My Top Three Book are::
Well first, an explanation. There are many good books. The three that have made my list are all short books. Read into that whatever you want. Also, note that I read little, if any fiction. So here is the list
3. The Prodigal God, by Tim Keller. This is only book on the list that is not written by a dead guy. Books by dead people have stood the test of time. This book however makes the cut because of its gospel centeredness and how it attacks the religious. This is a great book and everyone should read it.
2. The Pursuit of God, by A W Tozer. This is the book that we give away to those who are baptized at North Church. It is short and gets to the heart of following God.
1. Power Through Prayer, by E M Bounds. I like to give away my book after I read them. In fact, the books listed above are not on my shelf because I have loaned/given them away. But not his one. This one is read yearly and consulted about once a month. The sign of a great book is that you read it often and you can't read more than a few pages without putting it down and praying or worshipping or just deeply reflecting on the content of the book. This is what Power Through Prayer is.
Is Jesus picking on you?
I am working on the third message in the Images of Jesus series. In the verses of chapter 2 of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus begins to pick on the religious people. They are called scribes in these verses.
Most of the time when I read about Jesus picking on the religious people, I think that he is talking about the blue haired ladies and the grumpy old men who tell you not to run in church. Or the people at my daughter's Christian school that make up the dress code that says no flip flops or stitching on jeans and shirts must have a collar, as if a collar is going to save my daughter from hell or keep a 2nd grade boy from lusting after her.
But if I allow myself to think clearly, he is talking about me. I am a religious person. I connect with the Pharisees and scribes a lot more than I readily admit. Come join us this week and hear Jesus picking on religious people and watch him start a life friendship with a murdering cheat.
Most of the time when I read about Jesus picking on the religious people, I think that he is talking about the blue haired ladies and the grumpy old men who tell you not to run in church. Or the people at my daughter's Christian school that make up the dress code that says no flip flops or stitching on jeans and shirts must have a collar, as if a collar is going to save my daughter from hell or keep a 2nd grade boy from lusting after her.
But if I allow myself to think clearly, he is talking about me. I am a religious person. I connect with the Pharisees and scribes a lot more than I readily admit. Come join us this week and hear Jesus picking on religious people and watch him start a life friendship with a murdering cheat.
Yeah, it's kinda like that
Lost is a TV show that it seems everyone wants to know about and watch. Some like it, some are confused by it, some love it and pattern their lives around it, some hate it, some think it is very strange, some believe it is unbelievable. Most of those things you can say about Jesus...some love him, some are confused by him, some pattern their lives around him etc.
We begin our series on the book of Mark this week and it is kind of like Lost and like this clip (click on the title of this blog post for a youtube clip). The last few minutes of the clip appear to be some sort of commercial, please pardon that.
This clip about Lost is getting a lot of information out quickly. The intent is to catch you up on what you need to know to know what in the world is going on.
The book of Mark is a series of orchestrated "clips" on the life of Christ written in a very quick moving fashion. Many of the verses in Mark start with the word "and". This is a literary device to show the urgency of the writer. The book is not intended to show great details, just get you what you need to know about Jesus.
We start this week, February 8th at 5:00 at 845 Dunn Road with our series investigating the life of Jesus. You can join us there or follow on the web with our podcast link from northchurchstl.com. There is also a companion discussion group that will meet in homes across the area. More info about those groups can be found at northchurchstl.com as well.
We begin our series on the book of Mark this week and it is kind of like Lost and like this clip (click on the title of this blog post for a youtube clip). The last few minutes of the clip appear to be some sort of commercial, please pardon that.
This clip about Lost is getting a lot of information out quickly. The intent is to catch you up on what you need to know to know what in the world is going on.
The book of Mark is a series of orchestrated "clips" on the life of Christ written in a very quick moving fashion. Many of the verses in Mark start with the word "and". This is a literary device to show the urgency of the writer. The book is not intended to show great details, just get you what you need to know about Jesus.
We start this week, February 8th at 5:00 at 845 Dunn Road with our series investigating the life of Jesus. You can join us there or follow on the web with our podcast link from northchurchstl.com. There is also a companion discussion group that will meet in homes across the area. More info about those groups can be found at northchurchstl.com as well.
Images of Jesus
We are begining a new series on February 8th called Images of Jesus from the gospel of Mark. Aristotle said, "The soul never thinks without a picture." It is the truth of this statements that motivates us to begin this new series from the gospel of Mark.
The style of the book is unlike the other gospels. It is not a seamless story. Instead it is a collection of clips of the life of Jesus. It is a lot like walking through a museum where you might see artifacts or photos or newspaper clippings from historical events. The point of any museum is to show the life of someone or something from history.
The gospel is written during the time of of Nero's rule of the Roman Empire. At the time Nero was killing Christians and using them as human torches to provide light and entertainment for his night time parties. In the time of it's writing, the gospel of Mark is of great need for the Christians in Rome. It's focus on Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God give endurance to the Christian in and around Rome in the face of this great oppression.
Mark never met Jesus face to face, but he uses the apostle Peter as his source. Mark was a helper to Peter during Peter's work after Jesus left the earth. In the Biblical accounts of the life of Jesus, no humans were closer to Him than Peter. Mark's gospel is the product of following peter and listening to him tell stories of the man Jesus of Nazareth.
Join us at 5 at North County Christian School or on our podcast starting Sunday Feb. 8.
The style of the book is unlike the other gospels. It is not a seamless story. Instead it is a collection of clips of the life of Jesus. It is a lot like walking through a museum where you might see artifacts or photos or newspaper clippings from historical events. The point of any museum is to show the life of someone or something from history.
