The Sacred Romance

I had written off John Eldredge. Someone whose opinion regarding authors and books I really respected did not think too highly of Mr Eldredge's writings, so that was good enough for me. ( I have since found that many of the authors this respected person did not think much of have become favorite authors of mine, and ones who have helped me a great deal in my journey with Jesus).
Like me, many people have either read Mr Eldredge or have their minds made up about him. I have recently given him a fair approach and have come to really find his writing helpful. In The Sacred Romance, Mr Eldredge, along with his now deceased friend Brent Curtis, look at the Christian life not as a series of principles to live by, but a story to be engaged in. The authors believe that we try to boil Christianity down to 10 steps to discipleship, 7 ways to better prayer, 3 facts to know to get into heaven.
Not that the authors are attempting to throw out doctrine, but that too often, we get caught up in that while forgetting the story we are in. Claiming that books and movies tell no new stories, only retell the story of God and humanity, they illustrate the story of God with movies such as Titanic and Last of the Mohican's.
I have always struggled in trying to get my faith out of my head and into my heart. I grew up in a pastor's home and have had biblical teaching since the womb, practically. Facts about Christianity have never been in short supply for me, but true excitement and joy about my faith were seemingly hard to come by. This was also a struggle as I sought to do more than teach my teens (as a youth pastor) but engage them with God. I wish I was aware of Mr Eldredge then. But I am very glad that although I want my son to know Scripture and hold correct doctrine, I can also pass along a heart-knowledge of God.
I highly recommend this book as well as the other resources available by Mr Eldredge. For more, visit his website, Ransomed Heart

36 Parables

36 Parables are retellings of the parables of Jesus. On each DVD comes 3 different parables presented with up-to-date stories. They are between 3 and 12 minutes long and are quite visually stimulating. And although they do not come with any Bible study in the packaging, there are free studies available for download on their site, 36parables.com.
I contacted one of the creators of these short films to find out if we could carry them and make them available. He was one of two guys who started with a dream to produce films of Jesus' parables and they have been able to produce 9 of them so far.
The thing I appreciate about these films is the perspective they offer. I have heard people retell some of the parables, but only updating certain aspects - The Good Samaritan is a black man helping a klan member. There are a few like that in 36 Parables, but they also offer completely different stories to illustrate the same point.
In the film, a few weeks later, from the Cyan disc, they tell the story of the parable of the rich fool. When I first watched it, I was completely lost. I thought that I was thinking of a different parable of the rich fool. But then I went to the website and downloaded the Bible study for it. This film tells the story of the aftermath of the rich fool (literally "a few weeks later" after her life was accounted for).
I am pretty excited about these films. Below I have embedded one of the funnier ones I found on Google Videos. For more information, visit nsresources.com.

The Top Five....Books on Atonement

A week late, but here they are - the top five (plus one releasing this fall) books on the Atonement, according to Dr. Greg Strand, Director of Biblical Theology and Credentialing at the EFCA. Having just read the book, Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches, in which the authors were asked to talk about Scripture, Trinity and the Atonement, I asked Dr. Strand for the best (in print) books on those topics. Today I want to share with you the top books he gave me on the Atonement. In no particular order...


The Glory of the Atonement, Frank James & Charles Hill - ed.
The atonement is the crown jewel of Christian doctrine. And it is the responsibility of each generation of theologians to preserve its heritage, explore its facets and allow its radiance to illumine their day. With The Glory of the Atonement editors Charles E. Hill and Frank A. James III, along with a group of expert contributors, attempt to fulfill this trust at the dawn of a new millennium.

The Glory of the Atonement is divided into three parts--biblical, historical and practical--with each section introduced by an overview essay. In part one evangelical biblical scholars explore the atonement within the contours of Scripture, looking first at the atonement in the Pentateuch, Psalm 51 and Isaiah 53, and then more closely at the major texts of the New Testament.

In part two historical and systematic theologians weigh the atonement in the ancient, medieval and Reformation traditions. The primary perspective of the contributors is the Reformed tradition, which is further represented by essays on John Calvin, Herman Bavinck and Karl Barth. A timely capstone to this historical view is a stimulating consideration of the atonement and postmodernism.

