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Currently, I have several books I am reading.  Here are a few quotes from recent chapters: Miracles are associated in the Bible with the prophetic office far more frequently than they are with priests or with kings. The miracles that God worked through prophets were not merely acts of raw power to compel awe. The form of the miracle reinforced the message delivered in the words that the Lord gave his prophets. The message that the Lord conveyed through prophets can be summed up in the contrasting terms prosecution and promise. Contentment trusts God to be God. We don't find our strength in the stuff of the world; we find it in the work of the Spirit. But to be filled with the Spirit and learn this supernatural contentment, we must often be emptied by the Spirit of all else that might satisfy. Fasting from anything is a sign that we are denying "more" and saying "enough." Prayer and fasting are expressions (and embracings) of our weakness and,...

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 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 currently reading through two books: Christless Christianity by Michael Horton and Walking with Jesus through His Word by Dennis E. Johnson.  Here are some quotes I read recently: It is through God's Word of judgment (law) and salvation (gospel) that we are transferred from our own pointless scripts and inserted into the grand narrative that revolves around Jesus Christ. Reduce Christianity to good advice and it blends perfectly with the culture of life coaching...What distinguishes Christianity at its heart is not its moral code but its story...At its heart, this story is a gospel: the Good News that God has reconciled us to himself in Christ. The worst thing that can happen to the church is to confuse law and gospel...We naturally think that if you want people to do the right thing, you just need to tell them what to do and exhort them to do it with sufficient passion and effective methods. This, however, avoids both the law and the gospel...The law commands, but...

Here are some of my favorite quotes from books I have read over the last few weeks: Words can draw us together or they can divide. What we say and how we say it makes a difference...Discussions based on respect for reach person demonstrates the relationship is valued more than the issue being discussed...We accept and love people; we agree or disagree on principles. (The Messy Life of Parenting by Lori Wildenberg) We were born of Adam. There is no hope for us in trying harder or getting some divine leniency. Our only hope is to be taken out of Adam's old humanity, to be born again into a new humanity, to be a new creation. How, then, on that dark day of the fall, must Adam and Eve have thrilled to hear of the Seed, the offspring, the child who would bruise the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15)! Nothing else would suffice. (Rejoicing in Christ by Michael Reeves) The virgin birth is an almighty No! to all our silly attempts at earning salvation. It means that before Jesus is ev...

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...

Last week, I finished Night Driving: Notes from a Prodigal Soul by Chad Bird.  It is a book I would recommend as the author communicates well and shares how God met him every step of his journey. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book: God specializes in broken people...No matter how badly we have wrecked our lives, our Father is in the thick of that disaster to begin the work of making us whole again...Every step of the way we are accompanied by the God who, in Jesus Christ, will never un-love us, un-adopt us, un-redeem us. Christ's forgiveness precedes our repentance--and calls it forth...Once more, we lose control. And in loss is freedom. At the foot of the cross we are equal--equally guilty, equally forgiven, equally loved. We realize, in our weakness, that we are totally dependent on the strength that comes from the grace of Christ...freedom comes not from pretending I'm someone I'm not, but from a loving welcome from one who accepts me as I am. Th...

I finished reading Why the Reformation Still Matters by Michael Reeves and Tim Chester a few weeks ago.  There is a previous blog post with quotes from first 5 chapters of the book.  Today's post includes quotes from Chapters 6-11. For them (the Reformers) there was an important difference between union and communion. Communion with Christ--meaning the actual enjoyment of Christ--is something that fluctuates in believers...Union is the foundation of communion...union with Christ is a fixed and therefore stable thing, the solid foundation on which we can know lasting joy. (117) our sin cannot be removed from our hearts simply by our trying harder or scrubbing ourselves clean: the Spirit must transform us through the gospel. That is how the new life of the Spirit begins, and this is how it grows...The gospel, then, cannot be treated simply as a message for unbelievers, as the doorway into the Christian life; in order for Christians to grow they must be kept in the sunshine...