The gospel is written during the time of of Nero's rule of the Roman Empire. At the time Nero was killing Christians and using them as human torches to provide light and entertainment for his night time parties. In the time of it's writing, the gospel of Mark is of great need for the Christians in Rome. It's focus on Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God give endurance to the Christian in and around Rome in the face of this great oppression.
Mark never met Jesus face to face, but he uses the apostle Peter as his source. Mark was a helper to Peter during Peter's work after Jesus left the earth. In the Biblical accounts of the life of Jesus, no humans were closer to Him than Peter. Mark's gospel is the product of following peter and listening to him tell stories of the man Jesus of Nazareth.
Join us at 5 at North County Christian School or on our podcast starting Sunday Feb. 8.
Servitude
I have just finished studying through the book of Mark in very broad survey sort of way for the purpose of having clear direction for our new series on the book.
There are many big themes that I have seen and hope to bring out. One of those themes is how Jesus was always serving. This is a clue we can take from Jesus as we lead in the ways that God has called us to lead.
If you are reading this, chances are you know that the major theme of my life and my church is to emphasize and teach on the importance of Biblical marriages, and for men to rise up and lead their families well. So many times we misunderstand what it means to lead our wives. We see leadership as a strong hand. We can take an attitude that says, "this is how it is going to be, I am the leader".
There is an old saying that goes something like this..."The sexiest thing a man can do is wash the dishes." My wife has confirmed this saying, and I can confirm through experience that she actually believes that to be true. But do not lose the Biblical truth in there. When we serve we bring out our wives. My wife knows that I love her most when I am serving her.
The same principle applies to my kids and to the people that call North Church home. They all feel loved when I am serving them. Find the areas in your life where God has made you a leader, then act like Jesus to them and serve them.
There are many big themes that I have seen and hope to bring out. One of those themes is how Jesus was always serving. This is a clue we can take from Jesus as we lead in the ways that God has called us to lead.
If you are reading this, chances are you know that the major theme of my life and my church is to emphasize and teach on the importance of Biblical marriages, and for men to rise up and lead their families well. So many times we misunderstand what it means to lead our wives. We see leadership as a strong hand. We can take an attitude that says, "this is how it is going to be, I am the leader".
There is an old saying that goes something like this..."The sexiest thing a man can do is wash the dishes." My wife has confirmed this saying, and I can confirm through experience that she actually believes that to be true. But do not lose the Biblical truth in there. When we serve we bring out our wives. My wife knows that I love her most when I am serving her.
The same principle applies to my kids and to the people that call North Church home. They all feel loved when I am serving them. Find the areas in your life where God has made you a leader, then act like Jesus to them and serve them.
Images of Jesus
On February 8 we will being a new series called Images of Jesus. In it we will look at histories most influential figure. Whatever you think about Jesus, his legacy is and name are more widespread than any other figure in history.
Mark is the author the gospel. Mark never met Jesus face to face, but he uses the apostle Peter as his source. In the Biblical accounts of the life of Jesus, there are none closer to him than Peter. Of all those who knew Jesus none knew him better than Peter. Mark's gospel is the product of following Peter and listening to him tell stories of the man Jesus.
"The soul never thinks without a picture" -Aristotle
This is at the heart of our motivation for this series as we attempt to connect with the things that Jesus did.
Mark is the author the gospel. Mark never met Jesus face to face, but he uses the apostle Peter as his source. In the Biblical accounts of the life of Jesus, there are none closer to him than Peter. Of all those who knew Jesus none knew him better than Peter. Mark's gospel is the product of following Peter and listening to him tell stories of the man Jesus.
"The soul never thinks without a picture" -Aristotle
This is at the heart of our motivation for this series as we attempt to connect with the things that Jesus did.
Something from my brain
I have been reminded a lot lately of a couple of phrases. “Brokenness always precedes redemption” and “In the midst of brokenness look to the coming redemption.” The truth of this is astounding and we must grab onto it.
“See the bird with a leaf in her mouth, after the flood all the colors came out. It was a beautiful day, don’t let it get away.” -Bono from “A Beautiful Day”
Even in the midst of the flood, do not let the day that all the colors will come out get away. It is coming.
I have been over come by this passage for about a week now. It is a familiar passage. Those are the most dangerous passages, because we think that we know them well. We think that we have learned all that they can say to our souls. We are wrong if we think that. So read this passage and read it slow. Read it really slow. Stop on one word if it attacks your heart. Live at that one word all day, or all week.
1Co 13:4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
1Co 13:5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
1Co 13:6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
1Co 13:7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
These words cut me to core. There are four people/groups of people that I want to love. The first is God. The second is my bride. The third is the people in my church. The last is everyone else.
I love none of them in this way. Yet my God loves me with all these attributes. He does so in spite of me.
“See the bird with a leaf in her mouth, after the flood all the colors came out. It was a beautiful day, don’t let it get away.” -Bono from “A Beautiful Day”
Even in the midst of the flood, do not let the day that all the colors will come out get away. It is coming.
I have been over come by this passage for about a week now. It is a familiar passage. Those are the most dangerous passages, because we think that we know them well. We think that we have learned all that they can say to our souls. We are wrong if we think that. So read this passage and read it slow. Read it really slow. Stop on one word if it attacks your heart. Live at that one word all day, or all week.
1Co 13:4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
1Co 13:5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
1Co 13:6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
1Co 13:7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
These words cut me to core. There are four people/groups of people that I want to love. The first is God. The second is my bride. The third is the people in my church. The last is everyone else.
I love none of them in this way. Yet my God loves me with all these attributes. He does so in spite of me.