Finally, the implications of the atonement are brought home in part three with a look at the atonement in contemporary preaching and Christian living.

Here is a full-course feast for ministers of the Word, a textbook for students of the Bible and theology, and a valuable resource for any theological library.

The Atonement, Leon Morris
Leon Morris examines the rich variety of New Testament terms used to describe the significance of Christ's death and resurrection.
Why is the cross the crux of Christianity? What are the meaning and significance of the atonement? The Bible uses a host of terms to illuminate the answers to these questions: covenant, sacrifice, the Day of Atonement, Passover, redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, justification. In plain English Leon Morris explains each of these words, thus opening up for students, pastors and teachers the fuller biblical dimension of God's great salvation.


Where Wrath and Mercy Meet, David Peterson
In this collection of papers, delivered at the Oak Hill summer school of theology, four members of the faculty defend a strong articulation of penal substitution in the face of contemporary challenges. David Peterson surveys the atonement in both Old and New Testaments; Gary Williams examines the nature of punishment at the heart of a penal doctrine; Michael Ovey expounds how sin is the 'de-creation' of God's world; and Paul Weston reflects on John's gospel and the lessons it provides on proclaiming the cross today. The collection is then completed with an appendix on justification by faith by Alan Stibbs.


The Cross of Christ, John Stott
The work of a lifetime, from one of the world's most influential thinkers, about the heart of the Christian faith.

"I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. . . . In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?" With compelling honesty John Stott confronts this generation with the centrality of the cross in God's redemption of the world -- a world now haunted by the memories of Auschwitz, the pain of oppression and the specter of nuclear war.

Can we see triumph in tragedy, victory in shame? Why should an object of Roman distaste and Jewish disgust be the emblem of our worship and the axiom of our faith? And what does it mean for us today?

Now from one of the foremost preachers and Christian leaders of our day comes theology at its readable best, a contemporary restatement of the meaning of the cross. At the cross Stott finds the majesty and love of God disclosed, the sin and bondage of the world exposed.

More than a study of the atonement, this book brings Scripture into living dialogue with Christian theology and the twentieth century. What emerges is a pattern for Christian life and worship, hope and mission.

Destined to be a classic study of the center of our faith, Stott's work is the product of a uniquely gifted pastor, scholar and Christian statesman. His penetrating insight, charitable scholarship and pastoral warmth are guaranteed to feed both heart and mind.

Cross Words, Paul Wells
The post-modern society is so focussed on the internal life of the individual that it makes the significance of the cross a difficult concept to grasp. Even Christians are trying to find alternative ways of explaining it - some have abandoned the concept of atonement entirely.

Jesus, though, is far more than a victim. When God receives and approves the condemned Jesus he transcends the world of oppressor and victim to create a new humanity, capable of new kinds of relationships. Atonement speaks of a transition from brokenness, alienation and the death of love to a place of restoration, healing, and wholeness. A place that holds out hope for deepening friendships and mutual confidence - the exact same things the post-modern mind is lacking, and is looking for.

Pierced for Our Transgressions, Steve Jeffery, Mike Ovey and Andrew Sach
The doctrine of penal substitution states that God gave himself in the person of his Son to suffer instead of us the death, punishment and curse due to fallen humanity as the penalty for sin.

Although this is the historic Christian view, it has recently come under attack. Controversy has raged since 2003 when Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis Trust, likened the doctrine to ‘a form of cosmic child abuse’.

Pierced for our Transgressions offers a fresh affirmation of penal substitution, engaging with exegetical, theological, pastoral and historical perspectives. It is designed to be useful for pastors, theological students, and all thinking Christians.

