adrianwarnock.com

Al Mohler on Raised With Christ

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:56:42 PST

“The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead separates Christianity from all mere religion—whatever its form. Christianity without the literal, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is merely one religion among many. Adrian Warnock points us all to the centrality of the resurrection for every dimension of the Christian life. Adrian is a first-rate communicator and a man whose life demonstrates the joy of Christ’s resurrection. You will be greatly blessed by this book.”
—Al Mohler
President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Host, Albert Mohler Program

As I said when I interviewed him for the blog, Dr. Albert Mohler is a remarkable phenomenon who, by God's grace, accomplishes more for the Kingdom than ten ordinary men could possibly hope to do!

This is the final endorsement I have received so far. I now look forward to reading some reviews in the future, including on blogs by some of my readers. If you have a suitable outlet for book reviews, feel free to send me a request to consider sending you a free copy. I have a number to give away. In the meantime there is little left for me to do, at least for now, except wait for the book to come out, and record more video for the free online study guide.

People have been very kind in their comments, and this leads me to dare to hope that Raised With Christ, How the Resurrection Changes Everything will be of use to a number of people. Certainly there are no subject that is more directly relevant to us today. I am very grateful for the help I have received from so many people. Publishing a book is far from a solitary activity. May God take this volume and use it to bring glory to his name.

On that note, I am actually going to check out for a little while now. We may not celebrate Thanksgiving here in the UK, but two tweets today made me realize it was time once more to try to disconnect from as much technology as I can for a while (without dropping out of my job!). One tweet came from @TopeKoleoso: "Spending some extended time thinking, learning, praying, reflecting and writing. The soul needs solitude." The second was from @sdmcbee: "If at the end of your life, your ministry is considered a success, but your family despises you, you have wasted your life." I deliberately shut down the blog from time to time to try to focus more on prayer and free up some spare time to be with the family.

So, tomorrow I am going to post some links to some of my most popular posts of the past, then I plan on not writing anything more on the blog for at least two weeks.

SERMON: The Resurrection And Our Salvation

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:00:40 PST

I almost titled this message "Don't Neglect The Resurrection". It still amazes me how easy it is for us to forget, downplay, or assume the resurrection of Jesus. I am grateful to God for his help this past Sunday as I shared a very personal message with Jubilee Church, the contents of which will be no surprise to regular readers of my blog.

You can also download the audio or video from the Jubilee site.

Electronic Edition of Raised With Christ

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:58:20 PST

Logos Bible Software are offering my book on their pre-pub program. You can pre-order a copy of Raised With Christ: How The Resurrection Changes Everything to add to your electronic library now.

This was a pleasant surprise to me, since although it was suggested as a possibility several months ago, I only heard it was definite when it appeared on the website just a few hours ago.

Since Logos Bible Software played a major role in assisting me to write the book, it seems somehow appropriate. I would go so far as to say that I would have struggled to write a book at all without the time-saving nature of this wonderful tool. I can't recommend it highly enough, and am glad that blog readers continue to receive a discount on the base packages.

Jesus Wants The Battered Rose

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:31:00 PST

This clip is vintage Matt Chandler, and makes me wish he put his regular sermons online in video form. It is also a passionate explanation of the gospel and what is wrong with many churches:

George Whitefield Meets Jonathan Edwards

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:00:57 PST

Lex has an interesting post today on George Whitefield's comments on Jonathan Edwards’ Family Life. He shares quotes from Whitefield's diary, but to get you interested here is his description of these two men of God:

Edwards and Whitefield shared many similarities. They were both highly respected Christian leaders, they both had a reputation as powerful preachers, they were both Calvinistic in their theological outlook.

But there, the similarities ended. Their style of preaching was very different. Edwards was a careful, logical teacher. Whitefield was all life and fire, thunder and lightning.

Edwards was a meticulous writer, crafting pamphlets for publication. Whitefield barely had the time to check the proof copies of manuscripts of his sermons and had the disappointment of seeing very poor versions of his sermons in print without his permission.

