Book review: Altar Ego by Craig Groeschel

Yes, it’s another book about becoming who God says you are in Christ. This one’s split into three parts, basically covering who we are in Christ, what characteristics that means we should have, and how to be bold in obeying God.

Craig Groeschel is biblical, challenging, humble and absolutely hilarious. Each chapter is well-structured, based on clear Bible passages and ideas, and well-communicated through Groeschel’s own experience and powerful challenges throughout. I’d challenge any Christian to read this book and come out the other side thinking they can continue living as they have before. The best thing about this book is Groeschel’s trademark all-or-nothing approach; God demands our all, so give him your all!

I normally try to come up with one or two things I didn’t like about a book but I simply can’t with this; at times it made me laugh out loud at his stories while at others it was as if my heart had been ripped out of my chest. I haven’t read a book as good as this in a long time, and am looking forward to Groeschel’s next creation.

If you’re a Christian, read this book. And if you’re not, become a Christian, then read this book.

I got this book for free from BookSneeze.com in exchange for an honest review.

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Book review: Gods at War by Kyle Idleman

This book is based around the simple concept that people are created to worship, and that the question is therefore not, ‘Do we worship?’ but ‘Who/what do we worship?’ All of us are guilty of idol worship, and Kyle Idleman deals with one idol per chapter, looking at things like money, family, job and self to ask whether they are idols in our lives, and how we ought to replace them with Jesus.

I think this book is absolutely outstanding. Kyle Idleman is encouraging, funny, challenging, biblical, Jesus-focused, and a good story teller. Reading each chapter is like savouring a richly-flavoured meal, but instead of tastebuds being hit it’s your soul being exposed for the idol worshipper you are. Each chapter is challenging and intensely practical, asking probing questions which make it easy to apply them.

It’s filled with good stories and links to more detail about them, as well as being packed with references to high quality books so reading this ought to be the start of an adventure rather than a goal in itself. There are also plenty of cheeky footnotes which made me laugh a lot; this is not some academic study in idol worship but a radically challenging and instantly applicable handbook.

If you think you need to read this book, you definitely do; it’s probably the best I’ve seen on replacing our idols with Jesus. And if you think you don’t need to the chances are that you’re in even more need of it because you’re unaware of your own idols!

I got this ebook for free from BookSneeze.com in exchange for an honest review.

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What we mean when we say ‘Christ’

Each Wednesday I’m looking at what I posted exactly one year ago. On 6 March 2012 I had a look at Jesus’ title ‘Christ’.

—

English: Resurrection of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When we say ‘Jesus Christ’, we know exactly who we mean: Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter’s son. But do we actually realise how significant that title is?

Obviously ‘Jesus Christ’ wasn’t Jesus’ actual name; most Christians know that ‘Christ’ is the Greek version of the Hebrew title ‘Messiah’, and that it means ‘Anointed One’, and that Jesus fulfilled all the messianic prophecies, blah blah blah, but – just think about it…

21st Century Jews are still waiting for Messiah to come, in a similar way to the Jews in the 1st Century. Back then they’d been waiting for a couple of thousand years too. Then this ugly, homeless guy born to a single teenage girl showed up, and literally within one generation thousands and thousands of people claimed that that guy from Nazareth was the Messiah.

If you’re not too sure, just imagine something with me. In Acts 2, 3,000 Jews are recorded as having believed in Jesus as Messiah, all in one day – and all at a time thousands of years before trains, telephones, or Twitter.

Do we actually realise how significant this is? Imagine if tomorrow’s newspapers reported 3,000 Jews in one town all at once saying that they were remaining orthodox Jews but that God had been born a man and had fulfilled all the messianic prophecies.

Jesus was far more extraordinary than we give him credit for.

You can read the original post here.

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Redefining marriage

English: Hindu marriage ceremony from a Rajput wedding. ‪Norsk (nynorsk)‬: Rajput-par i ein hinduistisk vigsel. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well, I’m writing this first thing this morning so I don’t know what the news will look like by the time this publishes, but judging by the media we may as well assume that same-sex marriage is going to be made legal, whether now or in a couple of years’ time when the subject is brought up again. Just a couple of thoughts, more a braindump than anything else.

To say that only about 1% of the population is gay, as a general rule talk about homosexuality seems to make far more headlines than, say, abortion, which is experienced first-hand by one in three women. Maybe the media’s priorities need looking at.