I am about halfway through the book, Why the Reformation Still Matters   by Michael Reeves and Tim Chester.  I am reading it in preparation for preaching this summer.  Here are some quotes from the first 5 chapters: Nothing matters more than justification by Christ alone through faith alone...This is why Luther described justification as "the summary of Christian doctrine" and "the article by which the church stands or falls." So Christ is central to the Bible. And Christ is central to the interpretation of the Bible. All true interpretations of the Bible lead us to Jesus. Corrupted all the way down, we cannot fix ourselves. Our hearts must be renewed, and that can happen only through the gospel being preached and the glory of God being unveiled. For them, grace was not a "thing" at all; it is the personal kindness of God by which he does not merely enable us but actually rescues and freely gives us himself...In other words, the grace and righte...

I recently finished Sola! by Leann Luchinger and Heather Choate Davis. Here are some quotes: sola is Latin for alone, and that the three solas are considered foundational principles of Protestantism...sola gratia (grace alone), sola fide (faith alone), and sola scriptura (Scripture alone). Not grace plus works or worthiness or effort or intention or money or remorse. Grace alone!...It is an all or nothing proposition, with God doing all, and us doing nothing. Because the Cross of Christ is where sin and grace kiss. Not just once but daily. His Law (God's wisdom for living) reveals our sin (all the ways we reject that wisdom). His Gospel then assures us that we are not to sit around beating ourselves up about it but rather to keep following Him, trusting that "for freedom Christ has set us free"...This balanced tension between Law and Gospel serves us in every season, keeping us humble through the highs, hopeful through the lows, and trusting that it's all on H...

Last week, I finished A Scandalous Freedom by Steve Brown and Befriend by Scott Sauls.  Here are some quotes from the final chapters of the books: the difference between Christians and pagans when both fail is that pagans blame luck and Christians blame God. the law of God provides a schematic for the way the world works...God explains how certain things will hurt you and certain things will help you...The law of God, as revealed in the Bible, is the best way to live...The law is the tutor that brings you to Christ. one major reason Christians don't obey is they obsess over their obedience...When you obsess over anything but him--and that includes being free--you can lose it. You take the first step, God will take the second step, and by the time you get to the third step, you will know that it was God who took the first step. Every human bears the image of God. This is what the scribes and Pharisees were know for doing. They demanded that people keep God's law--do...

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...

We, as pastors, are reading through DiscipleShift again.  Here are some quotes from the introduction and first two chapters: First comes philosophy. Second comes practical adaptation. (Know the "why" before you figure out the "how.") Focus=biblical discipleship; Methodology=relational environments The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit to the glory of God the Father. Simply put, a church exists to make disciples who make disciples. And the primary methodology is Christlike love expressed in life-on-life relationship. Yet as difficult as the journey may be, people who follow Jesus are also given important promises. We think that God's grace covered us up to the point of salvation and somehow we must now get it right to continue as Jesus' disciple. Far too many of us assume that discipleship is merely the transfer of information leading to behavior modification. But discipleship, at heart, in...

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...

I recently finished Getting Jesus Wrong by Matt Johnson.  I would recommend this book to discover if you have accepted a false view of Jesus.  Johnson has a great understanding of law and gospel and how a focus on Christ not the Christian is most important.  Here are quotes that resonated with me: While we still live in a messed-up world, hope is not something we can activate through spiritual activity or church associations. No, the core of the Christian faith is about objective hope that lives outside of our personal experiences and hearts. Objective hope is found in the miracle of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Here’s the good news: the mountaintop experiences of life aren’t normative. If everything in our lives of faith were a mountaintop, then nothing would be a mountaintop. Jesus does not require that we ascend up to him; he descends to us But on each step of the way faith must be grounded in who Jesus is and what he’s done...Not hope in what is i...

I started two new books recently.  They are The Whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson and Unchained by Noel Jesse Heikkinen.  Here are some quotes from the first chapter: We structure our spiritual lives in such a way that we can monitor and measure how we are doing and, presumably, how God feels about us at any given moment. The problem occurs when our man-made rules become more important than Jesus--when praying or reading the Bible every day becomes more important than following Jesus. Freedom is not what our culture tells us it is. Freedom is not my deciding, from the urges and longings of my sinful nature, to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, how I want to do it, with whom I want to do it. According to the Bible, that is bondage, not freedom.  The remedy for both (antinomianism and legalism) is a fuller, biblical, and profound understanding of grace and of the character of God. When we behold the glory of Christ in the gospel, it reo...