Edwards was a settled Pastor overseeing a local congregation, and very much a responsible Pastor of one parish. Whitefield, on the other hand, had declared that the whole world was now his parish and lived a life of itinerant preaching.

Edwards was a family man, with a godly wife and several children. Whitefield was still single, and still waiting for the love of his life to come along.

Don't Get Your Timing Wrong!

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:43:02 PST

A major factor in wisdom is timing. What can be a godly act one day in one situation may be grievous folly another. Some situations call for tact and biding your tongue. Other call for boldness and a determination to challenge sin openly. Even kind words can be uttered at the wrong time. No wonder God's word urges us to pray for wisdom! We need to think before we act, where appropriate seek the counsel of others, and generally realise how easy it is for us to put our foot in it!

All this is illustrated clearly in the following parable. Surely its point is not just to urge us not to wake our neighbours early with a loud blessing! The point is to use an obvious example to teach us a general principle which goes way beyond this specific case.

Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing. (Proverbs 27:14)

Terry Virgo on Elijah's Despair

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:42:40 PST

Elijah really was a man just like us. Despite seeming like a superman in much of the Scripture, in 1 Kings 19 we see a man who is burnt-out and yet somehow clings onto God. Regular readers of my blog will remember a fantastic sermon preached by Terry Virgo on Elijah's prayer. It was one of the most popular things I linked to this year.

The sermon below is the next in Terry's long-running series from when he preaches at CCK. Terry has several decades of experience of leading a growing family of churches. As a result he has encountered many people who's experience mirrored that of Elijah when he ran into the dessert. His pastoral wisdom and unmatched ability to preach inI such a way that a biblical character leaps of the page with lessons for us today make this an unmissable sermon. I am pleased to be able to share the video here (click to the second part when the first part is done to watch the whole sermon.) Audio and other messages in the series are available at the CCK site.

Mark Driscoll on Raised With Christ

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:59:11 PST

“Jesus is alive! And, as my friend Adrian Warnock will help you learn, this fact changes everything for everyone.”

—Mark Driscoll

Founding Pastor, Mars Hill Church

President, The Resurgence

President, The Acts 29 Church Planting Network

For more information about my book see the new website for Raised With Christ - How The Resurrection Changes Everything

Mark Driscoll should need no introduction to most readers of my blog. His vigorous, passionate preaching gift is helping to put strength into the global church. If you have yet to watch one of his sermons, it's time you remedied that as soon as possible. Like some kind of street fighter for Jesus, he is not for the faint hearted, but his preaching packs a punch and has been associated with many conversions. I am pleased to recommend Mark's teaching, and very grateful to him for his kind comments about my book. I have a lot of blog posts about Driscoll, including two interviews with him.

A Movement Of God Cannot Be Planned But It Must Be Prepared For- by Perry Noble

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:01:42 PST

I found this video on John Lanferman's Twitterstream. He says every church leader should watch this. It's made me subscribe to Perry's Twitter feed too.

Knowledge Puffs Up

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:32:53 PST

This quote from Doctor Martyn Lloyd-Jones is taken from his Ephesians series of sermons which I keep going back to. He challenges those who settle for a purely intellectual dimension to their Christian faith. Like so much of what he said it is if anything MORE relevant to us today than it was when he said it:

