People are much more comfortable with a Jesus who is tame, explainable and pliable. He is a problem the minute he looks, feels, or sounds confident, complex or authoratative.

Why?

Because he shatters our personally crafted lord and saviors.

When the biblical Jesus shines through the fog of our imaginations he is seen as a King instead of a puppet. He is a Savior instead of an advisor. He is God instead of ‘this man’.

Nothing in the life of Jesus is accidental. Jesus’ preaching in Mark 6 (and Luke 4) must be seen as a calculated effort to chase out their unbelief. Indeed all Christ-centered preaching endeavors to unfasten our clinging fingers from the idols we create and cling to the Savior that God gives.

Possibly Related posts:

1. IC Book of the Month: Christ Centered Preaching
2. Marvelling at the Incarnation of Christ
3. Now this is Preaching….

(note: this is a guest review from my wife, Christie, who offers a different, and I’d argue, better perspective than I)

The Challenge
Between changing cloth diapers, trying to keep perfectly arched eyebrows and making some homemade vanilla how will I ever find time to teach my children (and myself!) some basic church history? And why(!) would I want to submit myself to said task? It seems like a daunting, boring and unnecessary burden amidst all my other domestic goddess responsibilities. I would never entertain the idea unless our very hip homeschool curriulum penned it in or some really rad mom were to fawn all over the idea thus inspiring me to be just as cool as her. BUT (and you knew that was coming) Erik brought me home this witty little hardback book titled, The Church History ABC’s by Stephen J. Nichols and Ned Bustard.

You Can Judge this Book by Its Cover
The cover is alluring! “OOO,” was all I said as I cracked the stiff cover for the first time. And if the snazzy cover isn’t enough to bait you and keep you hooked, reading even one of the entries will. Each of the 26 memorandums of a church history pioneer is organized in alphabetical order, hence the title “The Church History ABC’s.” They’re short, perky and visually appealing.

The Content
For example for the the letter ‘E’ is says, “E is for eggs, elephants and Johnathan EDWARDS”. A small paragraph follows that tells shorts snippet facts like  his having 10 sisters, pinning scraps of cloth to his jacket for memory’s sake, being part of the great awakening, being a missionary to the Mohicans, being president of Princeton and then ends with a thoughtful purpose statement of what Edwards was all about: “Everywhere I went I wanted people to enjoy God and to enjoy what God has made – even spiders.” Each entry is written in first person which easily lends itself to drama or reenactment to completely captivate an audience.

The page dedicated to Edwards has a huge ‘E’ font with him peeking out from behind it chomping on a chocolate bar and a completely gross (LARGE) spider running across the bottom of the page. The font for each letter of the alphabet and person in history is so large that it’s excellent for engaging your little ones! They can trace it with their fingers allowing you to reiterate their abc’s in a kinetic way. While Edward’s page pictured chocolate and a spider each church history hero has pictures which are meant to spur you on to read further than the concise paragraph on the page of that particular person. In the back of the book each individual of the diverse group of men and women are expounded upon. You’ll have to pick this book up to find out why Edwards is pictured with a chocolate bar instead of a diary and quill (plume for you Fancy Nancy readers).

Christie with some of the kids

The Conclusion
Amidst sewing my girls some ruffle pants for fall, helping with Algebra II and preparing chicken tikka masla for dinner it turns out I do have time to teach some church history! And I want to! This spellbinding, brisk paced book makes it easy, piques curiosity and allows ones heart to easily submit to learning. All of this while reflecting “the breadth of church history and reminding children that theses great figures of the past were living, breathing people who lived and died for the glory of God.”.

p.s.   I don’t think I said that I like the illustrations…I really like the illustrations. There’s the coolest unicycle on the inside cover and, well…you just need to get the book and see for yourself

Discounted copies are available at Westminster Bookstore or trusty old Amazon.com

Possibly Related posts:

1. Book Review- What is a Healthy Church Member?
2. Book Review- Vintage Church
3. Book Review- Why We Love the Church

You can preorder Patrick’s book at Amazon here.

Possibly Related posts:

1. Driscoll Video from the Exponential Conference
2. The Gospel and Personal Evangelism
3. I’ll take a Venti Americano and…some of your time for the gospel!!

Yes, this is Peet's Coffee.