The Incomparable Christ

I was looking for the book, The Cross of Christ, by John Stott & came across The Incomparable Christ, also by Dr. Stott. The Cross of Christ was not in stock (so I ordered it) by while I waited for that, I read The Incomparable Christ. Many books have been written on what the New Testament has to say about Jesus, about what church history has to say about Jesus, and what Jesus wants for us today. In this volume, Dr. Stott surveys all three of those areas (he breaks up church history into two segments - general thought about Jesus & how Jesus inspired historical people).
Most surveys are basic overviews, tying the pieces together without going into too much detail and helping solidify the basics to people. That is not what this volume does. Although it is a survey, Dr. Stott digs into the books of the New Testament and gives concise vignettes of many well known and obscure figures in church history (from Martin Luther to Ernst Renan).
The thought of the historical figures were very interesting, but I found the analysis of the individual gospels to be the most helpful to me personally. (This may be old insight to you), but tying together the miracles of Jesus to the sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of John was a new, fresh insight for me (I am the Bread of Life -- feeding of the 5000).
Honestly, I did get a bit bogged done in the section on Paul's letters, but I still found the insight to be compelling. The last section of the book, Dr. Stott really dives into the book of Revelation and expounds on ten visions of John about Jesus and how Jesus challenges us today.

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses

My dad very much enjoyed Richard Bauckham's Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. I came across this review by Andreas Köstenberger this morning of that book.

The Prayer of Our Lord

The Prayer of Our Lord is a short abridgment of Philip Graham Ryken's now out of print book, When You Pray. Dr. Ryken walks through Jesus' teaching on prayer from the Sermon on the Mount phrase by phrase, examining them each individually and in the broader context of the whole prayer.
I found this to be a great little devotional book for a few days and it also illuminated some aspects of prayer for me. The opening chapter, Dr. Ryken introduces "How to Pray", and points out that nowhere in the Lord's Prayer is the usage of "I", or "me". We pray for ourselves, but in the communal sense - as a Kingdom people. We should look closer than just the mere phraseology of the prayer, but look closer at the exact words which Jesus used. There is a reason Jesus used the specific words he did. Dr. Ryken examines the potential reasons behind those usages.
Dr. Ryken also discusses the similarities between the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments. Both are communal, both are centered on the Father's glory and are split up half and half God and communtiy.

Deeper Connections Bible Study Series

The Deeper Connections small group studies are in-depth DVD studies which connect the Bible to everyday life. There are three different studies available and focus on the prayers of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus and the parables of Jesus. Each DVD contains 6 lessons in which Jarrett Stevens (college & singles director at North Point Community Church) hosts as well as sets up the lessons in the Holy Land then is taught by respected Bible scholars and teachers. The teachers are Dr. Ben Witherinton, Dr. Matt Williams, Dr. Michael Wilkins, Dr. Mark Strauss, Dr. David Garland, and Dr. Gary Burge. They are in a contemporary location which they tie into the teaching or act of Jesus.
Each sessions teaching is broken down into three segments with small group discussion time (from the participants guide) in between. The teaching is (intentionally or not, I'm not sure) segmented much like the NIV Application Commentary. First, the group is taught what the original meaning of the text was. This is called the Bible connections segment. The teacher shows how the original audience may have felt, or what cultural meanings would have been understood by them, which we today may not always be aware of. The next segment is the bridging point where the teacher digs a bit deeper and helps the hearer make the connection between the people in Jesus' audience and the people reading the text today. This is called the going deeper segment. The last segment shows the contemporary significance of the text. Here the teacher puts application and lays out a challenge for the audience of today from the text. This is the connecting the Bible to life portion.
At first I thought this would be much like the Faith Lessons series by Ray Vander Laan (which is quite good). This is because Jarrett Stevens is on location in Israel and giving some background, a little reminiscent of Faith Lessons. However, it is totally different - in a good way. I am very high on the NIV Application Commentary series & and am very excited that this small group study follows the same type of pattern. I feel it does a great service to understanding the text as well as being able to glean application for our current situation.
The teachers are all highly respected and soundly evangelical. They make their lessons digestible without dumbing them down. My hope is that Zondervan continues to produce more in this series.