It is possible for a believer who . . . sincerely recognizes the Bible as his sole authority, and desires to submit himself wholeheartedly to its evident meaning—it is still possible for such a man to go astray by becoming purely theoretical in his attitude towards this precious knowledge. It can happen to all, but I emphasize again that it is the particular danger of those who have keen minds, and who desire to understand and to grow in knowledge. The devil knowing us as he does, always suits the particular form of temptation to our exact mentality. At this point I am not referring to people who do not read the Scriptures, or indeed little else, and who say, ‘I am interested in nothing but my experience’. The devil does not trouble such people in this way, but to those who truly long to grow and develop, he comes and says, ‘Of course, you are quite right; what you need, and what everyone else needs, is more and more of this knowledge’. But he presses the thought so far that in the end they get into a condition in which their whole relationship to truth is purely theoretical and academic. And this involves the terrible danger of becoming more concerned about, and more interested in, our intellectual knowledge of Christian truth than in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and if the devil with all his wiles can beguile us into this condition he is more than satisfied. In other words, it is the failure to realize that the ultimate end of all knowledge is to bring us to a knowledge of the Person Himself. We are not to stop at knowledge concerning Him, precious though that is, and vital.

10 Million Words - Has Tim Challies Bitten Off More Than Even He Can Chew?

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:15:00 PST

Tim Challies has started a new blog over at the Gospel Coalition. He calls it 10 Million Words. His goal? To review from a Christian perspective every book that appears on the New York Times bestselling non-fiction books list in 2010. To warm up, he has started doing some already. The guy is a phenomena. Here is how he introduces it:

My wife thinks I’m a little bit crazy, I’m sure of it. During eleven years of marriage I’ve done a lot of things that have led her to roll her eyes and sigh. I guess she is getting used to it, though, because even she is interested in what I am planning to do in 2010. I plan to read all of the New York Times bestselling books over the course of the whole year. Do the math and you’ll see that this will come in at somewhere around 10 million words . . .

America’s bestselling books tell us, I’m sure, who America is, who her people are, at this time and place. Surely they will give me a glimpse into the world’s most powerful, the world’s most fascinating nation . . . They will provide, I’m sure, a snapshot of where America is at as she enters a new decade.

Interview With "Bones" A Pastor From Zimbabwe

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:27:45 PST

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a soft spot for this troubled African country. It was where my wife grew up for a start. Also, who cannot feel compassion for this nation which should be one of the wealthiest in Africa and yet faces abject poverty?

What amazes me is the way God seems to be working in this land. Good, doctrinally solid churches seem to be springing up all over the place! Not only are there 16 Zimbabwe churches directly in relationship with Newfrontiers, but there are at least two other networks led by godly men who we have good friendships with. God seems to be raising some spiritual giants in that land to carve out church plants in the midst of great adversity, and to help train a whole nation in a form of farming that will help them feed the multitudes still reeling from hyperinflation and the destruction of their currency among other adversities.

"Bones" or Mbonisi Malaba to give him his proper name, is one such man. He is the pastor of a thriving church in Bulawayo. There is no doubt that his talk at Brighton earlier in the year was one of the highlights of the whole conference for me. But I also had the chance to film the following interview with him. You will enjoy it, and be thrilled to realise that God is at work building his church in this part of Africa.

Don't You Dare Try and Worship God With Your Hands In Your Pockets!

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:27:05 PST

My pastor, Tope Koleoso did not say the words in the title of this post. But they are very consistent with the tone and thrust of the following sermon on worship which follows on from what he said last week. I would strongly encourage you to watch both of these talks as you will find they have a fresh and challenging perspective on worship.

The video is available in HD at http://jubilee-church.org In response to what we have been hearing about worship, this coming Sunday will be a special service at Jubilee Church with a prolonged worship time. It may be that you live near London and have often wondered what a celebratory charismatic sevice looks like. This Sunday would be a great day for you to visit us. Here is what Tope said in the Facebook event for this coming Sunday's service:

Over the past few weeks here at jubilee Church, we have had some of our most Spirit-filled and liberating times of worship.

Our current series “Worship His Majesty” has been an opportunity for God to teach us about the nature of His character, the Work of His hands, and the Power of His presence.

As we come to the final session of this series, we believe that God is calling us to set aside this coming Sunday service to be a time of extended worship.

It is with this in mind that I whole-heartedly invite you to this wonderful event.

We will triumphantly praise Him with African rhythms, English songs and Caribbean melodies.
We will praise Him with shouting and clapping, and singing and dancing.

