tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145477752024-03-13T23:09:26.246-07:00Yapdates: A Spiritual Odyssey"A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be." (Douglas Pagels)Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.comBlogger1948125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-68622068458308743872023-08-30T09:31:00.010-07:002023-08-30T10:26:27.682-07:00"A Burden For Souls" (with lyrics and chords)<p>There was a request for the lyrics and chords for this song. So, I am putting up a new page for that. The old page without chords is located <a href="https://yapdates.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-burden-for-souls-dear-lord.html">here</a>. It is played to the key of D.</p><br /><hr /><u>A BURDEN FOR SOULS</u><div>Words: Bill Butterworth</div><div>Album: Make It Clear</div><div><br />
<div><div>D<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span></span>F#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>G<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span></span>A7 </div><div>A burden for souls dear Lord, a burden to share </div><div>D<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span></span>F#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>G<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A7 </div><div>A love for the lost dear Lord, a genuine care </div><div>G<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>Em<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>A7 </div><div>A need to see this world as people dying each day </div><div>G<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span></span>F#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>Em<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>A7 </div><div>An urge to speak with them, to do more than just pray </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div>D<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span></span>F#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>Em<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span></span>A7 </div><div>A burden for souls dear Lord, a decision to make </div><div>D<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>Em<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A7 </div><div>A goal to follow Christ, whatever it takes </div><div>G<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>Em<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>A7 </div><div>A life of sharing the gospel with whomever I can </div><div>G<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>Em<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>A7 </div><div>A need to take my eyes off myself, to see God’s plan </div><div><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>B7 </span></div><div>To see God’s plan. </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div>E<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span>G#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span> <span> </span></span>F#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span></span>B7 </div><div>A burden for souls dear Lord, this will always be my prayer </div><div>E<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>G#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>F#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>B7 </div><div>Make this burden real to me, that I may always care </div><div>A<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span></span>G#m<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>B7 </div><div>To share God’s love, to share God’s love </div><div>A<span style="white-space: pre;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span>B7<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>E </div><div>To share God’s love, Amen. </div></div><div><br /></div>
<hr />
<div>conrade</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-65206787606554350392023-07-05T09:35:00.006-07:002023-07-05T09:35:47.657-07:00Song: "If Any Man Will Follow"<p>This is an old song I learned when I was a young Christian. The words are powerful.</p><p>============================================</p><p><u><b>IF ANY MAN WILL FOLLOW (Michael Baughen)</b></u></p><p>KEY: C</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><i>Chorus</i></p><p><i>If any man will follow if any man will follow</i></p><p><i>If any man will follow after my Jesus</i></p><p><i>Let him deny himself land let him take up His cross</i></p><p><i>And let him come and follow after my Lord</i></p></blockquote><p>Verse 1</p><p>Whosoever will live for self</p><p>Will throw his life away</p><p>Christ gives life to all who follow Him</p><p>What is a man advantaged</p><p>If he gains the whole wide world</p><p>And then loses his soul</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i>[Chorus]</i></p></blockquote><p>Verse 2</p><p>Whosoever will be ashamed of Jesus and His words</p><p>In this sinful age in which we live</p><p>Jesus the King will be ashamed of him</p><p>In that great day when in glory He comes</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p><i>[Chorus]</i></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>c</p><p><br /></p>Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-91174647436576390472023-04-01T06:42:00.005-07:002023-04-01T06:42:30.741-07:00Song: "For God So Loved the World"<p>A song I learned in my early years as a Christian. It's sung to an Irish tune "Londonderry Air," popularized by the song "Danny Boy."</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">
For God so loved, the world I find it written<p>
In verse sixteen, John’s gospel chapter three</p><p>
He gave His Son, who was for sinners smitten</p><p>
When nailed upon, the cross at Calvary</p><p><i>
Such wondrous love, it passes human knowledge</i></p><p><i>
For Jesus died, that we might ever live</i></p><p><i>
Eternal Life! So none need ever perish</i></p><p><i>
This life to all believing souls</i></p><p><i>
He now will give.</i></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>c</p><p>
</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-52607911266602576192022-05-23T11:38:00.000-07:002022-05-23T11:38:26.862-07:00"A Burden for Souls Dear Lord"<p>This is one of my favourite hymns from the 70s. Written by Bill Butterworth in his musical, "Make it Clear," this song remains a beautiful reminder about the purpose of the gospel. </p><p>I usually play to the key of D.</p><p><b><u>A Burden for
Souls (灵魂的负担)</u></b></p><div style="text-align: left;">A burden for souls dear
Lord, a burden to share<br />A love for the lost
dear Lord, a genuine care<br />A need to see this
world as people dying each day<br />An urge to speak with
them, to do more than just pray</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A burden for souls dear
Lord, a decision to make<br />A goal to follow
Christ, whatever it takes<br />A life of sharing the
gospel with whomever I can<br />A need to take my eyes
off myself, to see God’s plan<br />To see God’s plan.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A burden for souls
dear Lord, this will always be my prayer<br />Make this burden real
to me, that I may always care<br />To share God’s love,
to share God’s love<br />To share God’s love,
Amen.</div><p class="MsoNormal">ks</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u><b>灵魂的负担</b></u></p><div style="text-align: left;">主啊,让我分担灵魂的重担,<br />主啊,让我爱和照顾失丧的人<br />这个世界上每天都有很多人在死去<br />帮助我与他们交谈,而不仅仅是祈祷</div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;">主帮助我每天为灵魂担负重担<br />一个不惜一切代价跟随基督的目标<br />与任何人分享福音的生活<br />需要把目光从自己身上移开,看看上帝的计划<br />看到神的计划</div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;">亲爱的主,灵魂的负担,这将永远是我的祈祷<br />让这个负担对我来说是真实的,我会一直在乎<br />分享神的爱,分享神的爱<br />分享上帝的爱,阿门。</div>Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-41145186774734072132021-10-08T13:44:00.001-07:002021-10-08T13:44:37.124-07:00Song for Thanksgiving<p>I learned this song a long time ago. </p><p>=====================================</p><p></p><p><b><u>I THANK THE LORD</u></b></p><p>I thank the Lord above for giving me</p><p>This great eternal life, so rich and free</p><p>And everyday I live, I love Him more</p><p>To Him I'll sing my praise, I thank the Lord!</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><i>Chorus: </i></p><p><i>I do not understand why He should be so kind</i></p><p><i>I only know that I am His, and He is mine!</i></p><p><i>Someday I'll see His Face, O Great Reward.</i></p><p><i>In that eternal place, I thank the Lord.</i></p></blockquote><p>My Saviour came to die at Calvary</p><p>For sin He paid the price, for you and me</p><p>He fought the enemy, without His Sword</p><p>And for this victory, I thank the Lord!</p>Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-42963139949636263362018-07-11T09:00:00.000-07:002018-07-11T09:00:08.910-07:00Midweek Meditation: "Fitness Sign #6 - Leadership Development"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrLjH-_HgiA/WvnNCRlRFCI/AAAAAAAAKa0/B6n8kYdELoUrWk6FjpApHd9KrL9n2APxACLcBGAs/s1600/9780801019623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="285" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrLjH-_HgiA/WvnNCRlRFCI/AAAAAAAAKa0/B6n8kYdELoUrWk6FjpApHd9KrL9n2APxACLcBGAs/s320/9780801019623.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
We continue with Gary McIntosh and Phil Stevenson's book "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801019621/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0801019621&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=4098d731637e46f65d7760a6d793fac6" target="_blank">Building the Body</a>" which is about the 12 characteristics of a fit Church. Last week, we talked about GOD-HONOURING STEWARDSHIP. This week, it is about LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT.<br />
<br />
<u>SIGNS OF FITNESS #6 - LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT</u><br />
<br />
"Leadership development must involve leader-development capacity, a culture of leadership development, and a leadership development pipeline. Growth is more than a hobby; it is a habit. The person who chooses to be a leader developer must work at integrating the nine qualities below into their life.<br />
<ol>
<li>A leader developer appreciates others.</li>
<li>A leader developer believes in the propensity of others to do their best.</li>
<li>A leader developer praises people for what they have done.</li>
<li>A leader developer empowers others.</li>
<li>A leader developer listens and asks questions.</li>
<li>A leader developer encourages and cares for others.</li>
<li>A leader developer values clear thinking and strategic action.</li>
<li>A leader developer continually learns and places a high value on personal growth.</li>
<li>A leader developer accepts personal responsibility to develop others." </li>
</ol>
(adapter from McIntosh and Stevenson, "Building the Body", Baker Books, 2018, p97-100)<br />
<br />
Tips: A church that develops leaders would:<br />
<ul>
<li>Have identified those gifted and called to leadership;</li>
<li>Actively recruit and assess qualified people for various roles;</li>
<li>Welcome new leaders within the congregation;</li>
<li>Formally evaluate all leaders annually;</li>
<li>Recognize and Honour people for their effective leadership;</li>
<li>Trust leaders and follow them;</li>
<li>Hold leaders accountable for clearly defined expectations.</li>
</ul>
c<br />
<br />
<br />Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-33447461889363747682018-07-04T09:00:00.000-07:002018-07-04T09:00:12.192-07:00Midweek Meditation: "Fitness Sign #5 - God-Honouring Stewardship"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrLjH-_HgiA/WvnNCRlRFCI/AAAAAAAAKa0/B6n8kYdELoUrWk6FjpApHd9KrL9n2APxACLcBGAs/s1600/9780801019623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="285" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrLjH-_HgiA/WvnNCRlRFCI/AAAAAAAAKa0/B6n8kYdELoUrWk6FjpApHd9KrL9n2APxACLcBGAs/s320/9780801019623.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
We continue with Gary McIntosh and Phil Stevenson's book "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801019621/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0801019621&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=4098d731637e46f65d7760a6d793fac6" target="_blank">Building the Body</a>" which is about the 12 characteristics of a fit Church. Last week, we talked about PERSONAL MINISTRY. This week, it is about GOD-HONOURING STEWARDSHIP.<br />
<br />
<u>SIGNS OF FITNESS #5 - GOD-HONOURING STEWARDSHIP</u><br />
<br />
"How people and churches handle money declares the kingdom to which they belong. Jesus laid out two options. We can either store up treasures for ourselves on earth or store up treasures for ourselves in heaven (see Matt 6:19-20). He also said, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.<br />
<br />
It seems as though Jesus was always asking, "What do you value most?" He was always contrasting two perspectives - for example, two kingdoms, two masters, or two values. So what do fit churches value most? Simply put, they value investing in heavenly wealth. The key question for fit church is, "Where is our treasure?"" (McIntosh and Stevenson, "Building the Body", Baker Books, 2018, p83)<br />
<br />
"First, fit churches work from a well-defined budget.<br />
..<br />
Second, fit churches develop a ratio of expenditures to various operations and adjust it year to year.<br />
..<br />
Third, fit churches place a priority on staff, ministry, and facilities - in that order. While each church allocates budget expenditures differently, wise leaders make staffing a priority. In many ways, the quality of the staff determines the future of the church. Fit churches typically spend between 40 and 50 percent of their budgets on staff salaries, benefits, and reimbursements. While some churches proudly declare they give 50 percent of every dollar to missions, there is usually an unseen problem - the staff members are not generously paid. In other words, to give half of its income to missions, a church usually does so to the neglect of its own staff, which is certainly unbiblical. Fit churches follow the lead of Scripture, which declares, "The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches (Gal 6:6)."<br />
..<br />
Fourth, fit churches plan for funding God's work.<br />
..<br />
Fifth, fit churches train their people to give.<br />
..<br />
Sixth, fit churches prepare a resource development strategy.<br />
<br />
" (87-90)<br />
<br />
Tips: A church that has God-Honouring Stewardship would practise:<br />
<ul>
<li>Regular teaching on biblical stewardship of time, treasure, and talent;</li>
<li>Systematic giving;</li>
<li>Wise handling of Church resources;</li>
<li>Alignment of budgets with vision and mission;</li>
<li>Faith in budgeting;</li>
<li>Open discussion of expectations in giving;</li>
<li>Requiring Church leaders to give regularly in their service.</li>
</ul>
<br />
c<br />
<br />
<br />Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-87684700966340120552018-06-27T09:00:00.000-07:002018-06-27T09:00:13.527-07:00Midweek Meditation: "Fitness Sign #4 - Personal Ministry"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrLjH-_HgiA/WvnNCRlRFCI/AAAAAAAAKa0/B6n8kYdELoUrWk6FjpApHd9KrL9n2APxACLcBGAs/s1600/9780801019623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="285" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrLjH-_HgiA/WvnNCRlRFCI/AAAAAAAAKa0/B6n8kYdELoUrWk6FjpApHd9KrL9n2APxACLcBGAs/s320/9780801019623.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
We continue with Gary McIntosh and Phil Stevenson's book "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801019621/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0801019621&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=4098d731637e46f65d7760a6d793fac6" target="_blank">Building the Body</a>" which is about the 12 characteristics of a fit Church. Last week, we talked about COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. This week, it is PERSONAL MINISTRY.<br />
<br />
<u>SIGNS OF FITNESS #4 - PERSONAL MINISTRY</u><br />
<br />
"Becoming a fit church is directly proportional to the degree the people of God are active in ministry. This principle has significant implications for a local church. Among other things, it means the heartbeat for a local church is the training of its people. Fit churches do the following things.<br />
<br />
First, fit churches train people to know their spiritual gifts. People's identities as gifted servants of God are important impetuses for involvement in ministry. Classes and small group leaders systematically teach that God calls his people to serve. As each person grows to understand their identity in Christ and his body, they catch the vision for personal ministry. Each one identifies their remarkable spiritual gifts, unique talents, and special skills. They discover their passion for ministry while committing to serving with the rest of the church body.<br />
<br />
Second, fit churches equip people to use their gifts, abilities, and skills in ministry.<br />
..<br />
Third, fit churches place people into ministry - quickly.<br />
..<br />
Fourth, fit churches provide coaching for people in ministry.<br />
..<br />
Fifth, fit churches evaluate people in ministry.<br />
..<br />
Sixth, fit churches build new ministry around their people's gifts and passions.<br />
..<br />
Seventh, fit churches express thanks to those in ministry." (McIntosh and Stevenson, "Building the Body", Baker Books, 2018, p73-76)<br />
<br />
Tips: A church that equips people for personal ministry would have:<br />
<ul>
<li>Teaching and preaching about spiritual gifts;</li>
<li>Spent time helping people discover their unique purpose in ministry;</li>
<li>Equipped people to use their unique talents and gifts for ministry;</li>
<li>Placed people in ministry according to their passions;</li>
<li>Provided encouragement and coaching;</li>
<li>Offered ongoing training for people to improve their ministry skillsets;</li>
<li>Expressed appreciation for those serving or had served in ministry. </li>
</ul>
<br />
c<br />
<br />
<br />Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-71280803503214553242018-06-20T09:00:00.000-07:002018-06-20T09:00:11.383-07:00Midweek Meditation: "Fitness Sign #3 - Community Engagement"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrLjH-_HgiA/WvnNCRlRFCI/AAAAAAAAKa0/B6n8kYdELoUrWk6FjpApHd9KrL9n2APxACLcBGAs/s1600/9780801019623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="285" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrLjH-_HgiA/WvnNCRlRFCI/AAAAAAAAKa0/B6n8kYdELoUrWk6FjpApHd9KrL9n2APxACLcBGAs/s320/9780801019623.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
We continue with Gary McIntosh and Phil Stevenson's book "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801019621/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0801019621&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=4098d731637e46f65d7760a6d793fac6" target="_blank">Building the Body</a>" which is about the 12 characteristics of a fit Church. Last week, we talked about EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM. This week, it is COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.<br />
<br />
<u>SIGNS OF FITNESS #3 - COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT</u><br />
<br />
"Community engagement forces the church to interact with a world unlike itself. The first-century church was in a very unwelcoming culture. Yet the church thrived. What the church today must not do is allow the culture to dumb down its message. And the church must still move into society. The church must infiltrate culture as yeast does dough. This is the kingdom of God. . . . (Lue 13:20-21). Through community engagement the church becomes like yeast. When the church embeds itself into the community in which it is located, transformation begins. When the church inserts itself in culture as Christ's representatives, things begin to change.<br />
<br />
Churches must move into the culture in which they reside. The culture is exemplified by the community in which a church body finds itself. In the four spheres of evangelism mentioned earlier, this would be Judea. Judea is the geographical area stretching from a one-fourth to a five-mile radius around a church's meeting location. A fit church will engage the community in this geographic area.<br />
<br />
Community engagement involves three basic approaches: attractional, missional, or connectional. These three approaches can be summed up in the following phrases: come and see (attractional); go and be (missional); go and bring (connectional). " (McIntosh and Stevenson, "Building the Body", Baker Books, 2018, p53-54)<br />
<br />
Tips: A church that engages community would have:<br />
<ul>
<li>Defined where our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the world are;</li>
<li>Regular meetings with community leaders to find out how we can be of help to them;</li>
<li>Encourage church members to be involved in community activities like coaching youth sports, joining service clubs, being active in forums, etc;</li>
<li>Studied the needs of the community;</li>
<li>Their pastors serving a day a week outside the church;</li>
<li>Engaged in service evangelism;</li>
<li>Community recognizing our church for our contributions. </li>
</ul>
<br />
c<br />
<br />
<br />Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-60287066398901832432018-06-13T09:00:00.000-07:002018-06-13T09:00:08.696-07:00Midweek Meditation: "Fitness Sign #2 - Effective Evangelism"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrLjH-_HgiA/WvnNCRlRFCI/AAAAAAAAKa0/B6n8kYdELoUrWk6FjpApHd9KrL9n2APxACLcBGAs/s1600/9780801019623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="285" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrLjH-_HgiA/WvnNCRlRFCI/AAAAAAAAKa0/B6n8kYdELoUrWk6FjpApHd9KrL9n2APxACLcBGAs/s320/9780801019623.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
We continue with Gary McIntosh and Phil Stevenson's book "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801019621/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0801019621&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=4098d731637e46f65d7760a6d793fac6" target="_blank">Building the Body</a>" which is about the 12 characteristics of a fit Church. Last week, we talked about OUTREACH. This week, it is EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM.<br />
<br />
<u>SIGNS OF FITNESS #2 - EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM</u><br />
<br />
"Evangelism is one of the primary characteristics that help churches become fit. Evangelism provides oxygen to the body of Christ. New birth, growing believers, and an inflow of newly connected followers of Christ breathe life into faith communities.<br />
<br />
Churches must be involved in evangelistic endeavors. Churches that do not make the effort to intentionally determine methods to share the gospel will erode in their fitness levels. Churchs that do not involve themselves in an evangelistic emphasis will find themselves aging with no kids or grandkids to carry on their legacy." (McIntosh and Stevenson, "Building the Body", Baker Books, 2018, p37-38)<br />
<br />
Tips: A church that effectively evangelizes would have:<br />
<ul>
<li>Regular training and mobilizing of members to share their faith;</li>
<li>Conversions as their primary source of numerical growth;</li>
<li>Specialized opportunities for members to invite friends;</li>
<li>Budgets set aside for church planting work;</li>
<li>Regular baptisms;</li>
<li>Constantly identifying and targeting unreached people in our communities;</li>
<li>Give guests a chance to accept Christ at worship services.</li>
</ul>
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c<br />
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<br />Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-4150028875189206162018-06-06T09:00:00.000-07:002018-06-06T09:00:08.950-07:00Midweek Meditation: "Fitness Sign #1-Outreach"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrLjH-_HgiA/WvnNCRlRFCI/AAAAAAAAKa0/B6n8kYdELoUrWk6FjpApHd9KrL9n2APxACLcBGAs/s1600/9780801019623.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="285" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hrLjH-_HgiA/WvnNCRlRFCI/AAAAAAAAKa0/B6n8kYdELoUrWk6FjpApHd9KrL9n2APxACLcBGAs/s320/9780801019623.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
Starting this week and for the next 12 weeks, we will be looking at Gary McIntosh and Phil Stevenson's book "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801019621/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0801019621&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=4098d731637e46f65d7760a6d793fac6" target="_blank">Building the Body</a>" which is about the 12 characteristics of a fit Church. Each Wednesday, I will share one characteristic that we can use for ourselves personally and corporately. For this week, it is OUTREACH.<br />
<br />
<u>SIGNS OF FITNESS #1 - OUTREACH</u><br />
<br />
"An outward focus is the beginning point for outreach. Churches that are inwardly focused neither sense their communities' needs nor are motivated to evangelize or engage their communities. Outward-focused churches, however, are aware of the culture in which their ministries take place. They recognize a need for fitness to effectively evangelize and engage with their communities.<br />
<br />
