daddy4ms

For the rest of 2018, I will be sharing books I recommend because they are some of my favorites.  New Book Friday will resume in January. Enjoy!

For the rest of 2018, I will be sharing books I recommend because they are some of my favorites.  New Book Friday will resume in January. Enjoy!

We as a people are fascinated with sex.  The church over the years has not always handled the topic very well.  In Scott Sauls book, Jesus Outside the Lines, he has some great thoughts for us to consider. Below are some quotes: Like fire, sex can be incredibly life giving, comforting, and healing when handled with care. It is among the most delightful of all human activities. It is also among the most dangerous. Like fire, when sex is taken outside its natural and created boundaries, it becomes destructive, leaving burn marks and scars. That's why God is in favor of chastity, or sexual abstinence, for those living outside the covenant of marriage. Biblically, the most interesting and attractive women and men are those whose hearts are at rest because they know that God loves them. Until we learn to see people as people instead of things, as image bearers to be loved instead of objects to be used, sexuality will only become more confused and broken.  God is fav...

Yeah, me too.  All of us fall into the hypocrite category because we say one thing and do another. Scott Sauls has an excellent chapter in Jesus Outside the Lines on this topic.  Here are some of my favorite quotes from the chapter: It reminds me that God's relentless grip on me, not my relentless grip on God, keeps me in his love. Shouldn't we evaluate Jesus on his own merits rather than the flaws of his followers? There is something incredibly attractive and inviting about people who stop pointing fingers and posing and pretending to be totally good and totally right, and instead start taking themselves less seriously and openly and freely admit that they are not yet what they should be. The Bible helps us see how: it is the loveliness of Jesus, and only the loveliness of Jesus, that can make hypocrites lovely. Humbled by our own hypocrisy and drawn to how the loveliness of Jesus can transform us, we must preoccupy ourselves less with trying to be l...

We, as a pastoral staff, are reading through Jesus Outside the Lines by Scott Sauls.   I have appreciated greatly its perspective. I am only halfway through but it might be a book that churches should go through together to help them learn to lovingly disagree with one another.  In his chapter on judgment and accountability, Sauls had some great thoughts: We run from criticism, even constructive criticism, because we know that a single word of criticism possesses more emotional power over us than a thousand praises. We know that we are not perfect. But there's something in all of us that still wants, even needs, to feel and be seen as perfect. For those who believe in Jesus, the Cross moves their Judgment Day from the future to the past. the compassionate Jesus speaks sharply and loudly about judgment so we will "flee from the wrath to come" as we flee into his merciful arms. The good news is that anyone who fears God will never have any reason to be afraid...

If you have not picked up Jesus Outside the Lines by Scott Sauls, you are missing out on a great book.  I think this book should be required reading for all in church leadership and every Christian. Why?  Because in the church, we are horrible at dealing with disagreements.  We take sides. We hurt people.  This book is a breath of fresh air for me and I think it will be for you too.  Here are some quotes from his chapter on "Affirmation or Critique": Jesus was offensive to smug, judgmental, religious people. He was a breath of fresh air to broken, nonreligious people. This longing for affirmation makes sense. Both existentially real and biblically true, it is reason we Christians should be the most affirming people in the world. Have we grown accustomed to relationally including and excluding others based on a list of spoken or unspoken "clean laws" that have no basis in Scripture? Have we grown accustomed to scolding others for certain sins while exempt...

I am currently reading Jesus Outside the Lines: A Way Forward For Those Who Are Tired of Taking Sides by Scott Sauls. Many of you have heard me talk about wanting a "third option" based on how often issues are divided into two based on the loudest voices whether that be Republican/Democrat, conservative/liberal, traditional/contemporary, etc. I often say I want another choice.  Scott Sauls' book will be helpful in this dialogue. For us preachers, Tim Keller said, the longer it takes people to figure out where we stand on politics, in all likelihood the more faithfully we are preaching Jesus. Rather, when it comes to kings and kingdoms, Jesus sides with himself. Our loyalty to Jesus and his Kingdom must always exceed our loyalty to an earthly agenda, whether political or otherwise. The world's politics rely heavily on power. Leaning toward a certain party is one thing, but it is important to see that a partisan spirit can actually run against the Spirit of ...