I am fully persuaded that it will be a powerful time of worship to God and blessings from God.

Come and join us as we “Worship His Majesty”.

Venue: Jubilee Church (Cineworld Cinema) Enfield
Date: 8th November 2009 (THIS SUNDAY)
Time: 10:00am – 11:45am
www.jubilee-church.org

Love

Tope

Ed Stetzer on Raised With Christ

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:51:00 PST

“Adrian Warnock presents a beautiful picture of why the resurrection matters to each of us. In Raised with Christ, the resurrection of Jesus is unleashed to its exalted place where it supplies our new birth, surrounds our new life, and empowers our new mission. With great clarity, Adrian teaches how the resurrection of Christ matters every day.”
—Ed Stetzer, President, LifeWay Research

Ed has been a good friend to me and is one of the leading Evangelical thinkers and networkers of our time. If you don't already you can follow him on twitter or facebook. Few people are invited to speak as widely as Ed with good reason since he brings his passionate missional approach everywhere he goes. I have a previous video interview with Ed over the internet and look forward to hopefully meeting him face to face sometime in 2010.

Clearing Up Some Logos 4 Bible Software Confusion

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:40:00 PST

A few thoughts based on my own experiences and on some reports from others around the web. Most of this relates to people who already have the old Logos.

If you are jumping in for the first time you only need read the first point below unless you are a Mac user, when due to the fact they are still in Alpha you are going to need to install a copy of the old version of Logos for mac as well. I would install version 4 first if you are a new user, even if you are on a Mac.

1. Installation Questions

There have been a few comments about the length of time Logos 4 takes to fully set up. The process is straightforward enough, its just that most of us are not used to installing things that can take so long to be fully ready to use. After the installation itself, on both Mac or PC, Logos 4 goes into an "indexing" mode which checks any existing resources you have on your system, creates copies of them in a new place, downloads extra books and updated versions of your books where available, and then takes what can be multiple hours to index them all. This final step is critical for the fantastically sped-up search results (complete with result RANKING!) that we are all longing to enjoy.

There really is no alternative to patience here. Consider it an opportunity for the Lord to teach you more about a fruit of the Spirit we don't get to exercise much in our modern world! OK, to be fair, until I got this into perspective, I was as frustrated as you. And, to be fair, on an old PC I borrowed this indexing never seemed to finish during the private beta stage.

I have also had some specific problems with the Mac version. But, after re-downloading it (they released a minor update at lunchtime on the launch day), and removing some files that should never have been in my old resources folder (I had some failed downloads and a couple of other files that got in there by mistake) and a clean reboot, at least at the moment I have a blue icon in my menu bar that if I hover over will tell me how it is progressing.

Although in theory you can use the program while this indexing is going on, however, since at least on a Mac, given that we are talking about an Alpha, this can lead to a crash, and even on a PC you are probably wiser to just set it up overnight to do the indexing and go have some SLEEP! It will be done eventually! It is possible on some systems (like mine!) that if you have a lot of books that it will tell you indexing will take more than 24 hours. Hopefully it will not take that long, and you can definitely run other programs while it is going on. I will let you know how long my indexing takes in reality.

The program is very sophisticated, and this extensive indexing is a very important step which will give us great results, so don't give up!

2 Where is my ESV Reverse Interlinear?

There is a reverse interlinear feature associated with many Bibles in Logos 4, but it is not a book-like view. At least at the moment your current reverse interlinear Bibles will not work as a book within Logos 4. Bob, who is the boss of Logos has clearly said this will change in the future. This is a massive relief for me, but I love my interlinear so much that I for one will be keeping the old version of Logos on my system for now just for that!

3. Will Logos 4 Read All of my previously unlocked books?

As far as I understand it the answer is almost all of them! There are apparently a tiny number of books that at the moment cannot make the jump across. The upgrade prices are not asking you to re-buy books you already own, but are to cover the costs of new collections of books and the new software engine. You can buy the new engine almost on its own, though obviously Logos want to encourage you to look at the bundles of books that do make exceptionally good value if they are resources you will use. If you are looking for more commentary sets, and other books then there has never been a better time to pick up what may well be thousands of pounds worth of books at a steep discount. Take a look at whats available and buy what you can afford.

Logos on the iPhone at the moment reads a good proportion of the books but not all of them have yet been relicensed to allow that format to be used. More are definitely coming according to Logos. Yes you read that right, you really can READ most of the Logos books you own on your iPhone!

3. Tweaking your set up if you plan on keeping both programs running

As I explained earlier, despite some confusion about this fact online, your new Logos 4 will copy most of your old Logos 3 books into a new folder. Here is my plan to avoid duplication (actually my old resources folder already has some duplicates so this process should actually free up some hard disk space for me!) New users of course do not have to worry about any of this!

a. Allow the install process to go ahead without human interference (fortunately I have enough hard disk space to do this)

b. Copy all of my Logos 3 books onto an external hard drive which I have based on my home network. When I am sure I have these on my external disk delete the Logos 3 copies of my resources on my internal one.

c. Tell Logos 3 to look for books in BOTH the new external hard drive location AND the place that Logos 4 stores its books but not copy them into a new location. You are looking in both Mac and PC for a folder with a path something like this "username/library/application support/data/resourcemanager/resources" a little sniffing around will enable you to find it on your machine.

d. Try running Logos 3 both with and without the external hard disk connected and this will enable you to see what books you are missing in 4 if any, and be confident that your system will work when you are not at home but does not consume too much hard disk room with two copies of every resource.

I have yet to try this, so do it at your own peril, and if you have two external hard disks consider backing up your library TWICE!

Any further important tips about this or other things to do with Logos 4 feel free to share with me by email.

25% Off NEW Logos 4 Bible Software for Blog Readers

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:10:12 PST

Logos Bible software has long been my primary tool for bible study, sermon prep, and book writing. Now it just got even faster with a radical new search engine, and an iPhone app that can read my books.

I couldn't have written my new book Raised With Christ without Logos Bible Software, so imagine how excited I was to hear that Logos 4 would be even faster at searching, and could now fit in my pocket with an iPhone app that reads the books I own!

If you have never owned Logos Bible Sofware, this is a great time to jump in, and I am thrilled to announce that the 25% discount for blog readers does apply to base packages for the new version. Just put "WARNOCK" into the coupon section at checkout to get your discount.

You can read other endorsements at their Website. Dan Phillips of Pyromaniacs has the most complete review of Logos 4 that I have seen online, he also highlights the minimal cross-grade link which is the cheapest way to upgrade. As in previous logos upgrades, the standard upgrades give you a collection of books alongside the software update.

There are some more cool things about Logos 4. Firstly, they will give you a bunch more books in some interesting looking packages. Secondly it works amazingly well with the new iPhone app I mentioned earlier. Thirdly, since they realize this is a MAJOR rewrite of the software, and that for some of us longtime users this will take a while to get used to they are leaving version 3 on your system so you can use both versions in parallel.

The biggest drawback I could find during my preview of Logos 4 was that I was using it on a slow PC which I had borrowed from a friend! Sadly, it is not at all ready for prime time on mac yet. Logos acknowledge this, but the good news is they are shipping an alpha for the Mac with the upgrade, and that will be updated regularly over the next few weeks and months to bring it up to speed with the PC version. For some reason, my own mac doesn't want to run the alpha yet, but I am hopeful this will be resolved soon.

You can install your software package on both a PC and a Mac. With the price of PC laptops being relatively low these days, I am almost tempted to buy one just so I can actually use this new search engine which is intended to be almost instant and to rank your results in much the same way something like Google does!

Video about RAISED WITH CHRIST

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:55:00 PST

In this video I talk briefly about my forthcoming book, and my reasons for writing it. Please feel free to embed this on your own blog and/or link to it here. I have some free so-called "influencer" copies to give out, and some will go to bloggers who talk about the fact my book is now available to pre-order.

