Luke’s Theology

A review of the book “Luke and the people of God: A new look at Luke-Acts” by Jacob Jervell. This is a 207 page book containing 7 chapters discussing the theology of Luke. The book mainly focuses on the book of Acts but does reference the Gospel of Luke at times.

The author is convinced that the real audience that Luke is writing to are Jewish-Christians and at least one of the questions that Luke is trying to deal with has to do with Paul and his view of the law. Is Paul an apostate to the law and Judaism? He tries to show that Luke was writing to prove that “Jesus’ followers were strict adherents to the law of Moses…” (Page 16). He goes on to say that “Luke wrote Acts because he was forced to do so by a crisis in the church, precipitated by rumors and controversies focusing on Paul. The problem was Paul’s attitude towards the Mosaic Torah, the Jewish way of life, and Israel.” (Page 17).  The author also believes that Luke taught that Paul was just another “…Pharisee, faithful to the law…” (Page 169).

               One of the major problems with the book is that it’s liberal theology which means that the author separates Luke from the other New Testament writers and places them at odds with each other. For example he places Luke and Matthew at odds with each other when he mentions “Luke’s reworking of the account…” found in Matthew’s gospel. Jervell doesn’t hold to the inerrancy and cohesive nature of the scriptures.

I did like the discussion about “true Israel” being those who are Israelites that accept Jesus as the Messiah and the apostate Israelites as those who reject the Messiah. There are nuggets of insight and lots of things to contemplate but unless one is firmly grounded in the inerrancy of scripture and knows something about German liberal theology as well as concepts such as “redaction criticism”, and “source criticism” it would be better to stay away from this book. I think it would only confuse someone rather than help. Those that have at least a basic understanding of these kinds of liberal views may find some interesting things to ponder.

               In the end I believe this book is fairly technical and is only worth reading if you want to have a few interesting things to chew on. It would be much better to stick with solid conservative material in my opinion.

               You can buy it here

What are Deacons? A review of the book “The Deacon and His Work”

 

The Deacon and His Work by James D. Bales is 142 pages long. The focus of this work is on the qualifications and the work of deacons.

The book is broken up into nine chapters most of them take one or more of the qualifications and discusses what that qualification looks like and what it means. There is also a chapter on “deaconesses” and whether or not the church has an office of deaconesses as well as a chapter on how to go about selecting deacons. This chapter has helpful suggestions and cautions for those who are going to be appointing deacons.

               I found this work to be well written and balanced. The author takes time to define words and to even give other views that are not his own.

               This is certainly well worth reading in fact I read this book years ago for one of the classes I took at Sunset International Bible Institute and I just picked it up again to reread it. If you’re interested in the subject of deacons this should be one of the books you consult.

 

You can buy it here and here

Cover your nakedness

I came upon this passage in my daily reading today:

Exodus 20:26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’

This was the last verse for today’s reading. What struck me was the phrase “your nakedness”. I wondered about this. In the beginning Adam and Eve were both naked and they had no shame yet after sin enters there is shame associated with nakedness as we find in this passage. I did a quick search on the phrase “your nakedness” in the ESV and found 8 occurrences of this phrase, all but one in the Old Testament. The one occurrence in the New Testament was found in Revelation 3:18.

               Every time this phrase is used it’s in the context of sin or a reminder of sin. Physical nudity is there but that seems to be a reminder of sin and the need of being covered. Why was it important that the priest not show his nakedness to the Lord? Because it’s the reminder of sin and rebellion. God spoke to Adam and Eve in the garden and he clothed them with animal skins to cover their nakedness; to cover their sin.

               God in Christ covers our nakedness; sin, in clothing us with the Lamb of God; Jesus.

Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

               God still does the clothing; God by the blood of Christ covers our nakedness.

Those are my ramblings for today.

 

A review of: "Real life, real miracles"

Real life, real miracles by James L. Garlow and Keith Wall

First the good:

Some books are difficult to read because they’re not written in a way that makes reading them easy. This book is not one of those, instead it’s very easy to read and the stories do keep your attention.

Now the not so good:   

The book is supposed to be a collection of, what the author calls real life “miracles”. Some of the stories are a bit graphic for my taste. Like the story of a man who was stabbed. The book goes into great graphic detail. Thankfully these kinds of stories are few.  Most of the stories range from the spectacular and hard to believe to the silly, like one story about a container of sour cream that never went empty even though each time they went to get some out, there was only enough for one portion. They would place the empty container back in the fridge and the next time they went to get sour cream it had enough for one more portion. God did this, we’re told in the book, because he cared for a little girl who got tired of eating potatoes. That story seems a bit silly and I don’t think God is working the miracle of the never ending container of sour cream. Some of the other stories discuss people going to a “church” service and going on stage to have a “pastor” lay his hands on them and pray over them and they’re instantly healed.

