I don’t need to go to “church”??

“Why church matters” by Joshua Harris is a 140 page book made up of 7 chapters addressing the issue of the local church and why becoming a passionate, committed, member of the local body is important.

In chapter 1 the author speaks about his past experiences going to church and how he felt about it at one time. He also begins to discuss what the rest of the book will be about and uses the idea of a relationship to relate how many people flirt with the church but are not committed or passionate about the local church. He speaks about people dating the church and encourages people instead to “marry the church”.

In chapter 2 he relates how he felt at his own weeding and how he feels about his bride walking down the aisle and then relates that to how Christ feels about his bride, the church. He also states the goal of the book on page 21 where he says “My goal in this book is to help you get connected and committed to a solid local church.”

He also makes some comments on denominations and how different denominations can be “united” by holding to the major things (doctrines) that really matter and having an attitude of grace on those things that don’t matter but of course there are different denominations because they don’t see things the same and/or hold certain doctrines to be essential while others see them as secondary and nonessential. The good news here is he doesn’t really get too involved with this and so we can simply read through this section without paying too much attention to it.

I do like what he says on page 30 concerning the love Jesus has for the church. He says “If Jesus loves the church, you and I should, too.” I agree and there is way too much church bashing going on by those in the church. Really good point, I though.

In chapter 3 he discuss the attitude many have today about going to a local church. Many people feel that they can be Christians and worship God on their own and never be part of a local body. It’s as if they think the local church was invented by men and not a God ordained institution. The author shows that this is simply wrong and unbiblical. On page 40 he says this “The longer I’m a Christian the more aware I become that I cannot live the Christian life on my own.”

In chapter 4 he deals with passion and commitment and tells the story of a man he knows who is a Christian but this man loves his Jeep and even joined a “Jeep club”. He tells how this man spent all his time thinking about and doing things with his Jeep and the Jeep club. The author points out that the things we talk about and are consumed with are the things we have passion for and are committed to. He urges us to have passion and commitment for the local church and then goes on to give suggestions on how to cultivate this.

Chapter 5 is all about what to look for in a local church. For example he says to seek out a church “…where God’s word is faithfully taught…” and another question to ask is “Is this a church that is willing to kick me out?” and of course that question has to do with leadership holding people accountable and not allowing open sin to go unchecked.

Chapter 6 was an interesting chapter dealing with how to make Sunday the best day of the week. On page 94 he says “My premise in this chapter is that you and I are very likely to be missing out on God’s best for the day (Sunday) unless we learn to build our week around Sunday, and not the other way around.”He goes on to suggest some ways in which we might prepare to worship and enjoy Sunday. One suggestion he gives is to turn the TV off on Saturday night and to read the scriptures and pray so we prepare our hearts and our minds for the following day. I liked this suggestion and will give serious consideration to it.

Chapter 7 is simply the concluding thoughts of the author and his wrapping up the book.

In the end I enjoyed reading this book. It’s small and easy to read. I spent one afternoon reading it. There are some issues related to worship and doctrine that I didn’t agree with or that weren’t given a very full discussion but this isn’t a book that is really dealing with those subjects so I found it easy to read through and not get bogged down with those issues. He simply doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about those other things.

So, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who has had a bad experience with a local church and now doesn’t attend or to the person who simply thinks they don’t need the local church and can go it alone. I also think that anyone who is already attending a local church can gain some wonderful insights or maybe a renewed respect and appreciation for the local church.

A great book reminding us “why church matters”.

You can buy it here or here

 

Disclosure of Material: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review, 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.”

Learning to living out who we are in Christ

After you believe by N. T. Wright

The book is 307 pages long made up of eight chapters. The subtitle to the book is “Why Christian character matters” which is the overriding theme of the book.

Wright tells us what the book is all about on page 4. He says the book is about “character” but it also helps to answer the question of “what now?” “Ok, I’m saved longing to go to heaven when I die; I tell people about Jesus and keep my nose clean but is that it?” On page 2 there’s a discussion of a man named James who asks the question which basically is “Isn’t there anything else that happens after you believe and before you finally die and go to heaven?” This is a great question because many have seen heaven as what we are waiting for and while we wait we might tell a few people about Jesus but that’s really all we have to do.

This is a great book to challenge our thinking and to help us walk between legalism on one hand (Christianity is all about rules and laws) and a free antinomianism on the other (What matters is being genuine and true to yourself). Why does Christian character or virtue matter and how does that prepare us for glory to come? On page 70 Wright says “…you have to grasp that Christian virtue isn’t about you – your happiness, your fulfillment, your self-realization, it’s about God and God’s kingdom…”

Another great quote from the book is found on page 146 where Wright is speaking about living out who we are in Christ and how at first it can seem hard and awkward but over time we begin to have a second nature about the way we act and live which is in line with Christ. He explains it by giving an illustration. “… I remember a piano teacher pointing out to me that the reason I was having trouble with a piece of music I’d taught myself to play was that I’d paid no attention to the fingering which the composer himself had suggested. When I first tried the ‘proper’ fingering, after months of stumbling through the piece in my own sweet way, I felt very strange, I could hardly concentrate on the feeling in the music because I was so bothered by the odd feeling in my fingers. But, again gradually, not only did I get used to the new fingering, but the piece began to sing in a way it hadn’t before. That’s what it’s like when someone seriously begins to ‘put on’ the things Paul is talking about.” It seems to me that Wright is saying something like “Laws and rules are not what Christianity is all about but becoming like Christ, real and genuine people who are fully human”. The rules and laws are there to guide but are not the point.

There’s a lot to the book that will help, inspire, and challenge you to live out who you are in Christ. I would suggest everyone pick it up.

