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Currently, I am reading two books by Jared C. Wilson.  One is on the Holy Spirit and the other is about the church.  Here are a few quotes from recent chapters I have read: the truth is, God is never silent. the primary way any Christian will participate in a friendship with God is by Bible study and prayer. (Bill is) approaching the Bible not as a religious token of routine affection but as Spiritual food to feed his hunger. Showing you Jesus is what the Holy Spirit is most after in your life. Applying (Scripture) prayerfully is key as well. We have no power in and of ourselves. The power we need to apply God's Word in ways that honor God and magnify Jesus can only come from God himself. It is in prayer that we "tap into" this power. Everybody hungers for community whether they realize it or not. We were made for relationships with God and with other people. Because of sin and the fallenness of the world, however, we are not "discipled" well in ...

Here are some quotes from books I am currently reading: We daily face the temptation of self-worship. the Holy Spirit's purpose is to point our attention continually to Jesus. Regardless of whether you're conscious of the Spirit's work in your life, he is still working. He doesn't need you to help him. He is who he is and he does what he does. The preaching is the steering wheel of the church. Is it enough simply to get sheep in the pasture while leaving them thereafter unfed? Gospel-driven preaching that proclaims and exults in the revealing of God's glory in Christ. The point is to point them to he living God in the content and through your passion so that that they might respond to God's good news in worship. for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savor of Christ in it. The worship gathering ought to seek to orchestrate an encounter with God, not an experience of him. The worship service is primarily about helping people...

Here are some quotes from books I have been reading over the last few weeks: "The natural realm and the spiritual realm exist side by side, and we interact with both every day." "More than the gifts the Holy Spirit brings, I want you to know the amazing person of the Holy Spirit! Fellowship, communion, and intimacy--in other words, the friendship--with the Holy Spirit is the greatest blessing of all." "The Holy Spirit causes the process that Jesus referred to as "being born again," and the Holy Spirit seals those who are born again to ensure they stand blameless before God at the end of the their days, and the Holy Spirit sustains those who are born again every millisecond between those two moments." "If we want to participate in the truly supernatural life in this earthly world, we have to stop looking for earthly solutions to our problems." "What are the signs that a genuine move of God is taking place? What, in ...

Here are some quotes from three books I am currently reading: "the role and nature of this person (Holy Spirit) is to "help". "Jesus presents the Holy Spirit to us as the ultimate answer to overcoming and undoing the work of Satan, the great Deceiver and "the father of lies" "This conviction is the only way people become aware that they need the Savior. The truth is that no one ever comes to believe in Jesus as Savior without first coming to the conviction that he or she needs the Savior. That's the Holy Spirit's job." "Good advice requires a person with a plan; Good News requires a person with a message." "Radical discipleship means bringing to the world--including Christians--the wonderful, surprising, and offensive news of the gospel." "If people are withering on the vine with perpetual exhortations without Good News, praise without being reminded what they are praising God for, calls to active im...

I am a little behind on my reading, but here are some quotes from books I have read recently: "Without coming out and saying it, we consider the gospel powerless to help with such sophisticated struggles...The gospel lifts the burden of self-help off of the victims we have unwittingly placed it on...The grace of god will help him repent of the root and not just the symptom...The cross is the remedy." Byron Yawn in What Every Man Wishes His Father Had Told Him "People share their struggles and, with every good intention, others give good advice or try to step in to be the solution themselves. People do need answers. They are in need of help. But we fail to truly help them if we don't give them Jesus. He is the best answer and the most powerful help they can receive." Jeff Vanderstelt in Gospel Fluency "In other words, what was Christ doing "B.C."? He was experiencing what it means--tasting what it would mean--to be Savior, King, Prophet, Pri...

For the next five Fridays, I will be sharing books that I am recommending for my God is....Sermon Series.  Each of these helps us learn more about who God is.

Currently, I am reading several books on the Reformation in preparation for a sermon series I am doing this summer.  Here are the books I am currently reading:

Have we separated our theology from practical day to day living? Do we really believe the gospel is the answer to every problem we face?  The answer to these questions is addressed in Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vanderstelt.  Additional resources are available through his website SaturateTheWorld.com Below you will quotes from the end of the book: Growth in gospel fluency required regularly being with others who know and love Jesus, speak about him often, and commit together to regularly remind one another of the gospel when they forget. the whole Bible is the gospel--the good news that God has come to rescue and restore humanity and all creation in and through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus won't be the hero of the story if we don't really need a Savior for our sin. My regular counsel to Christians these days is to spend more time listening than talking if they want to be able to share the gospel of Jesus in a way that meaningfully speaks to the hearts of ot...

A few weeks ago I finished reading Gospel Centered Kids Ministry by Brian Dembowczyk. He works for Lifeway and leads the team that produces Gospel Project for Kids Curriculum. Here are some quotes from the final chapters of the book: We see that Jesus met the spiritual needs (teaching and preaching), the physical needs (healing), and emotional needs (compassion) of the people.  Harvesting the fields always starts with me before they...Statistically, the ripest harvest field for the gospel falls in the demographic of kids. We need leaders who are to help kids see the gospel, love the gospel, grow in the gospel, and dedicate their lives to the gospel. Kids leaders might not be thought of as theologians by many people, but I believe we should be some of the most sound theologians in the church. Gospel transformation takes place when we spend time with Christ and let Him drive the gospel more deeply into our minds and hearts. Then, and only then, will the Holy Spirit produc...

I am continuing to read Gospel Centered Kids Ministry by Brian Dembowczyk and Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vanderstelt.  Below are quotes from each of these books:  Obedience doesn't save. God saves. Obedience detached from the gospel doesn't please. Christ's righteousness pleases. Focus on the external behavior and you will miss the internal heart, but focus on the internal heart and you will get both. That is the key to righteousness...And that is the key to gospel-centered transformation and application.  Go to the heart, and the hands will follow. We have to point our kids to the heart over and over again just like Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount. The heart is where the battle is won or lost. When we allow the Holy Spirit to work the gospel deep down into our kids' hearts, it will show itself in what they do with their hands as well. This is the kind of gospel transformation we are after. Helping our kids trust in the gospel, find acceptance from God based on...

Currently, I am reading two books.  The first is Gospel Centered Kids Ministry by Brian Dembowczyk and Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vanderstelt.  Here are some quotes from this week's reading: The battle of sin is won and lost in the heart. The beauty of the gospel is that it would not be based off of human effort; rather, it would rest entirely on what God would do on man's behalf. The gospel is not good advice about how to live; it is good news about what God has done. Our target is a transformed heart, not changed behavior. A transformed heart will always result in changed behavior that honors God, but changed behavior will not always result in a transformed heart that yields to God. We cannot move straight to application through bypassing the gospel. We need to filter everything we teach through the gospel. But we always follow the "what" of God's commands with the "why." And that "why" is always anchored to the gospel in looking at...

I recently finished reading The Whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson.  Here are some great quotes from the book: There are no conditions that need to be met in order for the gospel offer to be made. everything we need for salvation is in him and not in us. Is it obvious to me, and of engrossing concern, that the chief focus, the dominant note in the sermons I preach (or hear), is "Jesus Christ and him crucified"? Or is the dominant emphasis (and perhaps the greatest energies of the preacher?) focused somewhere else, perhaps on how to overcome sin, or how to live the Christian life, or on the benefits to be received from the gospel?...Is the dominant theme, the lasting impression, the most natural word association, in relation to preaching I hear "Jesus Christ and him crucified"--or something else? Christ himself is the gospel...what we receive in the gospel is not benefits but Christ and that therefore the focus on public preaching and private pasto...