There are stories in the book that certainly show the hand of God but many of the stories are over the top and seem to be, if not total fabrications then embellished a bit, at least that’s the way it felt to me as I read the book.

               I don’t recommend this book at all. There are too many strange and silly stories that make me question the reliability of the details. Do yourself a favor and avoid this book.

 

 

Disclosure of Material: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Keep going!

How are you doing on your daily Bible reading? I pray you're doing well but if something has happened and you’re not quite on track let me offer a few suggestions.

1.      Keep reading. Don’t let the fact that you have fallen behind upset you or keep you from reading God’s word, after all it’s not simply reading the Bible so you can say I finished in a year. Reading the Bible is a lifelong adventure and one that produces all kinds of wonderful fruit. So pick it up and keep going. Even if you didn’t start yet, start right now.

2.      Make a plan. Make a Bible reading plan that starts on Monday and ends on Friday. If you’re on track you can either take the weekend off or get ahead. This is also helpful because if you find you missed a day or two you can get caught up again over the weekend.  

3.      Read twice as much. Read two days worth every day. This will get you caught up or if you are caught up this will help you stay caught up even if you find yourself missing a day or two here or there. Pulse if you read two days worth everyday you’re going to finish before the year is up.

Let me offer a few more suggestions for those reading the Bible daily.

1.      Get a friend to read with you. If you and another person are reading daily you can encourage each other and you will have a lot to talk about when you meet up for coffee.

2.      Use a Bible software program. There’s a tone of Bible software out there and most of them have a feature that will help you read the scriptures daily. My choice is Logos Bible Software but there are others. Ask a friend what software they use or do a quick internet search.

 

3.      Remember why you’re reading the Bible. It has nothing to do with reading the Bible simply to say you’ve read the Bible (or at least it shouldn’t). You’re not reading just any book this is God’s word. You and I are hearing the voice of God as we read. We are getting to know the mind of Christ when we read the Bible and we are being renewed and transformed as we read the Bible.

I hope these suggestions have helped.

God richly bless you as you continue to hear God speak through his word.

Great thoughts on Mark's Gospel

Dr. R.C. Sproul’s Commentary on Mark is a 430 Page devotional style commentary that seeks to expound each section of the Gospel of Mark. The commentary doesn’t go through and discuss each verse individually but rather comments on chunks or sections of the text.

Dr. Sproul has a style of teaching and preaching that at times can be scholarly and technical and at other times easy to understand and accessible for the layman. His commentary on Mark: Saint Andrews Expositional Commentary is not a technical commentary bogged down with lots of theological jargon, text critical notes, or discussions of theological debates but instead is written in a clear and easy to understand style with lots of illustrations that anyone can read and understand.

            The style of the commentary is due to the fact that it’s based on his sermons that he preached at St. Andrew’s.

“What you hold in your hand, then, is a written record of my preaching

labors amid my beloved Sanford congregation. The dear saints who sit

under my preaching encouraged me to give my sermons a broader hearing.

To that end, the chapters that follow were adapted from a sermon series I

preached at St. Andrew’s.”(Taken from the series Preface)

Dr. Sproul is a Reformed theologian and so some of his interpretations and conclusions are focused in that direction so you may find times in the commentary where you disagree with his theology as I did but on the whole this is a great devotional commentary that has wonderful insights.

If you are the type of person who enjoys reading technical commentaries only this one isn’t for you. I should also mention that just because it’s easy and not overly technical to read doesn’t mean Dr. Sproul makes wild assertions or that this is simply a commentary full of fluff and no substance. Quite the opposite is true.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a simple devotional commentary on the Gospel of Mark.

You can buy this book Here or Here.

 

 

Disclosure of Material: I received this book free from Reformed Trust Publishing’s book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Going to Hell???

Erasing Hell by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle is a book about, you guessed it, HELL. With Rob Bell’s book “Love wins” and others out there questioning the existence of hell and the concept of eternal punishment over conditioned immortality there has been an increased awareness and discussion of the topic hell.

Recently there was a Facebook discussion on the subject which got a little “heated” at times or at least it seemed that way to me as I read the posts. So in light of these and other reasons books about hell and what happens when you die have been coming out.

Erasing hell is an easy to read book on a tough subject and while the authors did a great job of making it easy to read they also didn’t go too light on the background discussions and the word studies. This book does a great job of mixing biblical exegesis with a style of writing that’s easy to read.

I feel that this book is a balanced and honest attempt to get to what the bible has to say on the subject. I felt the authors’ pain as they discussed their love for souls and how they didn’t want hell to be real but they also did a great job of putting those emotions to the side and continued asking the touch questions.

I really think this is a great book for those who are interested in the subject and want a good place to begin researching. I don’t think this book is the end of the discussion but definitely a fair and honest place to start.

The book has a good amount of footnotes and a bibliography so you can track down the primary sources and continue to delve deeper into the subject of hell, if you choose to do that.

You can buy it Here or Here

 See Chan himself discuss his book: