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There are some great deals for resources on the cross and resurrection this week.  I have personally only read the one by John Piper.  But have read other books by R.C. Sproul and Jonathan Dodson.  If you are looking for a helpful resource this Easter week, I encourage you to check out the following links. Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die by John Piper.  Available for $.99 here The Truth of the Cross by R.C. Sproul.  Available here for free. Raised by Jonathan Dodson and Brad Watson is also free here  I also recommend the following books about Jesus: Jesus Is ________________ by Judah Smith Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchvidjian  The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller The Gospel of Yes by Mike Glenn You can purchase these at Faith and Life Bookstore in Newton or your local Christian store.

I have been sharing posts over the last several weeks from The Gospel of Yes by Mike Glenn. I recommend the book to you. If you want your life and the church to be known as a place of yes rather than no, this book is for you. Here are some final quotes from the book: "Over the years I've had to let go of a lot of concepts of God that proved too small to contain the God I was trying to follow." "When you find your "yes" and it aligns with the greater "yes" of God to his world, things bigger than you always happen." "No matter the circumstances, no matter how loud the "no" that I was dealing with, Christ would bring a "yes" that would give meaning and hope." "If God tells us "no", then his "yes" has promoted the "no." "So the people of Jesus have to find a way to be the "yes" of Christ to our wounded world." "The church has to become a plac...

This truth we understand from an early age. However, as we face the world around us, do we forget our identity? What happens when family, business, culture tries to pressure you to be something that you are not? Mike Glenn in The Gospel of Yes has some great thoughts on this in Chapter 10. You need to pick up this book. Here are some quotes: "What if Christ's top priority is not to convince us that we are abject failures but to reveal how beautiful we are in him? "If Jesus is not as interested in hammering us about our sin as in restoring us to the people God created us to be, would we act differently? live differently? be different toward others? Would we find in this truth a way to change, to live differently, to become a new person?" "No experience or encounter, no outside influence can tell you who you are. Only Christ can do that." "The Christian teaching is that people are extremely valuable indeed. But our value is not based on the...

Who Am I? Who does Christ Say I Am? How does my identity influence how I live? These and other questions are discussed in The Gospel of Yes by Mike Glenn. Here are a few quotes from a chapter on our Christian journey: "the faith pilgrimage begins with God's declaration of who you really are and why he made you." "Believers need other believers to encourage us, confront us when necessary, and to remind us both of who we are and whose we are." "The more fully you know your yes, the more you will understand and appreciate the uniqueness of who you are. Knowing that your yes was given only to you will free you to pursue your destiny without concern for how it might compare to anyone else's calling. You are the only one who can pursue the unique yes that God gave to you."

I am continuing through the book, The Gospel of Yes by Mike Glenn.  Today's post ties in well with Pastor Brad's sermon on January 27th on forgiveness.  Here are some thoughts regarding forgiveness: "Forgiveness is how we get unstuck.  Anger, left unattended, becomes bitterness. Grudges, carefully nursed over the years, produce a hard heart. Our pain blinds us to the needs of those around us and isolates us from others." "First, making someone else hurt doesn't take away your pain." "One of the things that makes following Jesus so difficult is that we are never given permission to disobey, regardless of the circumstances." "Our God is so good and so powerful he can produce good out of even the worst things people do to us." "You can hold on to your anger, or you can hold on to Jesus, but you can't hold on to both. Forgiveness is how we let go of anger and hurt to get a firm hold on the "yes" of God offered...

Yesterday, I wrote a post about "Check Yes or No" based on the book, The Gospel of Yes by Mike Glenn. I am continuing some thoughts today based on our identity in Christ.  Glenn shares these quotes: "Jesus came to offer a life of more to all of us, no matter what happened before." "Hearing the word but removes everything before it from our memory."  "Sin is the great negation, the "no" that attempts to blot out the "yes" of Christ." "Sin has a way of making us forget the goodness of God. Sin denies the presence and power of God in us and our world." "For a total transformation of a person's life, the mind as well as the heart must change. We live the way we do because we think the way we do. The mess is in our heads before it is in our lives, but it moves from the mind to daily life." "And part of thinking differently is letting go of old assumptions and preferences and accepting the ...

I am preparing to preach in February with a sermon titled, "Check Yes or No."  It reminds me of a country song by George Strait.  Check it out on youtube.  But it also reminds me of a specific passage of Scripture as well.  I will share more about this passage after I preach on Feb. 17th.  The point is this: we must choose yes or no. In the Gospel of Yes by Mike Glenn, he shares several instances of when Christ says yes to our no's.  Here are a few quotes to think about today: "In the resurrection Christ brought into reality all the promises God had given to his people." "The resurrection means Jesus doesn't leave us to figure out life on our own.  He is here to help us find another way to live." "we serve a God who is making all things new, starting with the brokenness in our lives, homes, communities, and nations." "When people are aware that true change is beyond their power and they call out to God, they find that he w...

On Thursday, I continued reading The Gospel of Yes by Mike Glenn. I am only a third through the book. Glenn definitely shares some great thoughts about the "yes" of God. Here are a few quotes from my reading: "We are on earth to fulfill the dreams God had for his masterpiece: creation." "And because we don't know the stories of God, we don't know God, which leads to our misunderstanding his intentions." "In every no, God finds a way to say yes." "even when there is good reason for God to say no, he chooses yes. Then he finds a way-working with highly flawed people-to accomplish his plans." "God has decided to overcome every no of humanity with his powerful and persistent yes." "But God is more than just a Divine Judge of Right and Wrong." "How does God temper his justice with mercy? The answer is Jesus, the God-Man." "Jesus took into himself the no of our sin and died in ...

How would you answer this question?  Before you begin lecturing me about ignoring sin, let me say that I am not interested in explaining away sin, but instead wondering if we focus too much on it. I have been on a journey these last few months trying to understand why much of our belief about God or the Christian life focuses on the negative.  Is this what God's Word teaches?  I hope to be able to answer this question soon. One book I am reading right now is called The Gospel of Yes by Mike Glenn.  As I was reading this week, several of his quotes from Chapter 2 spoke to my journey and questions I have been pondering.  Here are some of those quotes: "One generation after another has been trapped in the habit of no."  "But the no of God is also positive. Like the banks of a river, our given limits increase our power by focusing our potential." "The Ten Commandments, those great "Thou shalt nots," are gifts of grace and mercy. God offers th...