Just because the loudest voices say that ‘everyone supports gay marriage’ (to the point that it’s being worded as ‘opposing plans’ rather than ‘supporting current legislation’), it’s not the case that everyone does. A lot of people are in favour of it, a lot are against it, and a lot of people simply haven’t thought it through…but would say they’re for it because ‘everyone else is’. Maybe the media should be fairer and more objective.

A Christian’s view of marriage is not affected by the state’s view of marriage; Christian marriage is between one man and one woman as a reflection of Christ’s relationship with the church (e.g. see Ephesians 5). That’s clearly not the state’s view of marriage currently, and I don’t think the church really wants to force people to obey Christian law in the same way that Muslims might want Sharia law imposed. At the end of the day a gay couple wanting a piece of paper saying ‘married’ on it doesn’t have any impact on God’s view of that relationship.

Crying for equal rights is nonsensical as part of this debate; everyone currently has an equal right to marry someone of the opposite sex, and ultimately it isn’t a right, it’s a privilege.

And, while we’re on the point of equal rights, how about those people who would like to marry a family member, or an animal, or have several husbands/wives? How dare we restrict their ‘right to marry’? Perhaps you look at that sentence and think, ‘but that’s sick.’ Doesn’t that sound like society’s view of gay couples only a few decades ago?

Ultimately, and this is surely the most important point, what is marriage if not a reflection of Christ and the church? Two people promising their lives to one another? The divorce rate wouldn’t agree with that, civil partnership provides an alternative, many couples promise their lives to each other without ever marrying, and what actually changes at marriage for most couples nowadays? Remaining a virgin until your wedding day is the subject of jokes more than anything else now.

Oh, and by the way, saying ‘people objected to multiracial marriage before’ isn’t an argument for same-sex marriage any more than it’s an argument for bestiality.

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• Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby opposes Cameron over gay marriage (thetimes.co.uk)

Pesky time

The Interview (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There’s something frustrating about time, particularly the fact that it just doesn’t stop. It moves in one direction only at a consistent speed, with no regard for who it might be affecting. I have deadlines I have to make, and extra time would be very useful. I’ve made mistakes and had first-time experiences which I’d like to go back and undo, avoid, or re-experience that first time rush.

Time is something that’s out of my control. It directly affects me, I have no option other than to live in it, but I have no say in it.

Take a job interview, for example. You sit through this gruelling, intense experience which is going to determine whether or not you’re offered a new, enticing position, but you stumble over your words, can’t remember things and only realise once you get out that your collar was halfway up the entire time. Would you not spend the next couple of days doing not much more than reliving it, except this time in your head you get offered the job on the spot every time?

Nothing worse than 20-20 hindsight.

Except perhaps the completely unknown future; sitting through that interview without knowing what the result will be would be pretty bad too.

And then of course there’s the unknown present! I don’t know what’s happening outside of my sensory field, let alone in another city, country or planet! And my senses are pretty awful now I come to think about it, I need glasses to see anything more than vague colours and even then I miss an enormous amount of the information available to me.

It turns out I know barely anything about anything. My knowledge covers an insignificant amount of the tiniest fraction of available knowledge.

Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
(Isaiah 55:6-9)

 

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Evan Almighty

Cover of Evan Almighty (Widescreen Edition)

A couple of weeks ago I watched the film Evan Almighty again. A couple of things stood out to me.

Those moments throughout that suggest that God has a sense of humour are spot on. Christianity’s a relationship with a perfect Person, so it makes sense that he’s a funny guy.

Evan knew that God had spoken to him, but it still needed faith. Christianity isn’t blind faith in spite of the overwhelming evidence that disproves it, we Christians know that what we believe is true!

The conversation about God giving opportunities rather than fuzzy feelings is genius. If you ask God for patience does he magically make you patient, or give you opportunities to become more patient?

Of course Evan was laughed at, he looked and sounded like a madman! There’s no wonder that the prophets in the Old Testament, Jesus’ disciples and the early church, and Christians ever since have been ridiculed for what they believe, because of course it flies in the face of what the world believes! Sex only for marriage? How foolish!

It’s all about God’s grace. Every single individual in the movie has the chance to pause for a moment and think, ‘Perhaps Evan’s story is true,’ but no-one did. Evan’s desperate cries to the people who would be drowned to ‘get on the ark!’ because of one man’s sin is emotional, but the cry from Acts 4:12 is exactly the same: ‘there is salvation in no-one else!’ To actively choose to ignore that warning and head into eternity without Jesus as Saviour is to drink judgment upon oneself when the offer of a free ride is available.

Book review: Who Do You Think You Are? by Mark Driscoll

This book is essentially a sermon series in book form, walking through the book of Ephesians from start to finish. The subtitle is ‘Finding Your True Identity in Christ,’ which captures the theme that runs through the book, but there’s a lot more in it than simply a redefinition of identity.

