Jesusanity? (by Peter Brock)

Today, I want to direct your attention to a book that was published this past year entitled, Dethroning Jesus: Exposing Popular Culture's Quest to Unseat the Biblical Christ by Darrell L. Bock and Daniel B. Wallace. The book is a type of apologetic; defending the divinity of Christ in today's postmodern climate of "humanizing" Him. It was written as response to the quest to reduce Jesus to a mythic legend or to nothing more than a mere man. As Al Mohler comments, "The real issue in Jesusanity is not humanizing Jesus, but denying His deity."
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is vital that we understand the importance and significance of Christ's diety to our faith. I've included a paragraph from the book that I hope will encourage you to gain deeper understanding in this area.

"Jesusanity" is a coined term for the alternative story about Jesus. Here the center of the story is still Jesus, but Jesus as either a prophet or a teacher of religious wisdom. In Jesusanity, Jesus remains very much Jesus of Nazareth. He points the way to God and leads people into a journey with God. His role is primarily one of teacher, guide, and example. Jesus' special status involves his insight into the human condition and the enlightenment he brings to it. There is no enthronement of Jesus at God's side, only the power of his teaching and example. In this story, the key is that Jesus inspires others, but there is no throne for him. He is one among many – the best, perhaps, and one worthy to learn from and follow."

Read a Good Book Lately? (by Peter Brock)

Reading is an activity that I greatly enjoy. There is nothing like grabbing a good book and settling down for a few hours of reading. One of my goals each year is to read one book a month (minimum) related to personal spiritual growth or ministry. In conjunction with that reading, I am usually reading a book that interests me personally. In the personal interest category I have recently finished, Sailors to the End and The Forgotten 500, both by Gregory Freeman. I'm presently reading A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin. The book is a great account of the Apollo space program. Just a few days ago I picked up The Day of Battle by Rick Atkinson, a book recounting the Allied war effort of WW2 in Sicily and Italy. (All of the above mentioned books were borrowed from the Winter Haven Library, they have a nice collection of older and recent releases.)

On the personal growth and ministry side of things, I usually have several books "in process" at the same time. The book that is getting most of my attention in the ministry arena is Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger.  Famine in the Land by Steven Lawson, and Membership Matters by Chuck Lawless have both been very helpful as well. Two personal growth books that have challenged me and continue to do so are Total Abandon by Gary Witherall, (it will make you cry and inspire you), and The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers edited by Arthur Bennett.

The reading of Scripture is by far the best reading that you will ever do. May we never sacrifice the reading of the Word of God for any other reading. Below is a list of 20 reasons why we should read a good Christian book, after God's Word, of course. Let these reasons challenge you to pick up a book that grabs your interest and read, read, read.

The list below was compiled by Colin Adams, Associate Pastor with Charlotte Baptist Chapel in Edinburgh, Scotland. His blog is Unashamed Workman.

20 Reasons to Read (Good Christian Books)…

1. You will grow in your knowledge of God, yourself and the world around you
2. You will gain a better understanding of the bible, the book of books
3. You will broaden your English vocabulary, helping you to express similar truths to your congregation in fresh ways
4. You will have an improved imagination and actively engage your mind in a way that probably won’t occur when watching TV
5. You will be able to sit at the feet of some of the great Christian teachers and minds over the centuries (even if you have few ‘living’ teachers to assist you)
6. You will be forced to cease from incessant activity and think
7. You will receive a historical perspective on current problems and spot present day blind spots
8. You will have some of your questions answered and confront other questions you hadn’t even thought of.
9. You will be able to practically apply Paul’s command to think upon “wholesome” things
10. You will develop a sense of how arguments are constructed and be able to weigh both strong and weak arguments
11. You will enjoy spiritual input during the week, not just on a Sunday (if not a pastor)
12. You will (if a pastor) be able to engage with other issues beyond this week’s text, thus broadening your perspective.
13. You will be able to mull over a subject. You will be able to put the book down to think, chew over a sentence or re-read a paragraph. You will be able to exploring an issue at length, rather than brush over a topic too quickly
14. You will be better prepared for the task of evangelism, after reading clear presentations of the gospel by great communicators
15. You will be better prepared for the task of discipleship, having a good way to open up discussion about Christian life issues (what are you reading?)
16. You will be made aware of how Christians interpret and apply Scripture differently in various cultural contexts
17. You will gain information for your ignorance, inspiration for your weariness, and insight for complex problems
18. You will be better equipped to lead in your church, marriage and family
19. You will be stimulated, as in a good conversation, to new lines of thinking
20. You will be drawn to worship God, especially when the book centres on God not man

Pilgrim's Progress 9

Well here it is. Finally! Sorry it has taken so long. Then again, I'm not sure that anyone else is actually reading this book along with me. So, perhaps I have no need to appologize.

Today we have reached the Ninth Stage in our study of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. For more information regarding this study click HERE. Also, remember that we are going to discuss the book according to the various stages detailed HERE.