The Jesus Way

Eugene Peterson believes that the end does not justify the means. The Jesus Way is a treatise for pilgrims who follow Jesus. We are on the way, and the "ways and means" of following Jesus matter as much as the end product or destination.
This Spiritual Theology series (including Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places & Eat This Book) contain books which are not meant to be devoured, but instead, chewed slowly and savored. This was not an easy book to read - not only because there were hard things to here (necessary, though), but also because the depth to which Dr. Peterson plunges.
Dr. Peterson looks at several "ways and means" of both biblical and extra-biblical characters and how to properly follow Jesus. Each character chosen shows a different facet of following Jesus, but each one is necessary in its own rite. We start off by walking with Jesus (the Way) and investigating how he dealt with temptation, the metaphors he uses of both the Kingdom and himself as well as other "ways & means". Dr. Peterson feels that the church has grasped tightly to the Truth & Life metaphor Jesus used, but sometimes fails to understand or rightly hold up Jesus as the Way equally. How we travel is just as important as where we end up.
Dr. Peterson also takes us through the journeys of Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, Isaiah of Jerusalem & Isaiah of the Exile. Through each of these sojourners, the reader learns to follow Jesus faithfully, communicatively, penitently, and three other ways.
The second part of the book was very helpful for me, personally. Dr. Peterson looks at contrasting movements and historical figures and then compares & contrasts their extremes to the Way of Jesus. Contrasting the extremes of Herod to the Pharisees, Caiaphas to the Essenes & Josephus to the Zealots and then of how the Jesus Way is a fresh, different & new approach to the journey than those ways.
I have always been a fan of Eugene Peterson, ever since I discovered his writing in Leap Over a Wall ten years ago. (I need to review that book - it is one of my all-time favorites). This Spiritual Theology series is well worth the time and energy you will spend reading it.

The Way of the Cross

Last year, my wife's grandparents took the two of us to Italy. One of the most striking memories for me is the cathedral in Milan. It is the fourth largest cathedral in Europe and done in the gothic style. Inside, there are stain glass windows that I am fairly confident tell every story of Scripture. My wife and I looked at many of them and were able to recall the story from Scripture that the little window pointed to. We were struck with the way that even the illiterate people of the day could "read" and know Scripture.
The Way of the Cross is a devotional guide for Good Friday cut from the same cloth. The Way of the Cross is a Good Friday liturgy which is centuries old and started to be a teaching guide for the illiterate. Stations would be set up to remember the path which Jesus traveled from the garden of Gethsemene to the hill of Golgotha. Such stations as Simon of Cyrene helping Jesus carry the cross as Jesus stumbles, Jesus speaking to Mary and John from the cross, and Pilate condemning Jesus to the cross. This devotional guide offers Scripture, artwork and very short devotional thoughts for each station.
This guide can help you or your church have a Good Friday experience which focuses on Jesus and what he has done for us. In this guide there are 14 stations, which could be done in one hour, or over the span of two weeks. The author of the devotional is a pastor of a Christian & Missionary Alliance church and does well to let the Scripture have the focus in each station, not his devotion. He also offers suggestions for incorporating the Way of the Cross into public worship.
I don't know about you, but I am all for different ways to freshly experience Jesus. Some may think that Way of the Cross stations are too liturgical, too catholic, too something, and that is fine. But I also think that sometimes we have lost some of our heritage, some of our tradition (even further back than Wesley's hymns & King James), and some of our soul. I have found that I am too often very cerebral in my faith & need tools like this to draw me out and experience Jesus, to deepen relationship with him and to simply meditate on who Jesus is.

Surprised by Jesus

A couple of weeks ago, I was impressed by Mark Driscoll's Confessions of a Reformission Rev & his obvious love for Jesus. I have been looking for good books on Jesus (to supplement the gospels) and have found a very good one in Surprised by Jesus. This book surveys Jesus' life and teaching from a perspective of what is really in the gospels, not just our sentiment of Jesus.
Tim Stafford writes for Christianity Today and also has a great book on raising a family called Never Mind the Joneses. In this book he delves into the person and teaching of Jesus and discovers not only unusual but "surprising" things about Jesus which we have either glanced over or dismiss in our readings as a church.
Mr. Stafford writes, "the 'everybody knows' version of Jesus too easily carries an individualistic, consumer-oriented appeal. In the extreme, we preach a a gospel that is all about me - my personal growth, my spiritual experiences with Jesus as my best friend." I must admit, this has sadly been my own experience.
Mr. Stafford brings in Jesus' Jewishness and meanings which his listeners would have gathered from his teaching as well as implications of Jewishness for Jesus. For instance, why did Jesus get baptized? He had no sin to symbolically wash away. Even John says that he should be the one being baptized by Jesus. Mr. Stafford looks at why Jesus would have done this as well as the importance for him to do so.
Another chapter looks at the warnings which Jesus gives (the "woe to you"'s). Something I had never noticed before, which Mr. Stafford points out, is that Jesus saves his warnings for groups of people already in "the family of believers", not the lost. But in those warnings, he doesn't use names, or point specific people out, he lumps them together. Mr. Stafford sees this as an example set, and one to be done with caution (since none of us have the vision of Jesus).
This was a very eye-opening book about Jesus & I very much enjoyed reading it. Look in the next few weeks for an interview I will be doing with Mr. Stafford about this book.