FREE iPhone App From Logos Bible Software

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:07:40 PST

I just downloaded the brand new and totally FREE Logos Bible Software iPhone application. It is truly astonishing. Even if you are not yet a Logos user you can read and search and read 30+ Bibles for free. It has a typically awesome iPhone interface and just in case you missed me saying this, it is totally free!

But the app comes into its own when you give it your logos username and password. You can do a passage guide search, and even read many of the books you already own. Considering I tested it over a mobile phone data-link rather than wifi the speed was absolutely incredible. I really liked the simple reading interface as well that somehow makes it seem more inviting to read one of your electronic books than on a computer screen.

Remember that readers of the Blog get a 25% discount on purchases of collections.

If you own an IPhone, then downloading this new software is a no-brainer as you cannot lose since it is free! Just search for "Logos Bible Software" in the App store or visit the Logos iPhone page!

My Experience of Being Bullied

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:24:57 PST

Filmed for a project done by my daughter for school, I thought I'd share this video of me talking about what it was like to be bullied at school. I thank God that I have come a long way since then and for his healing power.

A Halloween Alternative

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:47:06 PDT

I am so glad that my kids do not have to stay home this evening while others in the neighborhood dress up as ghouls and other things that give me the creeps and knock on strangers doors for sweets. Its surprising really that the American holiday ever really caught on in the UK, and surprising that in an age which fears child abduction and worse that society tells kids to do the very thing it tells them not to the rest of the year! I know some Christians think differently about whether we should partake of this activity but I am very much in the "we don't celebrate evil" camp. I was proud of one of my kids who this year was invited to a halloween-themed birthday party for one of their friends and turned it down without me having to "ban" them from going. "We don't celebrate halloween" was the reason they gave to their friend.

But we do celebrate Jesus. Perhaps we should celebrate the Reformation more than we do. But, in any case, for years now our church like many in the UK have run a "not Halloween" party for the kids. As a result the children do not feel left out as they are with their friends. This year it will be close to 100 children playing together wholesomely and eating hundreds of pounds worth of chocolate and other goodies. I am thankful to be part of a church like that and thankful for those who are organizing this event!

Google Social Search: Not Another Social Media Site Actually

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:30:02 PDT

Google is smart. So they have a new proposition for us. Take all our existing publicly available “social graph” information from Facebook, Twitter, and the like, and when we are searching on Google, they will mix in with their normal results pages taken from your friends blogs, Twitter pages, etc. I have been experimenting over the last few days, and I must say I really like it! In order to make this work you have to set up a Google Profile, which essentially lists all your various services and then enables Google to figure out who is in your social graph. No new list of friends to maintain, you will be glad to know! Take a look at the Google profile for Adrian Warnock to see what it can look like.

More information is included in this video:

Am I "obsessed with the resurrection"?

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:40:01 PDT

I can think of a worse charge! May we all always be guilty of that. I have two more endorsements for you this week:

“Adrian Warnock rightly highlights the common neglect of the resurrection and helpfully shows why this matters. Come and share the excitement of his own rediscovery of this central event of our faith.”
—Tim Chester, The Crowded House and the Northern Training Institute

“Adrian Warnock is brilliantly obsessed with the resurrection! He believes that Jesus Christ being raised from death is the only way to have hope that goes beyond the grave. In this punchy and accessible book, Adrian helps us to look forward expectantly to a life of eternal future joy, united with God, and in this life, to experience the Holy Spirit and preach the good news in the power of the resurrection. I’m thankful to Adrian for reorienting me to this essential ingredient of life and belief. You will be too.”
—Marcus Honeysett, author, Finding Joy

Don't Neglect The Resurrection

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:40:17 PST

You will forgive me, I am sure, if I am somewhat preoccupied this week with the subject of the resurrection. In a way, every Christian should always be just as preoccupied as I am today with that subject. I loved what Henry Christoph Jr had to say on the Raised With Christ Facebook page:

There is nothing more important than the Resurrection, Adrian, but the Christian church today just is not acting as though that were the case. I pray that the Lord will use your book to help turn that situation around. I look forward to reading it when it is available.

