Book Review: The Jesus Mission

The Jesus Mission by Steven K. Scott is an excellent read from the author of The Greatest Words Ever Spoken.

The idea of the book is that Jesus came to earth and fulfilled 27 missions during His three-year ministry. In turn, he left us with four missions, not just the “Great Commission.”

Scott examines the true Salvation of a Believer as well stating that it is not just a prayer but truly following Christ, His commands, and His ways.

The book is an easy read and most anyone would be able to understand the simple format and style of writing. The stories will captivate you, some will make you laugh, others will make you say “wow” and others will make you cry.

No matter where you are in your walk with Christ this book will encourage, challenge, and strengthen you to become more like Christ, and to become a true follower of Him.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Gaining Wisdom

I have recently been in a discussion about a particular Study Bible.  One of the other scholars made the comment that all contributors must have a PH.D. after their name.  I argued that this is absurd.  Have we come to rely so heavily on academia that we forget the work of the Spirit?

James 1:5 says that if you lack wisdom you may request it from God.

The word wisdom in this verse is the Greek word σοφία (sophia).  Sophia has the meaning of:

the capacity to understand and, as a result, to act wisely—‘to be prudent, wisdom.

Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (383). New York: United Bible Societies.

Is it not possible that someone without a PH.D. behind their name could also be able to “rightly divide the Word of Truth?”  (2 Tim. 2:15)

Stick Together

After Chrsit had left the earth, His Apostles were responsible with the charge to keep the faith and to make new disciples.  As this process began there was much opposition to the cause.

Today, many of us do not face persecution, but the sad fact is that a lot of us of gone "Lone Wolf."  We have decided that we have Jesus and He is all we need.  Unfortunately this is not what the Bible teaches, nor is it what the early church practiced.

Acts 2:42 shows that they continued (after receiving the Holy Spirit) to meet together to study the Word, and have fellowship.  Hebrews 10:24-25 shows us that not only are we to continue to meet, we are to build one another up and help each other in our daily walk.

Biblical Observances: What I Believe

Biblical Observances: What I Believe:

Just in case you were wondering about my Doctrinal Statement.

Don't Worry

I work at a job that is commission based in pay.  This month I am not doing so well and as I face month-end tomorrow, I am wondering if I am going to make it.

I constantly find myself worrying if I am going to make the cut and be able to make the bills.

Christ addressed this in His Sermon on the Mount.  Matthew 6:25-34 encourages us to not worry about this life.  God has promised to take care of us, we need to rely on Him and Him alone.  Rather, we should be more worried about Kingdom work and God will take care of the Earth work.  He has promised that he will supply our needs. (Philippians 4:19)

The Jesus Inquest by Charles Foster

The Jesus Inquest by Charles Foster was an excellent case for, and against the resurrection of Christ. 

The book felt very much as if you were reading articles of evidence for a court case.  The evidence on both sides is very detailed and extremely deep in content.  Just looking at the footnotes alone you know that Foster did an amazing amount of research for the book.

What was most pleasing about the book is that, though very technical, anyone would be able to read and understand it with ease.  Many scientific and Theological terms are introduced but explained very well.

I have to give The Jesus Inquest 4 out of 5 stars.  It is a must read that will strengthen or convince you of your faith in Christ and what He did on the cross.

Born Again

John 3:2-6

I have been studying a lot as my wife and I have been meeting with a pair of Mormon Missionaries.  One of the things that has caught my attention is their belief that baptism is necessary for Salvation.

I am not trying to downplay baptism, but I cannot find in Scripture where it is mandated before one can get to Heaven.

The Mormon belief comes from John 3:5 where Jesus says you must be born of water, and of the Spirit. 

It is easy to see how this could be misunderstood to mean baptism when you take the verse out of context.  However, when we look at the before, and the after on the context of this verse we see clearly that it is not talking about baptism, but rather, our human, physical birth.

John 3:4 shows Nicodemus asking how can a man be born again when he is old, can he return into his mother’s womb?  The next verse Jesus responds with water, and spirit.  One must assume that Christ was answering the question about physical birth with the term “water.”

In the next verse following Jesus statement, John 3:6, he then talks about flesh being born of flesh, and Spirit being born of Spirit.  Once again we see the reference to a physical birth. 

When we examine the context of the Scripture we clearly see that Christ is not talking about baptism as a requirement for Salvation, He was merely painting a picture of the differences between our natural and spiritual births.