On the Death & Resurrection of the Messiah

I looked over this Faith Lessons volume, On the Death & Resurrection of the Messiah, thinking that it would be a good recommendation for churches for Easter. I had seen The Dust of the Rabbi & reviewed it earlier & thought it would be a good fit.
has some sound, deep insight and have learned much from these faith lessons. I find that after watching the faith lessons series, reading Scripture is opened up and more fully understood. There are Ray Vander Laan is a historian and teacher who takes groups of people to various biblical sites and teaches a "faith lesson" on the biblical & social history of the location. I find that Mr. Vander Laan occurrences that happen, which without proper cultural understanding, would be completely missed. This is also one of the qualities I really admire about Rob Bell.
This volume is the fourth in the series of Faith Lessons & has nine sessions of around 15 minutes each. It is definitely not the most cutting edge or even current presentation you will ever see, but the content (I think) outweighs that fact. This volume will take you through Jesus' life and teaching toward the end of his earthly life. Viewers will travel to Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, the Sea of Galilee & other biblical destinations.
As far as being a recommendation for Easter, this volume would not be that poignant. Of the nine sessions, only three of them actually deal with both the death and resurrection of Jesus. Others speak about his teaching, one about the day of Pentecost & the gospel moving to the Gentile world. That being said, the sessions flow well with one another, and are excellent biblical teaching. I just might have titled it something different. The Faith Lessons series is a great series & is one that will stretch your faith & definitely broaden your understanding of the Scriptures.
I have not seen this one, but would be willing to speak to it on basis of what I have seen that the Faith Lessons, The True Easter Story, would be a good study for the Easter season.

Resurrection - DVD

Without the resurrection, what good would the Christian faith be? Tom Wright looks at this question and shows why he believes the resurrection is an actual historical event and not a story created by Jesus' followers in his DVD study, Resurrection. Dr. Wright explores belief in the afterlife from the perspective of the ancient world (Greeks & Romans) as well as from the belief of the Jewish people. The DVD is broken up into four segments which can be viewed in one showing (50 minutes) or in four 10-15 minutes sessions. Each segment has discussion questions for group study in the liner notes & helps participants dig not only into the minds of the people on the biblical text & ancient world, but also in the mind of our society today.
Dr. Wright explores Jesus' treatment of his upcoming resurrection within the gospels and what the disciples may have understood from him & his teaching. Dr. Wright also looks into the huge significance that the resurrection has for the Christian faith, contending that without it, our faith is without hope.
This is an interesting study. I have read much of Dr. Wright's work & in this treatment, he says nothing new or earth shattering. But for people who are not familiar with the arguments for the bodily resurrection of Jesus & why it can be believed as true, this would be a great start. For those with a lot of time & a scholarly treatment of the resurrection, I recommend checking out Dr. Wright's Resurrection of the Son of God.