Another commenter, Steve Oroszi, wrote in a similar vein:

Thanks for reminding me about the absolute necessity for the resurrection. Merrill C. Tenney wrote about the importance of the resurrection for the Christian’s life way back in 1963, which points to the fact that “there really aren’t that many books out there on this subject;” that surprised you . . .and you're right. Blessings on your effort.

It is so encouraging to me that these two people have grasped so firmly the importance of reigniting this subject for the Church today. I trust that my book will play some role in accomplishing just that for others.

I would ask you to join me in praying that God himself will use many means to wake us all up to the centrality of the resurrection of Jesus, and to all its implications for us today. The publisher page for Raised With Christ: How The Resurrection Changes Everything says the following about it, which also captures well the sense of purpose behind my book:

What impact should Jesus’ resurrection have on individuals and churches? Popular Christian blogger and teacher Adrian Warnock urges Christians not to neglect the implications of the resurrection.

Jesus truly is alive today. But compared to his atoning death, Jesus’ resurrection sparks relatively little discussion in the church. Inadvertently, we can become so focused on the good news that Christ died for our sins that we almost forget he was “raised for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

In Raised with Christ, author Adrian Warnock exhorts Christians not to neglect the resurrection in their teaching and experience. Warnock takes his cue from Acts, where every recorded sermon focuses on Jesus’ resurrection. He stresses that Christians who faithfully proclaim both the death and the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and live out the implications of that message in vibrant, grace-filled churches, will be enabled to reach a world that lives in death’s dark shadow.

The power of the risen Christ is active in every true Christian, transforming our lives. Raised with Christ will help you discover afresh the massive implications of the empty tomb. Jesus’ resurrection really has changed everything.

But, please don’t wait for my book to come out. There are other books on this subject that you can already read. There are also some great Christian albums that include many resurrection songs, for example:

I thought I would share a few books with you today. You may notice at first glance that some are not wholly on the subject of resurrection. I have included these because I have quoted from them in Raised With Christ and they are incredibly helpful books. Visit the Amazon bookstore.

Worship His Majesty!

adrian.warnock@gmail.com (Adrian Warnock) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:26:44 PST

It seems to me that us reformed believers run the risk that we recognize God is holy, but it can feel as though he is distant. To us charismatics God may instead feel close, but perhaps not seem glorious. Reformed believers understand something of the sovereignty of God, and his glory. All too often, however, we fall into the trap of worshipping a remote God who is not really immanent. As a result God is essentially nowhere to be seen, felt, or experienced. Charismatics often enjoy a sense of intimacy with God. But, all too often we worship a God who is immanent, but can seem warm and cuddly. His holiness, majesty, and glory are somehow lost, thrown out in many cases with a rejection of his sovereignty. Imagine what could happen if the transcendence and immanence of God came together in one worship experience! What would be the result?

One man who is passionate for a reformed theology and a charismatic experience is my pastor, Tope Koleoso Watch this sermon by him and prepare to be blown away as you perhaps realize that you have never truly worshipped as you ought. I encourage you to watch all of it as it builds to a crescendo, and in the last five minutes or so, Tope opens his heart wide, sharing his concern that as our church grows (we have gone from 80 to over 600 in about four years or so) that no one thinks it is because of clever leaders, but rather that we realize it is just the blessing of Jesus, and that as we grow we never lose the foundation that it is all about Jesus. May Jubilee always be a truly worshipping people.

By Tope Koleoso
25 October
download video or download audio more sermons from Jubilee

The series will continue, so please do keep visiting the Jubilee site. As always, I do recommend that if at all possible you watch rather than listen to these messages.