Doing Us Good In Spite of Ourselves

Every now and then you are going to have to put up with an abundance of Newton quotes on this blog; I read these things and they are such balm for my soul that I have to share them.  Consider this:

[The Lord] often takes a course for accomplishing his purposes directly contrary to what our narrow views would prescribe.  He wounds, in order to heal; kills, that he may make alive; casts down when he designs to raise; brings a death upon our feelings, wishes, and prospects, when he is about to give us the desire of our hearts.  The things he does to prove us; but he himself knows, and has determined before-hand, what he will do.  The proof indeed usually turns out to our shame.  Impatience and unbelief show their heads, and prompt us to suppose this and the other thing, yea perhaps all things, are against us; to question whether He be with us and for us, or not.  But it issues likewise in the praise of his goodness, when we find, that, [in spite of] all our unkind complaints and suspicions, he is still working wonderfully for us, causing light to shine out of darkness, and doing us good in defiance of ourselves.

Repeated Multiplied Goodness

I found this very encouraging.  I believe the gentleman that Newton is writing to has cancer.  Newton’s struggle is my own:

I hope you will find the Lord present at all times and in all places.  When it is so, we are at home every where; when it is otherwise, home is a prison, and abroad a wilderness.  I know what I ought to desire, and what I do desire.  I point him out to others as the all in all; I esteem him as such in my own judgment; but alas! my experience abounds with complains.  He is my sun; but clouds, and sometimes walls, intercept him from my view.  He is my strength; yet I am prone to lean upon reeds.  He is my friend; but on my part there is such coldness and ingratitude as no other friend could bear.  But still he is gracious, and shames me with repeated multiplied goodness.  O for a warmer heart, a more simple dependence, a more active zeal, a more sensible deliverance from the effects of this body of sin and death!  He helps me in my endeavors to keep the vineyards of others; but, alas! my own does not seem to flourish as some do around me.  However, though I cannot say I labor more abundantly than they all, I have reason to say, with thankfulness, By the grace of God, I am what I am.  My poor story would soon be much worse, did not he support, restrain, and watch over me every minute.  (Newton’s Works, Volume 1, 626)

Quick Review of Welcome to the Story by Stephen J. Nichols

In his book Disciple: Getting Your Identity From Jesus Bill Clem shares an analogy where he compares three drama students starring in a play they perform in their garage with a drama student auditioning for a small part in a Broadway play in New York.  The difference between the two scenarios is the one student even with a walk-on part being part of something huge.  The other students are delusional “believing their vision of the way things could be is the way things actually are”.  He compares this analogy to the difference between inviting God into our little stories or being offered whatever role in God’s epic unfolding drama.  Clem says,

Our personal story is actually a distortion of reality and a desire for significance.  God’s story is reality, and significance can be ours with even a walk-on bit part, because pleasing and glorifying the Creator is the most significant experience offered to created beings.  (Clem, Disciple, 15)

It’s not only our personal stories that can be distortions of reality.  Our reading and understanding of Scripture can suffer from the same distortion.  Yes, God’s story is about us.  It is about our creation, fall, redemption, and restoration.  but that is our part in the story.  More than our story the Bible is the story of God and we play bit-part’s in it. 

Stephen J. Nichols has written Welcome to the Story with the hopes of inviting readers to “enter in, to participate in, the story of the Bible”.  Nichols traces the Bible’s plotline of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration, then he starts teaching a street-level hermeneutics course. 

That’s really what this book is: a street-level hermeneutics course.  I have been looking for this book for quite some time.  I love Goldsworthy’s books outlining God’s story.  I found a good amount of help from Vaughn Roberts’ God’s Big Picture.  I found Dr. Wellum’s hermeneutics class immensely helpful.  Furthermore, works like Stephen Dempster’s Dominion and Dynasty and Christopher Wright’s The Mission of God helped to open my eyes to seeing the big picture of God’s story.  But up until this book by Nichols nothing seemed to translate into the pew. 

Now I finally have something that I can give curious members of my church.  Now there is something that we could use as a small group study to teach the storyline of the Bible in an engaging way.  Now there is something that I can use as an introduction to biblical theology with young men that I train for ministry. 

I share Tom Schreiner’s enthusiasm for the book when he says,

Nichols has written a delightful and inviting book on how to understand and live out the Bible.  The storyline of Scripture is sketched in, and the book is full of wise advice on how to read and live out what God requires.  I recommend the book with enthusiasm.