You can buy it here and here

Preaching Christ

Christ-Centered Preaching by Bryan Chapell is a book about homiletics and hermeneutics. The book is separated into three parts and has a total of 11 chapters. There are also 12 Appendixes. The book is a hefty 400 pages long.

Section 1 covers principles for expository preaching. I found this section extremely helpful. I also found myself reading this section very quickly. One thing that stuck out to me in this section comes from chapter 1. On page 25 the author says “…the goal of preaching is not merely to impart information but to provide the means of transformation ordained by a sovereign God that will affect the lives and destines of eternal souls committed to a preacher’s spiritual care.” Very helpful and powerful.

Section 2 covers preparation of expository sermons. This is the practical nuts and bolts section. I had no problem reading chapter 5 which is the first chapter in this section but I found myself getting bogged down with chapters 6-9 that complete this section. It might have been me but I really did have a hard time reading through this section. The information and explanations were very good but for some reason I slowed and even stalled a few times.

Section 3 covers a theology of Christ centered messages. Here is again where I was able to dive in and read quickly and enjoyed what was written. Again very helpful information and lots of things to think about for example on page 312 the author writes “In Christ-centered preaching, the rules of Christian obedience do not change; the reasons do. Believers are exhorted to serve God in response to his sure mercy rather than in payment for his conditional favor.”

The appendixes cover topics such as “A philosophy of delivery and dress” to “Methods of preparation” and there is even a sample sermon as the last appendix.  

This is a wonderful book on preaching and sermon prep well worth reading and rereading. There is also a link below to a site where Mr. Chapell has taught this material and you can download the audio recordings.

Anyone who is a preacher or is preparing to be a full/part time preach really should read this book and listen to the lectures. Highly recommended!!

Audio lectures download

http://worldwide-classroom.com/courses/info/cm099/

You can buy this book Here, Here, and Here

Judaizers among us

The book “Yeshua a guide to the real Jesus and the original church” by Dr. Ron Moseley is 192 pages long made up of 9 main chapters.

The premise of the book is that we don’t know the REAL Jesus or the REAL original church if we don’t understand the Jewish/Hebrew background. The Church, Jesus, and the New Testament are said to be Jewish and we need to know all the intricacies in order to fully understand Christianity.

The book tries to make people feel like they are missing out on something if they don’t know all the Jewish background information but it even goes further than that by trying to prove that Jesus was just another Pharisee and that the Law/Torah has not been done away with. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 all deal with the Law/Torah and the Old and New Covenants. Many will be surprised by what they find in these chapters.

While there are some good and interesting things in this book related to the historical and cultural background of the New Testament I can’t recommend it to anyone except the most critical reader because the views that are just simply unbiblical and untrue.

It seemed that the author wants everyone to become ethnically Jewish in order to be real Christians. Whether or not that’s his intentions that’s the feel of the book. I can’t accept that I need to become a Jew in order to fully be a Christian. I think I recall Paul saying something like “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, neither male nor female in Christ.” Jesus is all I need!! Not Jewish rituals, the Torah, or the Jewish customs but Christ alone!!

There are far better background books that don’t Judaize. See the International Bible Encyclopedia (Or maybe the Zondervan Encyclopedia) or some of the works by N.T. Wright and others on first century Judaism (Second Temple Judaism).

See: Colossians 2:16-23, Hebrews 8:5, 10:1, Galatians 2:4-5, 15-16, 3:15-29

What are you for?

The Gospel of Yes by Mike Glenn is a fifteen chapter book discussing the “yes” of the gospel, Christians, Christ, and God. Most of the chapters have the word “yes” in the title. For example there is one chapter titled “The ‘yes’ of creation” and another one titled “Surprised by ‘yes’”.

The author states the purpose of his book on page 20 where he says “This book is about finding your ‘yes’ – and having the guts to live it.”

Mr. Glenn has done a great job of refocusing us on the positive verses seeing Christianity as a negative. For example on page 10 he says “Defining your life by what you oppose makes your life small, and it can fuel anger and bitterness”. I know that I can sometimes get trapped into seeing things in the light of “no” or what I am against but we as Christians are not to be defined by what we are against but who we are for.  

The author understands that we will have to say “no” to some things but that isn’t the focus. He says “no” is a necessary word and he reminds us that a “yes” has a “no” side to it. When we say “yes” to something we are at the same time saying “no” to something else.

The one thing that will stay with me from this book is how I am to be defined by what I am for and not by what I am against. In some ways Mr. Glenn has imitated Jesus. Jesus says “do to others as you would have them do to you”. He speaks in a positive, active way. “Do” is an action word. If He had said “Don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you” it could easily turn in to a passive “I won’t do anything”. Just refraining from doing bad things to someone doesn’t mean you are going to “do” anything for them and I think this is what Mr. Glenn is striving to communicate to us.

We are called to be for Christ which means we will be against certain things but we are defined by who we are for and not what we are against.

Like any book there are things that I don’t agree with like some of the scriptures used in the book seem a bit forced in order to fit his interpretation. There is also a constant, and I think purposeful use of the feminine pronoun throughout the book. It’s as if the author is afraid to use the masculine due to the current culture. I had the feeling that the author swung to the extreme in this area. It wasn’t even like he was going for gender neutral but seemed at times to go to a feminine only position. I could be wrong on this but this is what I felt as I read the book. But even with these and other failures in the book I do think there are good things you can get from reading it.

You can buy it here and here

Disclosure of Material: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review, 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.”

Bible Software and Me (Part 2)

Video 2 deals with simply reading the biblical text over in more than one translation and using a compare bible tool.

Enjoy

Bible Software and Me (Part 1)

I wanted to create a few videos showing how I use Bible software to help me grow in my relationship with Christ and how I use it to help me study for preaching a sermon or teaching a class. I plan on doing a few of these videos and I hope you find something useful in them.

God bless

James