Church leaders often believe their churches are outward-focused when they actually are not. Many church people perceive themselves to be kingdom-minded, concerned for reaching the lost, and connected to people in their communities. Gary remembers consulting with a church in the Midwest. The results of a church-wide survey revealed several areas of strengths and a few dominant weaknesses. One of the church's areas of strength was community outreach. Conversations in five focus groups revealed people believed their church was effective in reaching the community for Christ. Closer examination found otherwise. Five hundred dollars was budgeted for outreach but had not been spent in the past year. A full 99 per cent of the church's identifiable programming was directed to the present congregation. The only identifiable program listed for outreach was VBS. The church was not outward-focused at all. How could a church be so wrong in its assessment of its strengths?" (McIntosh and Stevenson, "Building the Body", Baker Books, 2018, p23-24)<br />
<br />
Tips: A fit and outward-focused church would have:<br />
<ul>
<li>At least 20% of budget for outreach activities;</li>
<li>Events held in locations other than our church property;</li>
<li>Knowledge of what businesses are in our neighbourhood;</li>
<li>Our members attend and participate in community events;</li>
<li>Board meetings discuss how we can reach our communities;</li>
<li>More discussion on fulfilling the Great Commission rather than maintaining our programs and buildings;</li>
<li>New people from our community attending our worship services;</li>
</ul>
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c<br />
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<br />Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-6561859231306466682018-06-04T09:00:00.000-07:002018-06-04T09:00:06.866-07:00BookPastor >> "The Heartbeat of Old Testament Theology" (Mark J. Boda)<i>This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on July 27th, 2017.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>c</i><br />
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TITLE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801030897/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0801030897&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=69e91a7d5f6f435fa8cbb91e0af53f22" target="_blank">The Heartbeat of Old Testament Theology: Three Creedal Expressions (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=yapfaminvan-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0801030897" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
AUTHOR: Mark J. Boda<br />
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: <u>Baker Academic</u>, 2017, (240 pages).<br />
<br />
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It has always been challenging to tackle the Old Testament. Not only is it of an ancient culture, the language can seem quite primitive when compared to contemporary times. Even if the language barrier can be overcome, there is the challenge of size and contexts. That is why the Old Testament are preached and taught relatively less than the New Testament counterpart. Various approaches have been used to study the 39 books of the first testament. A popular method is the genre approach, which subdivides the books into Law; History; Poetry; the Major and Minor Prophets. Some would use the Christ-centered interpretation, which sees every Old Testament book from the perspective of Christ. More recently, there are books about using the New Testament as a lens to view the Old Testament. There is also the seminary approaches of biblical and systematic theology, albeit used for different purposes. All of them have their merits and weaknesses. Enters the "Three Creedal Expressions" approach by Mark Boda. Before going into his heartbeat framework, he reviews four major approaches to the OT:<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<ol>
<li>The Covenant Approach, where Walther Eichrodt uses covenant as the central theme in understanding the OT. The problem is subjectivity and selectivity.</li>
<li>The Traditions Approach, where Gerhard von Rad uses traditions to identify key streams in OT theology. Such an approach is diachronic which requires an interpretation of events occurring over time. The problem lies also in the subjectivity, further compounded by the different interpreters over each time era. </li>
<li>The Canon Approach, where Brevard Childs uses the canon as a way to see the shape of OT Theology, using the final text as the reference for shaping. This approach has many variants. </li>
<li>The "text-to-reader" approach, where Phyllis Trible advocates the ideological approach.</li>
</ol>
Boda jumps into the fray with his "creedal approach" which although is selective, allows one to identify "core expressions of God." He attempts to bring in the positive features of the above four approaches and makes it intertextual in both the OT and NT. These three expressions are the Narrative Rhythm; the Character Rhythm; and the Relational Rhythm. The Narrative Rhythm is simply about recognizing how God reveals Himself in history and to the people in the Bible. It is an adaptation of the "diachronic approach" that comprises both a historical progressiveness as well as a movement from revelation to resurrection to redemption. He combines the revelation of God (Vos); the actions of God (Wright); and the Creedal acts (von Rad); to become the "triple rhythms" of the heartbeat of OT Theology. This <b>Narrative Creed</b> can be seen via the lens of God's progressive redemption narrative. This rhythm comprises the narratives of ancestors; exodus; the wilderness; the conquest of Canaan; the life in the land; and exile. In contrast to George Ernest Wright's focus on the actions of God, Boda seizes the chance to focus instead on the character of God, and comes up with the <b>Character Creed</b> as the second rhythm in understanding OT Theology. Even as the redemption historical progression is important, understanding the Person of God is equally if not more important. He spends a sizeable chunk of time on hesed, the loving kindness character of God. It shapes the way we see love and discipline, revealing to us the big-hearted nature of God's heart for us. The third rhythm provides a continuous revelation, sustenance, and providence of God through all time: The Relational Rhythm. Here, Boda takes the covenantal approach and the character of God, and blends it into a relationship rhythm. There is reciprocity, identity, and responsibility all rolled into one. All of these three attributes reflect the <b>Relational Creed</b>. Without making readers do the synthesis themselves, Boda helps us integrate all of these three creeds using Exodus 5:22-6:8 and Nehemiah 9 as examples. He applies it to the creation narrative and highlights how the creation activity of God, the character of God, and the relational pulses that occur throughout the story telling. He also applies the same technique to the study of the New Testament and its relevance to our contemporary Christian life. <br />
<br />
Boda has shown us how wonderful to be able to discover and experience the riches of the Old Testament in a unique way. Using three kinds of rhythms as heartbeat, he integrates the historical approaches and brings alive the study of the Old Testament in a very refreshing way. Some might argue that Boda's thesis is simply a rehash of the major OT angles presented at the beginning. If that is true, this book will not get much traction in the OT Theology arena. It may not receive the attention like the ones that Childs, von Rad, Tickle, and Eichrodt already had. However, for students of OT Theology, it is always a refreshing view from the eyes of a contemporary scholar about how to study the Old Testament. Even if critics are right with regard to the lack of significant insights, Boda challenges us to be more integrative in our theology. He also teaches us to look beyond mere acts of God, the attributes of God, or the rhythms of God to sense the overarching kingdom of God that manifests itself in infinite ways. Using the heartbeat metaphor, Boda helps carve open a unique entry point. We can look at the different rates of the heartbeat where certain parts of Scripture are faster or slower. We sense the times in which man's heartbeat flatlines and how God resuscitates the whole human race. We study how God does the bypass surgery, treating cardiac arrests, and all kinds of biological and medical treatments.<br />
