Well, every so often, I will review a book and share my thoughts on it (I am a part of the Thomas Nelson book reviewing, AKA BookSneeze....(Don't ask! I don't know! =D) Without further ado, here is my thoughts on "Where is God?" by Dr. John Towsend:
In the face of the many troubles people face, many people are asking, "Where is God in this?" It seems to be our typical human reaction. Dr. John Townsend, in his book, "Where is God?", addresses this question, and assures his readers that God doesn't leave us.
Overall, the premise of the book is good. His last chapter has some very practical suggestions that are helpful in dealing with problems in life. God is faithful, and is in control during our hard times. Dr. Townsend doesn't deny that even when we follow God, there will be troubles, sometimes to show His glory (Like Job).
However, I had several concerns. In the beginning of the book, as he set up his thoughts and points, one of his points which had an emphasis all throughout the book is that God is for you. The way he treats this all throughout the book seems to slightly diminish God. Yes, God is in control all the time, but He isn't about our good. He is about His glory. That is why we were made, why we exist, why we were saved, and why we go through hard times: Because it is all for His glory. Saying that God is for me ultimately makes for a very humanistic theology, in which the end of all is our happiness. Instead, the end of all is God and His glory. So this was a concern. I was also sort of put off by his whole approach in writing the book. It seemed to be more of a psychological discourse than a study into God and His purposes in troubles. Much of modern psychology is rooted in humanist thinking and I suspect that this had an influence in this book.
I received this book to review from Thomas Nelson (http://www.thomasnelson.com)
For Christ's Glory!
Thoughts and musings on following Christ, becoming a Warrior Poet, and living as a Disciple.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Living as a Man of God
"18Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith." 1 Timothy 1:18-19 (NIV)
As I had mentioned in my previous post, I am reading through 1 Timothy, and right after the passage I just blogged on was another passage that really stood out to me as I studied it. In these few verses, Paul shares a bit of his heart, and a glimpse of what it means to be a man of God as he instructs Timothy. Timothy was called to be a man of God, and Paul gives hims instruction on how to live. Let's look to see what God has to say...
First of all, Paul tells Timothy to fight the good fight. It is important to remember that we are in a war. We need to stand and fight for our King! As Paul instructed the Ephesians, we need to put on the full armor of God so we can stand. We need to be devoted to prayer, the great weapon with which we can fight and bring down strongholds. James tells us that the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. We need to stand and fight the good fight, so we, like Paul, when we come to the end, we can say that we fought the good fight, that we finished the race.
Next, Paul tells Timothy to hold on to faith. We need to be faithful, have faith in God and His promises. The writer of Hebrews tells us that faith is being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we do not see. It is not doubt, in any form. Faith believes God, believes His promises, and holds to it without wavering. Faith overcomes. Faith empowers us to stand. Those described in Hebrews 11 are great examples We ought to hold to Faith, for we have a great and glorious hope. Faith trusts God and doesn't back down.
Thirdly, Paul instructs Timothy to hold to a good conscience. What we do and say affects us. The more we wallow in sin, the more it deadens us and renders us ineffective. God's forgiveness is freely available to those who repent, but there are always consequences for sin. By having a good conscience, not being stained by sin, we can be effective for Christ.
Some, however, Paul says, have rejected these and in so doing have shipwrecked their faith. They have lost the faith, have fallen away. Simply put, they fell, with great damage to themselves. These things that Paul gives are in essence, the living out of our faith. Without them our faith is dead and useless- not saying that works save, but rather that they are evidence of Faith. It is important that we live out our faith, that we stand up and be counted as men (and women) for God.
I think we can agree that in this day, we need men who will stand, men of God who live out their faith. I hope that we all take a few lessons from these instructions from Paul, as the Spirit gave him. May we live as men of God!
For Christ's Glory!
As I had mentioned in my previous post, I am reading through 1 Timothy, and right after the passage I just blogged on was another passage that really stood out to me as I studied it. In these few verses, Paul shares a bit of his heart, and a glimpse of what it means to be a man of God as he instructs Timothy. Timothy was called to be a man of God, and Paul gives hims instruction on how to live. Let's look to see what God has to say...