In this stage, Christian and Hopeful meet Ignorance and soon recognize that he has taken a different path to get to where he is. Christian warns that Ignorance will not be granted admittance to the Celestial City because he did not begin his journey by passing through the wicket-gate. Ignorance's reply is all to familiar to us today, "Be content to follow the religion of your country, and I will follow the religion of mind. I hope all will be well." We here this so often today. We are so often told that it doesn't matter what we believe. As long as we are sincere in our beliefs, whatever they are, we will all get to heaven in the end. Unfortunately, that is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that there is one way, the narrow way. This is the path of Christian and Hopeful. This is the path that we must follow. It is not a path of ease and comfort. But it is the path that leads to priceless treasure.

Later in this stage, Christian and Hopeful come across the Enchanted Ground and resolve to talk to each other so that they do not fall asleep on this dangerous ground. Christian then asks Hopeful to share what we might call his "salvation testimony." In doing so Hopeful gives a helpful illustration. "If a man runs a hundred pounds into the shopkeeper's debt, and after that shall pay for all that he shall fetch, yet his old debt stands still in the book uncrossed; for the which the shopkeeper may sue him, and cast him into prison till he shall pay the debt."

Some people today think that if we live good lives from now on then God will accept us into Heaven. The reality is that we have past debts which must be paid for. It is not good enough for us to do good from here on out. We must make amends for our past sins. The problem is that we cannot make amends. We are incapable of paying our sin debt. Only Christ can do that.

Hopeful understood all of this. He talks of what was taught to him by Faithful. "He (Faithful) told me (Hopeful) that unless I could obtain the righteousness of a man that never had sinned, neither mine own, nor all the righeousness of the world could save me." Praise God for our 'debt-payer.' Hallelujah what a Savior!

Well, we are reaching the end of this first part. Next time I will share my thoughts from the last stage.

A Chosen Instrument (by Stephen Simpson)

In Acts 9, we read of Saul's conversion. We should be familiar with this story. Saul is on the road to Damascus and is stopped by Jesus. The thing that struck me as I read this passage today was verse 15. In this verse, the Lord speaks to Ananias and says, "Go, for he (Saul) is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel."

It is amazing to me to consider that God chose to use Saul. Saul was doing everything within his power to eliminate the church. He was rounding up Christians. He was participating in their martyrdom (see Acts 7:51; 8:1). Saul was definitely anti-Christian. He was utterly opposed to everything Christian. Yet, God miraculously chose to use Him. He desribes Saul as one of His chosen instruments. Unbelievable!

Then I realized how amazing it is that God has chosen to use me. I was just like Saul, anti-Christian and totally opposed to the things of Christ. Yet, God miraculously saved me. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Am I Awed by the Awesome One? (by Peter Brock)

Yesterday I came across an article entitled, "When Awe is Absent". It was written by Tony Woodlief of World magazine and it caused me to hesitate and take an inward look. I'm including two separate portions of the article here and I encourage you to read it in its entirety. I've provided a link at the end of this entry. May the article challenge you as it did me to not relegate God and His Word to "tertiary status" in our lives.
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"After the Pentecost, and after Peter assembled the first Christian megachurch by preaching to the multitudes, we read in the book of Acts: “Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.” I’ve always been suspicious of people who exuberantly declare their awe at God, and doubly suspicious of people who try to elicit the same emotion from me. Genuine awe, in my limited experience, doesn’t inspire chattiness. Then again, I can’t expect my inner workings to be true of everyone; awe inspires some people to spout praise, just as it leaves me dumbfounded."

"...God is “the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness.” An awesome God, thoughtfully considered, should inspire awe. But how I feel — and perhaps this is true for you as well — is determined by what I believe. My lack of awe stems from my habit of relegating the word and the Word to tertiary status. I am often not in awe because I am often not thinking about the Lord. I fall into the trap of confining “God time” to a church service or a prayer, and keeping it entirely separate from the rest of “my” time. I think that kind of disintegration prohibits spiritual fullness. “Be strong and courageous,” the Lord said to Joshua. “Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

He is with me, but I am not always with Him."

Full article

A Puritan Prayer - The Saviour

The Lord has used various prayers of the Puritans this past year to stretch my faith and challenge me in a number of areas regarding my walk with Christ. The richness of the prayers and their honesty cut to the heart of who God is and our response to Him in our daily spiritual lives. Our family has adopted the following prayer entitled, "The Saviour", as a commitment for 2008. May it challenge you as it has us.
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Thou God of all grace,
Thou has given me a Saviour,
produce in me a faith to live by him,
to make him all my desire,
all my hope,
all my glory.

May I enter him as my refuge,

build on him as my foundation,

walk in him as my way,

follow him as my guide,

conform to him as my example,

receive his instructions as my prophet,

rely on his intercession as my high priest,

obey him as my king.

May I never be ashamed of him or his words,

but joyfully bear his reproach,

never displease him by unholy or imprudent conduct,

never count it a glory if I take it patiently when buffeted for a fault,

never make the multitude my model,

never delay when thy Word invites me to advance.

May thy dear Son preserve me from this present evil world,

so that its smiles never allure,

nor its frowns terrify,

nor its vices defile,

nor its errors delude me.

May I feel that I am a stranger and a pilgrim on earth,

declaring plainly that I seek a country,

my title to it becoming daily more clear,

my meetness for it more perfect,

my foretastes of it more abundant;

and whatsoever I do may it be done in the Saviour's name.