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There are several threats that readers will do well to heed. First, the power and the abuse of story. Boda does well to highlight the power of story and how it can bring about our understanding of God's revelation in the Old Testament. At the same time, the story paradigm is also the "greatest threat" to our understanding of God's character. We can become so focused on the story that we miss the Story-Teller or the Story-Creator. Second, there is the postmodern secular environment that sees the world without God. They explain life away easily from an atheistic or secular point of view. With each of the three creedal rhythms, we are cautioned about over-emphasing any one part to the detriment of the other. This reminds me of the Person of the Triune Godhead, where God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit, who are co-equal, and co-eternal. We cannot just emphasize one member without diminishing the others. Likewise, we cannot emphasize either Narrative over the rest, or Character over the others, or Relational over all. We must assert them together and in this book, Boda shows us how.<br />
<br />
Mark Boda is Professor of Old Testament at McMaster Divinity College and formerly at Ambrose University. He is also ordained minister at Flourtown Alliance Church (PA) and Rexdale Alliance Church (ON).<br />
<br />
Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.<br />
<br />
conrade<br />
<hr />
<br />
<i>This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Academic and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.</i><br />
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<br />Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-23544770695424916542018-05-30T09:00:00.000-07:002018-05-30T09:00:12.736-07:00Midweek Meditation: "Counsels on Discernment 4" (Meister Eckhart)<i>Continuing our series of meditation about counsels for discernment by the German mystic, Meister Eckhart, we look at why our tendency to worry about what to do, especially when it is more important to focus on what we want to BE. </i><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eckhart (1260-1328)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060750650/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060750650&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=f9d3f2e433473ea5944bf150719c0e39" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
TITLE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060750650/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060750650&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=f9d3f2e433473ea5944bf150719c0e39" target="_blank">Meister Eckhart: Selections from His Essential Writings (HarperCollins Spiritual Classics)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=yapfaminvan-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0060750650" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
PUBLISHER: New York, NY: <u>Harper-One</u>, 2005, (166 pages).<br />
<br />
<b>"Of the profits of self-abandonment, which one should practice inwardly and outwardly"</b><br />
<br />
You should know that there was never any man in this life who forsook himself so much that he could not still find more in himself to forsake. There are few people who see this to be true and stick by it. This is indeed a fair exchange and an honest deal: By as much as you go out in forsaking all things, by so much, neither less nor more, does God go in, with all that is His, as you entirely forsake everything that is yours. Undertake this, and let it cost you everything you can afford. There you will find true peace, and nowhere else.<br />
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People ought never to think too much about what they could do, but they ought to think about what they could be. If people and their way of life were only good, what they did might be a shining example. If you are just, then your works too are just. We ought not to think of building holiness upon action; we ought to build it upon a way of being, for it is not what we do that makes us holy, but we ought to make holy what we do. However holy the works may be, they do not, as works, make us at all holy; but, as we are holy and have being, to that extent we make all our works holy, be it eating, sleeping, keeping vigil or whatever it may be. It does not matter what men may do whose being is mean; nothing good will come of it. Take good heed: We ought to do everything we can to be good; it does not matter so much what we may do, or what kinds of works ours may be. What matters is the ground on which the works are built. (6-7)Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-47820367411203446982018-05-28T09:00:00.000-07:002018-05-28T09:00:03.435-07:00BookPastor >> "40 Questions about Church Membership and Discipline" (Jeremy M. Kimble)<i>This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on July 19th, 2017. </i><br />
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TITLE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0825444454/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0825444454&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=031da9a0a65c94429cc4a6a54c82cecd" target="_blank">40 Questions About Church Membership and Discipline (40 Questions & Answers Series)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=yapfaminvan-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0825444454" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
AUTHOR: Jeremy M. Kimble<br />
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: <u>Kregel Academic</u>, 2017, (272 pages).<br />
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What is the purpose of Church membership? Is it enough to just attend Church? Why should anyone bother about some official papers just to be a member? Biblically, we are already members of the Church of God, so why even mention Church membership? What about Church discipline? This book covers these topics in a Q&A manner, giving a broad range of perspectives and implications. It is divided into three categories of questions: Theological; Ministry; and Practical. The author's conviction of Church membership is this: Church membership and discipline is critical to the life of a Christian. Membership is about community and responsibility. Discipline is about authority and accountability. Kimble provides three basic reasons for Church membership:<br />
<ol>
<li>The Perseverance of the Saints is about community development</li>
<li>The Church is the invisible spiritual community made visible</li>
<li>The Church is a people in covenant with God to one another.</li>
</ol>
He also gives three reasons for Church Discipline:<br />
<ol>
<li>It's instructed by Scripture</li>
<li>It is biblical love</li>
<li>It facilitates the perseverance of the saints.</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Church membership is only for believers. Kimble asserts that this is the biblical basis for "regenerate Church membership." False teachers can enter the Church as "believers" which is why the matter of discipline is to lumped together with membership matters. Church discipline is defined as "divine authority delegated to the church by Jesus Christ to maintain order through the correction of persistently sinning church members for the good of those caught in sin, the purity of the church, and the glory of God." He shows us the different types of discipline (formative and corrective) and gives us reasons for both. All in all, spiritual discipline must reflect the heart of God.<br />
<br />
Both matters follow the same format of questioning. On <b>Church Membership</b>, theologically, there are questions relating to New Covenant; Biblical grounding; Matthew 16; Historical development; the Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Ministry wise, there are answers to queries pertaining to discipleship; leadership; process; and cultural contexts. The practical component is probably more interesting for laypersons with questions like:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Why do some churches not believe in Church membership?</li>
<li>When should someone be removed from membership?</li>
<li>What are the benefits of being a Church member?</li>
<li>What are the responsibilities of being a Church member?</li>
</ul>
</div>
On <b>Church Discipline</b>, we deal with theological questions about what the OT and NT says about it; and how the Church historically had practiced it. The Ministry aspect has a lot to do with leadership, restoration, forgiveness, administering discipline, etc. In the same way, the practical section deals with the goals of discipline; why some churches don't do it; what sins demand discipline, and cultural contexts. Some interesting questions include:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Why do some churches not practice Church discipline?</li>
<li>What is the benefit for the person under discipline?</li>
