The Bookends Of The Christian Life

(Brief explanatory note- with the release of my new book, You Are The Treasure That I Seek, my publisher thought it would be wise to get my 'blog presence' back on the web. So...here I go again!)

A common occurrence in my pastoral ministry is reading a great book then immediately 'pushing' it on my congregation. Often such an approach has resulted badly. Either the book is too long, too academic, too much effort for my people to digest. I read The Bookends, however, and had a hunch that my church would feel differently this time. I was right! (That happens every once in a while)

Bridges and Bevington teamed up last year to write The Great Exchange- another wonderful book, but one of those books that many busy lay people will find a bit too much to bite off. But bookends is a succinct, wonderfully written little book that my church has just loved. Their premise is simple- The Christian life must be balanced by two critical truths: 1) The Righteousness of Jesus Christ and 2) The Power Of The Holy Spirit. To put it simply: Who We Are in Christ and What We Do For Christ.

The first half of the book is devoted to the wonderful truth that Christians stand on the imputed righteousness (the right standing with God) of Jesus. This section is crystal clear and practically applied.

The second section carefully unpacks the Bible's teaching on our responsibility as believers to live out the truths of the first section- how we live in light of our right standing with God. As always, Bridges and Bevington do a wonderful job of walking the tight rope between legalism and license as they highlight the Holy Spirit's enabling power in the Christian's everyday life.

I have always appreciated Bridges' clear and thorough approach to applying doctrine to daily living. This book is a must read anyone who wants to understand the foundational truths of the Christian life. It is clear, accessible and exceptionally practical.

Farewell My Friends!

I have finally come to the conclusion- I AM UNDOUBTEDLY THE WORLD'S WORST BLOGGER! But I have certainly appreciated the comments of those who have stopped by in the last year or so. Still- the king of all blogs is Tim Challies' excellent website, and I'd encourage you to visit it daily as I do. Also, my good buddy Don Sands has a great blog that you can check out. He is a great brother in Christ.

I'm going to go back and just enjoy reading blogs, drinking coffee, and dreaming about how cool it would be do to a consistent blog of my own. I can keep dreaming at least.

As I leave the blogosphere there are 2 cool updates that I can leave you with...

1) Lisa and I are expecting our fourth child in January- they tell us it is a girl! That will make the girls the bookends and the boys in the middle!

2) A 5-year process has come to fruition with the publication of my first book, due out in April of 2009. Discovery House Publishers is taking quite a risk on a no-name author with a small church, but they have been a wonderful outfit to work with. The amazon posting is standard at this point- not much fanfare- just something that automatically generates from the publisher. Anyway- hope that God will use it for His glory in the church!

Thanks for you all of your encouragement, and I look forward to interacting with you IN PERSON (can you do that in the internet age?) in the future.

Blessings

Greg

The Saddleback Forum

I was all fired up last night to end my blog drought with an entry on the now famous "Saddleback Civil Forum" hosted by the equally famous Pastor Rick Warren this past Saturday. He interviewed both Barack Obaman and John McCain in a very unique context- one of the largest evangelical churches in America.

I had lots of thoughts on this event, and then after visited Al Mohler's blog this morning, I thought, "Man, when will I EVER have an original thought? Or at least an unoriginal thought that's maybe a third as well written?"

Well, I guess I won't. But Al Mohler is one of the most brilliant commentators on faith and culture out there today- and his stuff is free by the way!

You can read Mohler's musings on the Saddleback forum here. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Hopefully, I'll get my final "The Shack" video posted sometime before Jesus returns. Don't think they'll be much interest after!

The Shack Pt. 3-B- Sin, Wrath and the Cross

Had to do it in 2 parts...

Part 1



Part 2

The Shack Pt. 3: Is It Biblical?

Finally, we make our way to the most important question. Call this "part A" of at least an A-C series. As always I look forward to any comments, questions or snide remarks- yes- I even dig snide remarks.

The Shack Pt. 2: Why Is The Book So Appealing?

Well, I've tried and tried to keep these little videos short- but it's hard to do a substantive review and keep it at the "sound-bite" level. In some ways, this one is both longer than I would like it to be and shorter than I would like it to be. But you be the judge. Let me know your thoughts as you hear my ramblings...

The Shack Review Part 1- Is It Good Writing?

In my ever-growing desire to be more "tech savvy," I offer my first video review of William P. Young's mega-bestseller The Shack. I have decided to do this in at least three parts:

Part 1: Is The Shack Good Writing?

Part 2: Why Is The Shack So Appealing?

Part 3: Is The Shack Biblically And Theologically Sound?

So with no further introduction, check out the video below and let me know what you think. (Man, it's going to take awhile for me not to feel like a total dufus staring into my little Mac video recorder- bear with me until I don't feel so awkward- ha!)