They Like Jesus But Not the Church

They Like Jesus But Not the Church is almost a vital book to have if you are ministering to people 35 and under. Dan Kimball does so in the area of Santa Cruz, CA and in having many discussions with people he has struck up friendships with (from people who cut his hair, to people in coffeehouses) he shares their insights into the Christian faith.
I have had some discussions with people of late that are a bit confused as to authors and speakers using the words emerging & Emergent. When an author or speaker refers to the emerging church or to emerging Christians (as the subtitle of this book reads, insights from emerging generations), he or she is referring to people 35 years old and younger. So when Mr. Kimball talks about how to reach emerging generations, he is talking on how to Biblically win lost people 35 or younger. The Emergent Church or Christians are something totally different. Emergent is a loosely formed group of friends who generally do not take the Bible as truth and are a new breed of liberal Christians - doing very good things, such as community activism, social justice, reaching out to the poor and needy, but sometimes at the expense of the gospel.
Mr. Kimball is not in that Emergent crowd. He is very intentional & almost apologetic in his writing, making sure he does not come off as trying to cater to or change the gospel so that emerging generations will come to Christ. He is quite conservative theologically, but liberal in his outreach.
The book is broken up into the three sections. The first talks about the differences in the mindset of emerging generations as opposed to other generations. The second section is the largest & exposes six areas where emerging generations have the most distaste for the church (but not Jesus - or at least their idea of Jesus). The third section then tackles how we can bridge the gap while maintaining our integrity towards the gospel.
This book is an invaluable resource for churches. The comments from the people Mr. Kimball interviewed speak to a deep hunger that this generation has for spiritual truth & we can give them that truth, if we change some of our methods (not beliefs). Mr. Kimball has a forthcoming book which is speaking directly to the people who he describes in this books as those who like Jesus but not the Church called I Like Jesus But Not the Church. He also speaks about a curriculum that will be available in the Fall of 2007. I eagerly await both.

In the Dust of the Rabbi

In the Dust of the Rabbi is an adult DVD curriculum which blends history with discipleship. It is part of the Faith Lessons series which is hosted & written by Ray Vander Laan. The DVD consists of 5 20-30 minute segments in which Mr. Vander Lann takes a group through various archeological ruins & shares how believers in that time period experienced faith. Here, the group travels from Galilee, Israel to Priene, Turkey (near Ephesus) to Didyma (home of the second largest temple in the world - that to Apollos).
Being a history nut, I found the sights & facts about the places fascinating. The talks were good, but fairly basic. Mr. Vander Laan's primary audience, in my estimation, would be new believers (with some sort of penchant for history). This would not be very useful as an evangelistic tool or for a seeker small group. It is going to be primarily effective in a discipleship small group.
The content is quality (if a little shallow or basic) & deals with being a true follower of Jesus, our Rabbi. What did discipleship look like in Jesus' day & how can we pattern our community of discipleship like that? Mr. Vander Laan deals with the effects for first century believers & the implications for today on being a "counter-cultural community", on being "living stones" & the importance of "the very words of God".
Another tool that is helpful as a companion to this is the Discovery Guide. This has questions & notes from the DVD as well as a small group outline for when the group is going through the specific session. The Discovery Guide also includes daily in-depth personal study sessions to keep the material fresh through the week as well as to dig deeper.

You can pick up the DVD here for 20% off.
You can check out the Discovery Guide here (also 20% off)
Browse through the rest of the Faith Lesson series here.


Category: Bible Studies

Starving Jesus (preview)

Yes, I do realize this is the third Craig Gross book I have reviewed on the blog. I like the work this guy does, all right! This is the newest book from Mr. Gross, with his associate Mr. Mahon from xxxchurch.com. This book comes out August 2006 but you can read the first chapter here.

Basically Mr. Gross & Mr. Mahon are calling the church out. They want people to act - doing anything they feel led to do, but actually do it. Not talk about it, not hold a meeting regarding it, do it. "Give to the poor. Feed the hungry. Evangelize on a city street. Help a kid with cancer. Join the fight against pornography. Give your time to the elderly. Love your neighbor. Give time to a little kid. Make yourself available to a teenager who needs a mentor. Fix someone's car. Paint a house. Talk to a homosexual about their faith. Pull a drunk out of the gutter & get him something to eat. Give the homeless guy a place to crash. Bring the hooker to church. Spend the afternoon talking to an inmate at the local jail.
You get the idea. Bottom line: get off your butt & do something."

The authors are looking for Christians to get out of their comfort zones at church & start being the church to a lost & dying world. Two points which the authors feel the church fails miserably in (they include themselves here) are serving & honesty. "Many Christians see the world as a mission field, but the sad truth is that many of us never leave the driveway of the church to do anything about it." Here is the challenge for the church - stop playing the game of keeping up appearances & go out to the world, live authentically, and help some people in whatever ways we can.