<li>What is the benefit of discipline for the Church as a whole?</li>
<li>Should a believer associate with someone under Church discipline?</li>
<li>What should be done when someone under discipline repents?</li>
<li>...</li>
</ul>
<br />
Church membership and discipline have become taken for granted in many churches in the Western hemisphere today. This has partly to do with historical mistakes in the past and the rising disdain in cultural circles for institutions in which the Church is a part of. With the news media often flashing embarrassing scandals affecting some churches, people tend to extrapolate that into a negative sentiment for Churches. This will in turn put the Church in the bad light even for believers. This decline in credibility is one reason why many younger believers no longer find it attractive to sign up as a member of any Church, or to support discipline matters in a world that promotes greater privacy rights. Kimble gives us a powerful resource to address that. It is one thing to be cynical about the modern Church. It is yet another to take an honest look about what the Bible actually says about the two matters. We cannot simply abandon the Church on the basis of historical missteps. Perhaps, the very problems in the past could also be a result of a lack of discipline or a mistaken understanding of what membership is about. For the Church to survive or even exist, we need structure. We need a dependable framework of belief in order to practice our faith. We need consistency in implementation of rules and regulations so that we do not sway too easily to the opinions of individuals of parties within any Church dispute. We need to learn to get along with the help of agreed systems and processes of reconciliation and repentance in place.<br />
<br />
These 40 questions are just a snippet of the many issues and questions regarding membership or discipline. I am sure the author could have added other questions if space permits. I could think of other questions such as:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>How do different denominations practice Church membership?</li>
<li>What are some core subjects in any curriculum of membership classes?</li>
<li>What is the relationship between Church membership and spiritual membership?</li>
<li>How can the Church discipline someone who refuses to be an official member of the Church?</li>
<li>What are the limits of excommunication?</li>
<li>How do we reconcile conflicting understanding of membership and discipline within the Church?</li>
</ul>
<br />
This book gives much food for thought to two very important subjects. I would even say that Church membership is not something taken seriously nowadays. The default mode is to just go to Church, tithe when one feels like it, and leaves when one feels led to. This individualistic culture will do damage to the efforts of trying to build communities. Of course, there is always the importance of ensuring that Church membership and discipline matters do not become too clunky or rigid to the point of frustrating genuine desires to build and support the Church. For instance, we can be so caught up with the letter of the law that we can forget the spirit of the law. Likewise, advocates could hang on too tightly to the matters of membership and discipline that deters people from getting more involved with all things Church. Hopefully, this book can educate us into appreciating the Church more, and the essence of observing rules for the sake of community health.<br />
<br />
Jeremy Kimble is Assistant Professor of Theological Studies at Cedarville
University. His research interests include ecclesiology, soteriology,
Christian worldview, and biblical ethics.<br />
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Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.<br />
<br />
conrade<br />
<hr />
<i>This book has been provided courtesy of Kregel Academic without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.</i>Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-39868823953772760272018-05-23T09:00:00.000-07:002018-05-23T09:00:04.632-07:00Midweek Meditation: "Counsels on Discernment 3" (Meister Eckhart)<i>Continuing our series of meditation about counsels for discernment by the German mystic, Meister Eckhart, we look at why it is so difficult for some of us to discern God's will. It comes down to the very basic call of God to us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and to follow Jesus.</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eckhart (1260-1328)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060750650/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060750650&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=f9d3f2e433473ea5944bf150719c0e39" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
TITLE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060750650/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060750650&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=f9d3f2e433473ea5944bf150719c0e39" target="_blank">Meister Eckhart: Selections from His Essential Writings (HarperCollins Spiritual Classics)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=yapfaminvan-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0060750650" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
PUBLISHER: New York, NY: <u>Harper-One</u>, 2005, (166 pages).<br />
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<b>"Of people who have not denied themselves and are full of their own will"</b><br />
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People say: ‘<i>O Lord, how much I wish that I stood as well with God, that I had as much devotion and peace in God as others have, I wish that it were so with me!</i>’ Or, ‘<i>I should like to be poor,</i>’ or else, ‘<i>Things will never go right for me till I am in this place or that, or till I act one way or another. I must go and live in a strange land, or in a hermitage, or in a cloister’</i>.<br />
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In fact, this is all about yourself, and nothing else at all. This is just self-will, only you do not know it or it does not seem so to you. There is never any trouble that starts in you that does not come from your own will, whether people see this or not. We can think what we like, that a man ought to shun one thing or pursue another – places and people and ways of life and environments and undertakings – that is not the trouble, such ways of life or such matters are not what impedes you. It is what you are in these things that causes the trouble, because in them you do not govern yourself as you should.<br />
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Therefore, make a start with yourself, and abandon yourself. Truly, if you do not begin by getting away from yourself, wherever you run to, you will find obstacles and trouble wherever it may be. People who seek peace in external things – be it in places or ways of life or people or activities or solitude or poverty or degradation – however great such a thing may be or whatever it may be, still it is all nothing and gives no peace. People who seek in that way are doing it all wrong; the further they wander, the less they will find what they are seeking. They go around like someone who has lost his way; the further he goes, the more lost he is. Then what ought he to do? He ought to begin by forsaking himself, because then he has forsaken everything. Truly, if a man renounced a kingdom or the whole world but held on to himself, he would not have renounced anything. What is more, if a man renounces himself, whatever else he retains, riches or honours or whatever it may be, he has forsaken everything.<br />
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About what Saint Peter said: ‘<i>See, Lord, we have forsaken everything</i>’ (Matt. 19:27) – and all he had forsaken was just a net and his little boat – there is a saint who says: ‘<i>If anyone willingly gives up something little, that is not all which he has given up, but he has forsaken everything which worldly men can gain and what they can even long for; for whoever has renounced his own will and himself has renounced everything, as truly as if he had possessed it as his own, to dispose of as he would</i>’. For what you choose not to long for, you have wholly forsaken and renounced for the love of God. That is why our Lord said: ‘<i>Blessed are the poor in spirit</i>’ (Matt. 5:3), that is, in the will. And no one ought to be in doubt about this; if there were a better form of living, our Lord would have said so, as he also said: ‘<i>Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself</i>’ (Matt. 16:24), as a beginning; everything depends on that. Take a look at yourself, and whenever you find yourself, deny yourself. That is the best of all." (4-6)Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-70643072161619276712018-05-21T09:00:00.000-07:002018-05-21T09:00:11.230-07:00BookPastor >> "God Among Sages" (Kenneth Richard Samples)<i>This review was published at Panorama of a Book Saint on July 5th, 2017.</i><br />