First of all, Paul tells Timothy to fight the good fight. It is important to remember that we are in a war. We need to stand and fight for our King! As Paul instructed the Ephesians, we need to put on the full armor of God so we can stand. We need to be devoted to prayer, the great weapon with which we can fight and bring down strongholds. James tells us that the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. We need to stand and fight the good fight, so we, like Paul, when we come to the end, we can say that we fought the good fight, that we finished the race.
Next, Paul tells Timothy to hold on to faith. We need to be faithful, have faith in God and His promises. The writer of Hebrews tells us that faith is being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we do not see. It is not doubt, in any form. Faith believes God, believes His promises, and holds to it without wavering. Faith overcomes. Faith empowers us to stand. Those described in Hebrews 11 are great examples We ought to hold to Faith, for we have a great and glorious hope. Faith trusts God and doesn't back down.
Thirdly, Paul instructs Timothy to hold to a good conscience. What we do and say affects us. The more we wallow in sin, the more it deadens us and renders us ineffective. God's forgiveness is freely available to those who repent, but there are always consequences for sin. By having a good conscience, not being stained by sin, we can be effective for Christ.
Some, however, Paul says, have rejected these and in so doing have shipwrecked their faith. They have lost the faith, have fallen away. Simply put, they fell, with great damage to themselves. These things that Paul gives are in essence, the living out of our faith. Without them our faith is dead and useless- not saying that works save, but rather that they are evidence of Faith. It is important that we live out our faith, that we stand up and be counted as men (and women) for God.
I think we can agree that in this day, we need men who will stand, men of God who live out their faith. I hope that we all take a few lessons from these instructions from Paul, as the Spirit gave him. May we live as men of God!
For Christ's Glory!
Friday, May 21, 2010
A Trustworthy Saying...
"15Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Timothy 1:15-17 (NIV)
Lately, I have been reading through 1 Timothy. I just finished Chapter 1 yesterday. (I have been working through it since last Saturday. The more time I have been spending with God, the richer His Word becomes and the more I find in each verse...so much so that I can only get through a few verses a day! His Word is so rich!) This particular passage has stuck out to me, particularly as I have been praying and meditating over it, letting it invade my being. Let's look into this passage, and see what God has to say.
So what is this trustworthy saying? Why does it deserve full acceptance? This great and trustworthy saying deserves full acceptance because it is good news to all who are perishing: Christ Jesus came into the world (Which would be Earth-shattering news enough. The fact that God, the creator of all, Who is above all, Who is perfect, would come into a world that is chained in sin, to a people who are not perfect, who are rebellious and sinful, to a place of suffering and death and pain ~ That is unthinkable in itself! That God would even stoop to Earth to be with us, and to put on human flesh, to "empty" Himself and live among us, is unbelievable news as it is. But it gets better) He came into the world to save sinners. All of us, no matter what we have done, He has come so we might have life. This "saying" deserves full acceptance! This is the greatest news to ever come our way. We should shout it from the rooftops, tell everyone we meet that Christ Jesus came to the Earth as one if us to save sinners! What a blessed hope!
However, this news seems to barely move us. Why are we so apathetic to this? Why does this news seem old and obvious? Why doesn't it grip us? As I was praying and meditating over this, I realized that we can get so excited on good news like our favorite team winning the Superbowl, or we got that raise that we always wanted, or that new sports car, or we just saw the greatest movie ever. And yet, when we get to the greatest news of all, we sort of shrug and and acknowledge that He saved us. Why aren't we overwhelmed by the implications of this truth? When you compare the great Good News of Christ with the things we get excited with, it is like comparing a nuclear explosion, and a tiny firecracker.
