Book Review: Exalting Jesus in 1st & 2nd Kings

As a pastor one of the things that I find most disturbing is how many people are so unfamiliar with their Bible. There are a lot of reasons for it, but one is that guys like me (pastors) haven't done a great job of teaching people how to read it. We fail to help people see how everything from Genesis to Revelation has one thing in common: Jesus. It's Jesus & His Gospel that's the lens through which we should read Scripture. Yes, a passage is to be interpreted in its immediate context, but we also have to keep in mind the broader purpose of Scripture: the revelation of God the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit. That means we need to keep the Gospel in mind even when we're not reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.

B&H Publishing is currently producing The Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary Series. In this post I'll focus on Exalting Jesus in 1st & 2nd Kings. These aren't exactly the books we readily identify with Jesus. However, if nothing else the record of the kings of Israel & Judah show us the imperfection that will be replaced with perfection & the divided kingdom that will be replaced with the eternal kingdom when the prophet, priest, & king named Jesus of Nazareth shows up a few centuries later.

In this volume Tony Merida walks us through these two Old Testament books, helping the reader see how the Gospel is woven throughout Scripture & foreshadowed time & time again through the history of Israel. One of the strengths of this series of commentaries is that they don't really read like commentaries. In other words, they're not dry, boring, or academic. This book is the best kind of commentary: approachable & applicable. I would encourage anyone interested in serious Bible study to look into Exalting Jesus in 1st & 2nd Kings or any of the other available titles in this series.

Disclaimer: I received a promotional copy of this book from B&H Publishing for this review.

Feast or Famine?

“The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the Church is famishing for want of His Presence.” -A.W. Tower

This weekend we continued our series "I Am" as one of our deacons shared a message from John 6 as Jesus says, "I am the bread of life..." As we examined the passage & its implications, I thought of this quote. The world is dying in its sin and too many have never heard the message of the Gospel from the Church. At the same time, too many congregations are dying and closing their doors because they've forgotten the message & ministry of the Gospel.

As Jesus invited people to come and feed on the Bread of Life. He not only promised that this Bread would give them life, real spiritual life, but He also showed Himself to be the sustainer of that life. He is the Source & the Sustainer. The Gospel is what bring us to life in Christ, & it's the Gospel that transforms us to live as Christ. But somehow too many of us have forgotten this. So our salvation becomes an event rather than a way of life. The Gospel becomes something that happened to us at a particular moment rather than the very life blood of our existent. And along the way, in a very slow, subtle, unintentional way, we forget the Gospel. As Jesus said in Revelation 2, we forget our first love. As we forget our first love, we also forget to do what we did at first, namely pursue Jesus & pursue the lost. So in the end we not only neglect the Gospel, we end up neglecting the Great Commission.

As a result, the world begins to starve for the knowledge of God because the vehicle for that message of God's loving, gracious pursuit of sinners has been starving for God's presence. When we stop walking in the Gospel, it won't be long before we stop sharing the Gospel. 

"Consistently & Faithfully Following Jesus Means 

Continually & Faithfully Feasting On Jesus."

How are we supposed to feed on Jesus? Let me share a couple of verses to guide us. John 1:17 says that "the Word became flesh & dwelt among us." The eternal, preexistent Word of God, the very Word of creation, the very Word of revelation, put on flesh & lived among us, & His name was Jesus. So again, how do we feed on Jesus? We feed on Jesus by feeding on the Word because He is the Word. Then what? Well, let's consider what Ezekiel 3:1 says. In this verse God commands His prophet to eat the word & then speak the word. Sound familiar? It should. As believers we consume the Bread of Life, Jesus. He gives us life & salvation. As we experience the work of Christ, we're moved to advance that Good News of life, hope, & salvation in Christ. We consume the Word, then we speak the Word so that Jesus is magnified & lives are saved. If we want the world to have knowledge of God & therefore live, we must feast on Christ & His word so that we're moved by the Gospel to advance the Gospel. 