There is enough in here to teach a seminary level course but it’s written in such a way that the average Bible reader would be able to understand the concepts.  As I read through the book I found myself engaged, helped, and at the end I finally realized what Nichols had done.  I thought to myself after finishing the book, “He just taught a hermeneutics course, oh my goodness, how did he do that?!?!” 

This book is very helpful.  No matter what your level of Bible reading this book belongs in your library.  For only 10.81 you can treat yourself to an engaging seminary course that you won’t even notice is a seminary course.  Buy it today!

Muscular Faith Giveaway

I just reviewed this book and I want to give it away to somebody.

Here are the rules.  I’m not looking to give this away to somebody that just wants to read it for the heck of it or to pad a library.  I want to give this to somebody that is either A) going to give it away to somebody that needs it or B) convinces me that they need it. 

So here is how you win this book.  Read the review and then be the first one that meets one of those criteria.  You can either leave a comment here or simply email me at

         mike AT fbjasper DOT org

First come first serve.

Quick Review of Muscular Faith by Ben Patterson

Confession time…

My stomach usually starts a minor Civil War against my other greater sensibilities whenever I see a Christian book title like this one.  There are quite a few “be a man” books out there.  Some are good.  Most are more about how to be Rocky Balboa than a follower of Jesus.  Books with titles like Muscular Faith are usually heavy on the muscles and lax on the faith. 

It’s the former category—the Rocky Balboa type—that I assumed this book would fall under.  It’s starts with a quote from C.S. Lewis (an apt theologian but one that those "warrior” types like to quote) and a translation from The Message.  So, I braced myself for what would be an agonizing 260 pages of my palm constantly hitting my face. 

Somewhere in the first fifty pages or so my opinion radically changed.  Rather than assuming that this was one of those theologically-weak testosterone-filled diatribe’s I soon discovered that this guy was solid.  Suddenly I realized that the “fight” and the “muscular faith” that this guy was calling for is none other than the faith once for all delivered to the saints. 

This book became one worth recommending.  Once I discovered that this book would be worth recommending my next task would be to find out who needs this book.  And that proves a tough task.  I have to answer two questions, “what is this book claiming?” and “who would benefit from it?”. 

What is the book about?

Muscular Faith is a relatively lengthy book but it reads quickly.  It is filled with engaging stories and simple points.  For 260 pages Patterson gives what seems to be an introduction to the gospel and how to live out the Christian faith.  But it’s not just any old introduction to the Christian faith; it reads more like a battle plan than a theology text book.  Patterson is real about the wounds that come from following Jesus.  I appreciate that.

As near as I can tell his point is to explain the Christian faith and how to live out what Christ has purchased in a way that debunks the lazy and superficial faith of many that merely profess Christ. 

Who would benefit from it?

It seems to me that Patterson’s main audience is professing Christians, probably college guys that are more passionate about the next Halo tournament than living for Jesus.  It’s probably not going to stir up someone that reads Puritans but it may be the next step for teenagers raised on event-driven and Spam-eating youth groups. 

I could see this book appealing to and assisting college men in their walk with Jesus.  It may even be something to give to an unbeliever that thinks the Christian faith is mostly for purple-haired women and effeminate dudes. 

Conclusion

I kind of wish that this book were a little less lengthy.  It’s kind of like trying to convince an 80 pound junior high kid that he needs to lift weights by throwing him into a workout with the professional wrestlers.  He’s probably wondering if he can even bench press the bar and these guys are throwing on 45’s just to get him started. 

If you are trying to “build up their spiritual muscles” as the back of the book claims then perhaps you shouldn’t do it with a 260 page book.  Yes, it reads quickly but I’d rather see a shorter book that makes much the same arguments but then refers in a few places to other resources.  

This book is probably best for the guy that has been lifting weights for awhile but he’s kind of a nancy and doesn’t want to push himself any further.  He’s comfortable with his bench press so there’s really no need getting any stronger.  In other words this book is probably not the first Christian book you want your college student to read—but it might be a “raise the bar” challenge to someone that has already read a few books and is pretty confident in his stagnant Christianity. 

If you purchase this book and give it to someone I’d like to know what you think.  Did other people find it helpful?  If so, who?  If you know someone that can benefit from this book give me an email or leave a comment and I’ll send it to you free of charge…only one rule though…you HAVE to give it away, or convince me you need it.  First come first serve.

You can buy it for 11.69 or 9.99 on your Kindle.