I imagine that most of us have been told that Christ died to save us, and we said "the sinner's prayer" but how many of us realize what He did for us? We approach the greatest day in the history of the universe with such flippancy. The fact that He made Himself nothing, taking on the nature of a servant, and came to Earth, and then died, taking our sin on Him to save us so we could be with Him forever~ this ought to transform our lives! He did and gave so much! And we give Him so little. We treat the greatest day in history as just another day. The way we live shows that we really don't care. We haven't let this glorious Gospel impact our hearts and our minds. We sure can talk a good talk, but our lives don't show the glorious Gospel we halfheartedly proclaim. We honor Him with our words but our hearts are far from Him. We need to realize how great this Good News is and let it Transform us!
In View of such a great and trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance, we ought to join Paul by saying: "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17, NIV)
For Christ's Glory!
Lately, I have been reading through 1 Timothy. I just finished Chapter 1 yesterday. (I have been working through it since last Saturday. The more time I have been spending with God, the richer His Word becomes and the more I find in each verse...so much so that I can only get through a few verses a day! His Word is so rich!) This particular passage has stuck out to me, particularly as I have been praying and meditating over it, letting it invade my being. Let's look into this passage, and see what God has to say.
So what is this trustworthy saying? Why does it deserve full acceptance? This great and trustworthy saying deserves full acceptance because it is good news to all who are perishing: Christ Jesus came into the world (Which would be Earth-shattering news enough. The fact that God, the creator of all, Who is above all, Who is perfect, would come into a world that is chained in sin, to a people who are not perfect, who are rebellious and sinful, to a place of suffering and death and pain ~ That is unthinkable in itself! That God would even stoop to Earth to be with us, and to put on human flesh, to "empty" Himself and live among us, is unbelievable news as it is. But it gets better) He came into the world to save sinners. All of us, no matter what we have done, He has come so we might have life. This "saying" deserves full acceptance! This is the greatest news to ever come our way. We should shout it from the rooftops, tell everyone we meet that Christ Jesus came to the Earth as one if us to save sinners! What a blessed hope!
However, this news seems to barely move us. Why are we so apathetic to this? Why does this news seem old and obvious? Why doesn't it grip us? As I was praying and meditating over this, I realized that we can get so excited on good news like our favorite team winning the Superbowl, or we got that raise that we always wanted, or that new sports car, or we just saw the greatest movie ever. And yet, when we get to the greatest news of all, we sort of shrug and and acknowledge that He saved us. Why aren't we overwhelmed by the implications of this truth? When you compare the great Good News of Christ with the things we get excited with, it is like comparing a nuclear explosion, and a tiny firecracker.
I imagine that most of us have been told that Christ died to save us, and we said "the sinner's prayer" but how many of us realize what He did for us? We approach the greatest day in the history of the universe with such flippancy. The fact that He made Himself nothing, taking on the nature of a servant, and came to Earth, and then died, taking our sin on Him to save us so we could be with Him forever~ this ought to transform our lives! He did and gave so much! And we give Him so little. We treat the greatest day in history as just another day. The way we live shows that we really don't care. We haven't let this glorious Gospel impact our hearts and our minds. We sure can talk a good talk, but our lives don't show the glorious Gospel we halfheartedly proclaim. We honor Him with our words but our hearts are far from Him. We need to realize how great this Good News is and let it Transform us!
In View of such a great and trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance, we ought to join Paul by saying: "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17, NIV)
For Christ's Glory!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Back from School
Well, I am back again. It has been a long semester, and I am glad to be back home. God has shown me a lot through my quiet times, and through talking with others this past semester, so expect quite a few posts in the next couple days!
In less than two weeks from today, I will be heading of to Summer camp at Camp Joy-El. I am very excited. I know God will do great things during this summer. Would you consider joining me in prayer for this summer? Without prayer, our efforts will be meaningless. (More on that later!)
I hope to share with you during theses next few weeks some of what God has been showing me and challenge you to grow closer to God. Until then!
For Christ's Glory!
In less than two weeks from today, I will be heading of to Summer camp at Camp Joy-El. I am very excited. I know God will do great things during this summer. Would you consider joining me in prayer for this summer? Without prayer, our efforts will be meaningless. (More on that later!)
I hope to share with you during theses next few weeks some of what God has been showing me and challenge you to grow closer to God. Until then!
For Christ's Glory!
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