measure everything I’ve ever personally taught or heard in others.
God bless this mighty man of valor in the kingdom of God.
–DixonDA@gmail.com