I’ve read most of Mark Driscoll’s stuff, and my thoughts in the past have always been that his writing style seems so close to his preaching style that it doesn’t really lend itself to doctrine-focussed books (which is what most of his previous ones have been) – I read this expecting to like the content, but not be too enamored by the presentation. It turns out he’s struck a winning formula in this one.

Although perhaps not as funny as some of his other books, this is a solid, Driscoll-style presentation of Ephesians, taking a few verses and breaking them down in each chapter into a number of easy-to-digest points, with challenging and practical ways to apply the lessons learnt throughout. He’s a massive fan of footnotes and endnotes, which means that it’s easy to find out what Bible passage to look up to follow an idea through, or which book to buy next if you want to explore an idea.

In short, I don’t think I’m going too far to say this is Driscoll’s best book out there. It’s easy to read, thoroughly biblical, and contains an important message that people need to hear. With some insignificant reservations I’d recommend it to anyone, but particularly new Christians, and Christians who don’t think they need to read it. That might be you!

I got this book for free from BookSneeze.com in exchange for an honest review.

 

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Keep calm and carry on

Keep Calm and Carry On (Photo credit: Graeme Pow)

Arguably the most famous phrase never used in its intended context is ‘Keep calm and carry on’. It was designed for us in case the Nazis invaded Britain, which obviously never happened.

Hey. No comments about the Tories.

The idea behind it was that going on with normal life in the midst of chaos is just part of the British national character. Britain arguably takes most pride in acting like everything is normal when it clearly isn’t.

And that’s a bit of a barrier to the Gospel; the world clearly has problems, but keep calm and carry on. Let’s play some nice music while the Titanic sinks.

And this, surely, is why the Gospel unites us across backgrounds and cultures. We have to lay aside our national identity and take on a new identity in Christ. Sounds like Good News to me.

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Keeping the Feast: Metaphors for the Meal by Milton Brasher-Cunningham

Milton Brasher-Cunningham is a chef, a poet, a blogger, a Christian minister, and a lover of the Lord’s Supper. This book explains his multi-faceted relationship with the Communion meal, each chapter devoted to one particular aspect of the meal that we see reflected in Communion, like a family feast or a soup kitchen. Every chapter begins with a poem and concludes with a recipe, all of which sound very nice.

As you’d expect the writing style is far more poetic in nature than academic, which works perfectly with the subject matter. The impetus behind the book is to communicate a far broader perspective on Communion to a Christian’s ‘default’ understanding, and although this isn’t a deep theological study on the history of the Lord’s Supper it’s definitely a thought stirrer.

The best thing about this book for me is the way that it opens your mind without distracting from what’s really important. There are influences in here from Buddha, Hinduism and Christian Science, which might put the more conservative reader on edge, but the foundation of Communion on the Upper Room and Jesus’ sacrifice is not lost, where it very easily could have been.

I can honestly say that I won’t approach the Lord’s Table in the same way again after having read this book, so I’d be happy to recommend this to anyone.

I got this book for free from SpeakEasy in return for an honest review.

Sometimes cruel punishment is actually kindness

Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Breaking news everyone: I don’t know everything, and neither do you.

Ok, perhaps not that breaking. But it’s sort of funny, because we act as if we do know everything.

Take Genesis 3, for example. Adam and Eve listened to the serpent, disobeyed God, and ate the forbidden fruit.

Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24)

Seems a bit mean, doesn’t it? Seems a bit like God’s threatened! Doesn’t it? Adam and Eve made one little mistake, never having experienced a lie before, and they get kicked out of their lovely home.

Not fair.

But thank God it’s not fair.

Imagine what would have happened if God had let them stay; it wouldn’t have been long before they ended up eating from the tree of life. So sin would have still been in the world, but nobody would ever die. This sounds to me like the worst thing that could have ever happened to humanity.

So God protected us. He put a guard around the tree, and allowed man to remain mortal in his sin…until faith in Christ, where mortality is defeated along with sin: ‘Christ Jesus…abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel’! (2 Timothy 1:10)

Before the fall there was no sin and no death, but no knowledge of good or evil either. Very good, but not perfect.

Without Christ there is lots of sin, and lots of death; everyone sins, and everyone dies. Very bad. No hope, no joy, no peace.

But in Christ there is no sin, there is eternal life filled with joy, and more than that there is an appreciation for good and evil, resulting in true gratefulness for what he has done for us! Outstanding.