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TITLE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801016908/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0801016908&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=d6e8327680bd64a6dfac0e1b68b8c74f" target="_blank">God among Sages: Why Jesus Is Not Just Another Religious Leader</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=yapfaminvan-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0801016908" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
AUTHOR: Kenneth Richard Samples<br />
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: <u>Baker Books</u>, 2017, (288 pages).<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801016908/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0801016908&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=d6e8327680bd64a6dfac0e1b68b8c74f" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pYo5ajrEFIk/WOO734qIt0I/AAAAAAAAJ_0/1hk_fqtXUJQmUGXD4bvzs3KuYsV2b57-QCLcB/s320/GodAmongSages.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div>
Who is Jesus? Is he simply another religious leader like those of the other major religions of the world? Who does he claim he is? Is he God? This book sets out the facts and compares the various philosophies, religions, worldviews in this world of pluralistic thinking and beliefs. Author Kenneth Richard Samples asserts that Jesus is matchless throughout history in terms of his self-understanding; his identity; his way of life and consistency in teaching. Part One essentially deals with what Jesus talks about himself. Part Two deals with the lives and accomplishments of four major religions and then each is compared with Jesus. The four major religious leaders are Krishna (Hinduism); Buddha (Buddhism); Confucius (Confucionism); and Muhammad (Islam). Part Three goes beyond these four religions to cover a bigger sphere of the world's perspective on Jesus. This includes the different types of pluralistic beliefs; tolerance/intolerance; inclusivism/exclusivism; and many more. Simply put, this book is about understanding who the Person if Jesus is both to Christians, other religions, and the world at large. Though not all perspectives are covered, the selected ones represent a large proportion of the world.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>In reviewing Jesus' self-understanding, Samples combs the Bible to parallel Jesus' comparison with the Hebrew God of the Bible. Through the five divine prerogatives, he shows how Jesus refers to Himself as God. Through his lifestyle and practices on earth, Jesus shows himself as Truth, Compassion, Fellow Sufferer, Forgiving, Altruistic, and kind to many who are marginalized. Jesus is morally consistent and is often referred to as the Great Physician. He teaches powerfully. Samples also briefly talks about the historical views about Jesus with regard to the development of the creeds, the doctrines, the understanding of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and how Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. Due to the heavy use of Scriptures, he also defends the use of source and why the Bible is fully dependable and reliable.<br />
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It is interesting to see how others view Jesus. From Hinduism standpoint, readers get to understand the popular path of Bhakti spirituality, the concept of rebirth, the avatar, the person of Krishna, before comparing him with Jesus. The worldview differences are many even when comparing the two. The same approach is applied to Buddhism where we learn about the similarities and differences of Buddha and Christ. Key teachings include the Four Noble Truths; the Eightfold Paths; Nirvana; and a point by point comparison between Buddha and Jesus. Samples highlights the different perspectives on suffering, which is the key reason why many people embrace Buddhism in the first place. As far as Buddhism is concerned, life is suffering and the solution is detachment. In contrast, Jesus does not run away but walks with us even in the midst of suffering. On Confucius, we learn about the Confucian Canon; the philosophy of Five Moral Ideas (Ren; Li; Junzi; De; Wen). On Islam, he compares and contrasts Muhammad and Jesus, pointing out that they are the founders of the two most populous religions that are over a billion adherents. Both have Holy Scriptures and both share a lot of common things like importance of prayer, giving, and spiritual practices. He makes some comments with regard to the war on terrorism and points the finger at ideological conflicts. This statement alone raises the profound importance of books like this: Understanding.<br />
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As an apologetic, the main interest will probably be the Christian perspective of all the four major religions. Samples recognizes how objections and challenges can come from so many different angles. There are challenges from the <b>historic </b>front where he shows that the New Testament is historically reliable and textually trustworthy. There are lots of credible biblical and extra-biblical evidence on the physical existence of Jesus. He addresses skeptics like Bart Ehrman by showing us the earliest Christians, staunch Jewish monotheists recognized Jesus as divine. <b>Hinduism </b>challenges Christianity by saying that all gods are similar. Samples then takes time to point out significant differences in the avatars (cf: incarnation); extending favour (cf: grace); and forgiveneness (cf: atonement). <b>Buddhism </b>provides many good attributes of human behaviour and a strong philosophy of life. Unfortunately, the teachings of suffering, impermanence of all things; and the lack of a human soul bring the religion at odds with the claims of Christ. <b>Confucianism </b>too has many good teachings but is not compatible with Christianity's teachings about one God; human nature; and worldviews on ultimate reality and salvation. Arguably, one of the most formidable challenges come from <b>Islam </b>in history as well as numerical adherents. The secular world might even lump Islam and Christianity together and call them radicals negatively. Any Islamic links to terrorism can spill over to Christianity too on the basis of violence recorded in the Bible. Some good features of this comparison and contrast include:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Pointing out the strengths of each religion</li>
<li>Giving readers and overview of the history, uniqueness, and key features</li>
<li>Charts on worldview differences</li>
<li>Perspectives on Human Nature; Sin; the World</li>
<li>Suggestions for Evangelistic Encounters</li>
<li>Ways to Explain Christianity to each religious group</li>
</ul>
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The last part of the book deals with the challenges of pluralism: religious pluralism that see all religions as similar; and social pluralism that tolerates all kinds of religious expression to the point of assuming all are true. Such beliefs challenge the foundations of logical thought such as, how can two totally different religions ever be the same? Samples shows us how to decipher the different types of understanding on tolerance. It could very well be an attempt to belittle all religions and enshrine humanism and human subjective choices as supreme over all. There needs to be a proper way to respond to such errors. Samples shows us five ways to respond:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Affirm the existence of truth</li>
<li>Recognize that contradiction cannot be just swept aside as "similar"</li>
<li>Be persuasive about the claims of Christianity</li>
<li>Admit faults in Christian behaviour in the past</li>
<li>Witness to the truth of the gospel</li>
</ol>