The authors are not pulling any punches. A youth pastor in California used many of the sentiments spoken of in this book in a sermon & was fired 2 days later. The authors are not concerned about offending. A tour is forthcoming which Mr. Mahon seeks to chain himself to a church or two to get this message across.

Check out the website here. If you do not like how they are doing things, fine. But the overall goal of what they are doing should not be in debate. Let's do something together as a Church & stop talking about doing something.


Category: Social Justice

The Secret Message of Jesus

What Jesus born to die, or was Jesus born to teach?











- posted by cubfann

Jesus in the Margins

I really enjoyed Don Miller's second book (Searching for God Knows What). In his books he talks about his church, Imago Dei. So when I saw that this book was written by the pastor of that church, I was pretty excited. But after the second chapter, I felt that I had read it before. Not this book, per se, but the ideas. I read a little further, & every concept was sounding familiar.
Then it hit me. There are different stories, obviously different words, but the concepts were the same. Only it wasn't as well written. The book it is similar to is The Ragamuffin Gospel, by Brennan Manning. I have read this book a number of times (the first in high school) & have really enjoyed each time through.
The material is phenomenal. The basic concept is that God's grace reaches us wherever we are, that His love lifts us out of the darkness & blackness of in & breathes in us new life. A great message (very Pauline), and one quite important for all to hear, from those who are down & out to those who are trying to jump through all the "right" hoops to win God's favor.
I highly recommend all of Mr. Manning's works (especially The Signature of Jesus). Mr. Mckinley's book is a good read, but he is not the writer that Mr. Manning is, nor are the concepts fleshed out as much.


- posted by cubfann

The Mark of Jesus

As I mentioned in my last post, I was reading The Mark of Jesus. It is a great follow-up to Mark of the Christian by Francis Schaeffer. If you haven't guessed yet, the mark of the Christian/of Jesus is love. In their excellent book, Timothy George & John Woodbridge discuss 5 arenas where the follower of Jesus can demonstrate his love. These are

1. Our Neighbor
2. Within Evengelical Bounds
3. Those who look down upon us / "enemies"
4. The Larger "Christian" Community (not necessarily evangelical)
5. Those of other world religions

With the EFCA currently going through a discussion on the revision of our Statement of Faith, I want to focus on the second of these in this review.

Jesus prays in John 17, "I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (v20-23).
This is the essence of the chapter on evangelical unity in The Mark of Jesus. They discuss the importance of doctrine in relation to unity, the role of creeds & the difference between major issues & minor issues.
The authors quote puritan writer Richard Baxter saying, "In things necessary, there must be unity; in things less than necessary, there must be liberty; and in all things, there must be charity." The thing, though, is what is "less than necessary" & what is "necessary"?
In my mind necessary matters would be those in regards to salvation. There can be no watering down of that doctrine. It seems this may also be the authors opinion as well. "The essence of Christianity, according to the New Testament, is knowing & trusting Jesus Christ, not in the abstract, but precisely as Lord, the incarnate Son of God, as Prophet, Priest, & King, as Savior, Redeemer, & Victor."
The authors then provide 3 general provisions not to unify. They are,

1. We do not achieve unity by compromising our convictions
2. We must never seek togetherness for mere prudential reasons
3. We must never imagine that doctrinal matters are trivial or unimportant

That being said, they ask we can work together.
This, I think, is important for those within the EFCA to hear (on either side of the issue).
"Make careful distinction between primary doctrines of the faith, which may not be compromised without betraying the Gospel, & secondary issues, which may be important but not essential for fellowship. Everything in God's Word is true & important or else it would not be there, but not everything is of equal importance in every respect. The second coming of Christ, for example, is a cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith. To deny it is to lapse into serious heresy. But earnest, Bible-believing Christians may honestly differ on some details of the end times without breaking fellowship with one another. Confessions of faith record the distinctive beliefs of local churches & various associations of Christians, & they can be very useful in helping Christians to distinguish primary & secondary matters of faith. But we must never forget that all such confessions are accountable to, & revisable in light of. the Bible."
We are to be known for our love, & as Dr. Schaeffer said, the world can (& will) judge to see if we are Christians by our love.
Evangelical unity is very important. The authors see it as such & I believe that we should as well.
This is a great read. The other chapters only offer more of the same within their own realms.

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