So let me ask you, are you in a season of feast or famine? If you're feasting, is it leading to action? Are you eating the word & speaking the word? If you're in a season of famine, come back to the table. Jesus has invited you to come & dine so that you will never have to hunger or thirst again.

Book Review: The Battle Plan For Prayer

I recently had the opportunity to get a review copy of "The Battle Plan For Prayer" by Stephen & Alex Kendrick. Many people know the Kendrick brothers from their films like Facing The Giants, Courageous, & the recent hit War Room. Battle Plan was released in conjunction with War Room as a practical tool for believers, small groups, & congregation to use to grow in their own prayer life & also to give some guidance in leading prayer strategies with other believers.

The strength of this book is how it points people to the power of keeping one's prayer life or a group's prayer strategy rooted in Scripture. This book does a good job of encouraging people to move beyond a self-centered prayer life that's based on feelings & immediate "needs" & pointing them to build a prayer life that is a response to who God has revealed Himself to be in Scripture & allowing His word to direct our prayer life.

If you're looking for a heady, academic approach to prayer & discussing of prayer, you'll be disappointed. However, I see that as a strength. Prayer should be personal, relational, not academic. If you are looking for something to give your prayer life a kickstart, or if you're leading a congregation or small group through a focused time of prayer, this would be a good resource to use. I used it as a supplemental resource in a recent prayer revival in our congregation, & it was very helpful.

Disclaimer: I received this book from B & H Publishing for this review.

What's Your Reward?

In our current series, we've been looking at the things that you constantly hear people refer to when they talk about how God has grown & stretched their faith in Him. One of the things that you inevitably hear people refer to is the moment in their faith where they began to take some personal responsibility. They began to cultivate private spiritual disciplines like prayer, giving, Bible study, or fasting. There's no doubt that these disciplines play a powerful role in our spiritual growth, but they can also be dangerous. After all, if our faith somehow moves from being in Jesus to being in our faithfulness to practice these disciplines, our faith has shifted to something that has no power on its own. Even Jesus scolded the Pharisees for their diligent study of God's word, not because of their study but because they assumed their faithfulness to study would somehow save them. The opposite was the case. God's word was given to reveal His character & nature while pointing to the coming of Jesus, & somehow in the middle of all that studying they still missed the Messiah. So in Matthew 6, Jesus gives us a stern warning about the dangerous nature of misplaced faith in one's spiritual disciplines.

The funny thing is that when Jesus starts talking about this issue, He starts by talking about rewards. His warnings all center around the fact that if our spiritual disciplines are about being seen or recognized by others, we'll miss the real reward that God wants to give us. We'll get the reward we want: people's recognition, but we'll miss the reward God offers: Himself. You see, when we come before God in prayer or in His word, our goal shouldn't be that we can then share with everybody about our incredible prayer time or Bible study. Instead it should be an opportunity for us to spend some time with our Father. The reward when we're faithful to give & invest in God's Kingdom isn't that we're "sowing a seed" & that somehow God will send us payback. Instead it's a personal, private declaration of trust in our Father, & our reward is His presence & the assurance that our Father provides for us. God's presence is the reward, & it's infinitely better than any pat on the back from someone who only sees what we let them see.

"It's Better To Get God, Than To Get Anything Else We Want."

There's no doubt we want to be recognized. We want people to approve of us, maybe even to admire us. However, if that becomes a driving motivation, we've made that need for approval our god. Instead we should utilize prayer, personal Bible study, giving, & fasting as spiritual disciplines or habits that bring us into God's presence & declare our trust & reliance on Him as our Heavenly Father. Spend some time over the next few days to read Matthew 6:1-18 & take a hard look at your private spiritual disciplines & your heart. Why do you pray? Is prayer how you bring God your "to do" list? Do you only pray when other people are around so they can hear you? When you give are you hoping someone notices & gives you credit? If you stopped getting a tax write off would you stop giving? Examine your heart, examine your motives. What reward are you really after when you practice these spiritual disciplines? Are you looking for approval from people, or are you simply looking for God?