Most of us enjoy a hot cup of coffee each morning. Some of us really enjoy the coffee and others are hopelessly enslaved to the jolt it provides. Wherever you find yourself coffee drinker, this post is for you. It’s for us.

Whether you eat or drink…
I wake up and start my french press. I boil the water, grind the beans, and wait anxiously for those 4 and a half minutes to pass until I can enjoy the near perfect morning cup.

As a Christian who is trying to do all things to the glory of God (1 Cor 10.31), even eating or drinking, this is an exercise in worship. I praise God for being the good creator who gives such gifts for us to enjoy. We see something of his creative kindness to us in making coffee beans. We also see that he knows our frames are weak.

Our Lives are vapors
But further, I find myself captivated by the steam. I am eagerly awaiting this cup. It is steaming hot. I add my cream and sugar and hold this hot drink in my hands. But I am captivated by the steam as it continues off my little caffeinated smokestack. I am reminded again of the Scripture:

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. (Jam 4.14–NASB)

My life is a vapor. It is a blip on the screen. I am here for a little while and then I vanish away.

Surely the problems and hardships of the day ahead and the days behind are not interpreted in light of this. In my mind every day is like a thousand years; I am living forever. But this is simply not true. My life is a vapor and my coffee reminds me of what the Scriptures shout to me.

You should see here how my second observation (my life is a vapor) helps with my first (do all to the glory of God). In light of the fact that life is short I don’t have time to jack around being stupid, immature and selfish. Instead, I need to grow up, serve Jesus and have fun. I only have so many rocks to throw into the pond to make a splash for his kingdom, so it’s time to put the mirror of self-admiration down and get to chucking.

The gospel beckons me to hear the Scripture. God numbers my days so I should number my days. Because Christ lived and died for me I need (get) to, today, live for him.

So, don’t waste your coffee. Drink, worship, and live.

Possibly Related posts:

1. Drinking Tea in Light of the Cross
2. A Picture that Captures Me
3. Don’t Waste Your Sports

click on image for photo credit

Thankfully we have brothers and sisters in Christ who are faithful to remind us of our responsibilities and privileges in Christ. This is often sweetly experienced when we encountered various trials in life. Our faithful kin in Christ remind us of that familiar passage in James 1:

(Jam 1.2) Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds

The purpose, we are reminded as we keep reading, is to make us stronger and more like Jesus. This is good and right.

But I wonder if we would have to make such a jump to light speed in the joy department if we lived our lives with responsive happiness to the God of all grace? In other words, we wouldn’t have such a hard time enduring with joy if we were already existing in joy.

How different would we be if our daily practice is to wake up, remind ourselves of our sin, God’s grace in the giving of Jesus for us and our salvation, and his victorious resurrection?

The gospel is the Father giving the One who gives him eternal joy. He gives him to rebels like us, that we might be made to rejoice in him. This happiness then reverberates through us unto God in praise and thanksgiving. All of this serves to magnify the giving and receiving of Jesus. There is joy in the giving of Jesus by the Father. There is joy in the receiving of Jesus by his people. And it is the Holy Spirit who communicates this blessed gospel symphony to us, through us, and for us, all to the glory of Christ.

When I am lacking joy I am living with gospel amnesia. All I have to do is revisit Calvary and meditate upon the goodness of God in giving Jesus for me. This puts life in complete perspective. And in the knowledge of Christ in the gospel there is a happiness that puts all seasons in perspective, whether we are being afflicted or relieved; all is intended to abound for the glory of Christ.

This reminds me of a section of a favorite hymn. (note: repine = complain)

Soul, then know thy full salvation

Rise o’er sin and fear and care

Joy to find in every station,

Something still to do or bear.

Think what Spirit dwells within thee,

Think what Father’s smiles are thine,

Think that Jesus died to win thee,

Child of heaven, canst thou repine.

Let the gospel help you and others not only to endure with joy but to also exist in joy. In doing so we magnify Jesus’ infinite beauty and worth.

Possibly Related posts:

1. A New Year’s Prayer
2. Pursuing the Glory of Christ at My Own Expense
3. A Picture that Captures Me

How does a Mormon talk show host get hundreds of thousands of Americans, many of them evangelicals, to gather together for a “non-political” revival?

Simple. He preaches the unifying message of morality and opportunity.

