About Max Cornell
I’ve spent most of my life trying to answer a simple question: Is there more to life with God than what I’m currently experiencing?
I grew up in church and always believed in Jesus, but early on my experience of God felt inconsistent—moments of real encounter followed by long stretches of frustration. I wanted a relationship with God that was alive, stable, and transformative, but I didn’t know how to get there. For years, I lived in a cycle of passion and burnout, trying to relate to God through my performance and wondering why it never seemed to work.
Everything began to change when I encountered the message of grace—not just as a concept, but as a reality. I realized that my relationship with God wasn’t built on my ability to perform, but on the finished work of Jesus. That shift didn’t just change my theology; it changed my life. It gave me a stability and confidence in God that I had never experienced before, and it reignited my hunger to pursue Him wholeheartedly.
From there, my journey has been shaped by a deep love for Scripture, a passion for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, and a growing conviction that salvation is far bigger than we often make it. I believe the gospel is not just about forgiveness—it’s about transformation. It’s about becoming fully human again, restored into the image of God, and empowered by the Spirit to live the life Jesus modeled.
That conviction has led me into both pastoral ministry and academic theology.
I planted Charis Church in the Kansas City area, where my heart is to see people encounter God, be transformed by grace, and step into their calling. At the same time, I’ve pursued doctoral work focused on how the gifts of the Spirit relate to salvation itself—arguing that charismata are not peripheral to the Christian life, but part of what it means to be restored as God’s image-bearers.
A lot of my work sits at the intersection of three things:
- The biblical story (especially how the Spirit functions across the whole canon)
- The theology of the early church (particularly deification/theosis)
- The lived experience of the Spirit in renewal movements
Along the way, I’ve had the privilege of being trained in environments that emphasized both strong teaching and real ministry—from my early exposure to Word of Faith teaching, to my time at Charis Bible College, to hands-on ministry praying for thousands of people and watching God meet them in powerful ways. Those experiences shaped my expectation that God still speaks, still heals, and still transforms people in tangible ways.
At the end of the day, I’m a pastor, a theologian, and a teacher. But more than that, I’m someone who is still captivated by Jesus and convinced that there is always more of Him to discover—and that helping others experience that reality is what I’m here to do.