Beck estimates that the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday reached as many as 600,000 people. This is particularly impressive in light of the way Beck promoted his event with such a spiritual, non-political tone:

Overtly Spiritual
On the August 26 edition of his radio show, Beck told his audience,

“You’re going to see the spirit of God unleashed, unlike you have probably ever seen it before, at least at a public function. You are going to see the power of God.”

I think this statement is intriguing as it is uncomfortable.

Further, Beck dropped the $100 revival word. And, as one who makes his living with words, we can be sure that there was no accident when he referred to what we’ll see at the event as an “awakening”.

Doesn’t it seem somewhat odd that Beck, a Mormon, and so many evangelicals could yoke together in this venture so overtly spiritual in nature?

Not so according to this pastor who was featured on CNN:

Despite the pre-rally discussions of Beck’s Mormonism, the rally’s litany of evangelical speakers gave it the Jesus-centeredness of a Billy Graham Crusade. All theological references were clearly evangelical and biblically based.

Covertly anti-Gospel
Christians can agree with Mormons (and others outside the bounds of historic Christianity) because we agree on the Law. We agree on what condemns us. We agree on the 10 Commandments, we agree (for the most part) about morality, and we agree on many family related social issues. The issue here is that these matters of agreement are not what makes Christians distinctly Christian. In other words, these things reveal the problem but they do not reveal the solution.

The solution to the problem of sin is the gospel. The gospel is what Jesus did in history for sinners (1 Cor. 15.3-5). He did this for us, that is, in our place. It was Jesus who lived a perfect life of obedience to his Father. It was Jesus who suffered a wrath-satisfying, sin atoning death on the cross. It was Jesus that rose from the dead. Jesus obeyed the Law and satisfied the Law’s penalty by dying for us. Therefore, it is Jesus who is to be our unifying identity and message.

Americans will find great unity in morals but they will not find great unity in Jesus. There is great unity in law but not in gospel.

The Apostle Paul warned about this:

(2Co 6.14-15) 14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

Therefore, it is sinful for Christians to hold hands (literally) with people who believe a different gospel in the context of a spiritual endeavor.

Another Babel?
The rally/revival may have been intended to showcase unity, resolve, and passion for more of God in our country but sadly it serves to be an indictment of evangelical disunity, ignorance and indifference with the gospel. So, instead of more of God it is more of us and less of Jesus.

Many American Evangelicals were outraged over the plans for a mosque to be built near the site of Ground Zero in New York City. However, we are not so outraged about building a tower of morality on the sacred site of the church. This rallying pole of morals, God and country is a lot like the old city’s motto to reach the heavens with our hands and building (Gen 11.4). In so doing this new construction of a monument to ‘Moralanity’ is obscuring the cross, which is the gospel monument to Christ, and his Christianity.

God calls the church to be a faithful bride to Jesus, his Son. Sadly, evangelicals are taking page out of the old Mormon playbook and practicing polygamy. American evangelicals need to repent and return to their first love. This running around with other lovers is unbecoming, embarrassing, and nauseating (Rev. 3.16)

Possibly Related posts:

1. Tickle Me Evangelical!!
2. Q & A Friday :: Why do you write negative posts on evangelical leaders?
3. Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism?

God did not create man to be an ailing and suffering creature. It was sin, and nothing but sin, which brought in all the ills that flesh is heir to. It was sin to which we owe every racking pain, and every loathsome infirmity, and every humbling weakness to which our poor bodies are liable.

Let us keep this ever in mind. Let us hate sin with a godly hatred.” –J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Mark, p. 99

Possibly Related posts:

1. Nebraska Football, Death Threats and the Human Heart
2. Spiritual Cookies
3. Luke, a gift and a tool

“When I don’t have all the answers I return again to the cross. And there I see the God-Man (JESUS) suffering and dying on my behalf. I can worship and trust a God like that.”

How can God allow suffering and evil in the world? (feed readers may have to click thru to the site to watch) from A Passion for Life on Vimeo.

Note: Dr Carson answers the question more exhaustively in his book, How Long O Lord: Reflections on Evil and Suffering (I highly recommend this book!)

(ht: Tim)

Possibly Related posts:

1. Upcoming OBC Conference with DA Carson, “Making Sense of Suffering”
2. Book Review- A Call to Spiritual Reformation
3. Some Thoughts and Resources from the Carson Conference at OBC