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The summary of the claims of Jesus and the foundations of Christianity are then given at the final chapter to give readers a ready reference guide. This is a useful book for comparative religion and for training in how to speak and share the gospel with the different religions. Do not expect this book to turn you into some expert in the four major religions. The best thing is to be humble about our approaches and to be ready to defend our faith. Knowing the differences will help believers not to be so easily swayed by deceptive philosophies or erroneous religious thoughts. This is where this book could help. With the easy to understand tables and explanations, readers will be empowered to understand and to share. </div>
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Kenneth Richard Samples is senior research scholar at <a href="http://www.reasons.org/" target="_blank">Reasons to Believe</a>. He is a student of American history, holds a BA in History and Philosophy from Concordia University, and an MA from Talbot School of Theology. He has hosted radio programs like "The Bible Answer Man" and has published articles for <a href="http://christianitytoday.com/" target="_blank">Christianity Today</a>, <a href="http://www.equip.org/christian-research-journal/" target="_blank">Christian Research Journal</a>, and <a href="http://www.reasons.org/facts-faith" target="_blank">Facts for Faith</a>.<br />
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Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.<br />
<br />
conrade<br />
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<i>This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Books and Graf-Martin Communications without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.</i>Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-23218865052185470982018-05-16T09:00:00.000-07:002018-05-16T09:00:09.594-07:00Midweek Meditation: "Counsels on Discernment 2" (Meister Eckhart)<i>Continuing our series of meditation about counsels for discernment by the German mystic, Meister Eckhart, we look at the place of prayer. In the middle ages, one of the focuses of prayer is union with God. This is one of Eckhart's distinctive teachings. In prayer, we seek not the gifts but the Giver. As we read the writings, one of the thoughts that come to mind is about the beatitude, what it means to be poor in spirit.</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060750650/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060750650&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=f9d3f2e433473ea5944bf150719c0e39" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
TITLE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060750650/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060750650&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=f9d3f2e433473ea5944bf150719c0e39" target="_blank">Meister Eckhart: Selections from His Essential Writings (HarperCollins Spiritual Classics)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=yapfaminvan-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0060750650" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
PUBLISHER: New York, NY: <u>Harper-One</u>, 2005, (166 pages).<br />
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<b>Of the most powerful prayer, and of the highest work of all</b><br />
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The most powerful prayer, and almost the strongest of all to obtain everything, and the most honourable of all works, is that which proceeds from an empty spirit. The emptier the spirit, the more is the prayer and the work mighty, worthy, profitable, praiseworthy and perfect. The empty spirit can do everything.<br />
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What is an empty spirit?<br />
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An empty spirit is one that is confused by nothing, attached to nothing, has not attached its best to any fixed way of acting, and has no concern whatever in anything for its own gain, for it is all sunk deep down into God’s dearest will, and has forsaken its own. A man can never perform any work, however, humble, without it gaining strength and power from this.<br />
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We ought to pray so powerfully that we should like to put our every member and strength, our two eyes and ears, mouth, heart and all our senses to work; and we should not give up until we find that we wish to be one with Him who is present to us and whom we entreat, namely God. (4)Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-66312588389163491622018-05-14T09:00:00.000-07:002018-05-14T09:00:16.191-07:00BookPastor >> "Becoming Curious" (Casey Tygrett)<i>This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on June 23rd, 2017. </i><br />
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TITLE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0830846271/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0830846271&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=3abe4bdd1bebc494f09530941698f8de" target="_blank">Becoming Curious: A Spiritual Practice of Asking Questions</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=yapfaminvan-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0830846271" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
AUTHOR: Casey Tygrett<br />
PUBLISHER: Downers Grove, IL: <u>IVP</u>, 2017, (192 pages).<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0830846271/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0830846271&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=3abe4bdd1bebc494f09530941698f8de" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BDWINCuZiN8/WQ0EoOF-qvI/AAAAAAAAKBU/TVrmkLi5uiwnz8xb40xkF1CW7o2iDH8RwCLcB/s1600/BecomingCurious.jpg" /></a></div>
An elderly once said: "<i>The older I get, I realize I don't have more answers. I have more questions</i>." As our world increasingly gets more complex, questions have become the norm. Whether it is new technology or novel ways to doing the same thing, we need to keep learning, especially when more individuals are empowered to be creative and innovative. There are many different purposes of questions. The main use in this book is about cultivating and practicing the gift of curiosity. It is learning to comb the mass array of choices and information glut to pinpoint the necessary from the rest. Questions can sharpen our focus. It helps us ponder whether the status quo is worth preserving or not. These are "curious questions." Following that, author Casey Tygrett leads us through various ways in which we can put into practice such "curious questions"; what they are; how they look like; when to use them; and how it affects relationships; how it introduces tension especially when dealing with areas in our lives we are afraid to ask. Some tips for asking good questions include:<br />
<ul>
<li>Being specific</li>
<li>Being clear about different uses of imperative and invitation statements</li>
<li>Being repetitive using different words and phrases</li>
<li>Being bold about uncertainly</li>
<li>Being humble</li>
<li>Practicing "quaestio divina" or divine questioning</li>
<li>...</li>
</ul>
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<a name='more'></a>Curiosity is the essence of childlikeness. Moving this direction is a good counter to an increasingly know-it-all behaviours that often inhibit learning. Spiritually, it has to do with prayer as we can ask God questions about Him, us, and everything else. Asking questions also clarify our inner longings. When we verbalize something, we are also revealing ourselves to ourselves. Our culture of constant connection and relentless push for fame have ironically made us more alone and less aware of our own identity. Questions sharpen our understanding and motivation. They remind us of our call to love our neighbour and to know who they are. They move us out of our comfort zones and dare to question the status quo. They help us to crystallize reasons why we do certain things week after week, time after time. They also point us toward spiritual practices and the disciplines that keep us learning about God as disciples of Christ. The alternative to sainthood is not simply doing good works but honouring God and letting God shape us. Questions can make us uncomfortable especially when we are talking about matters we prefer to be hidden away in the corners of our hearts. One example is forgiveness which Tygrett helps us face. In order to change, openness is not enough. We need to know how to change as well. </div>
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This is a good reminder that spiritual growth means we learn to change and to grow into Christlikeness more and more. All those teachings about spiritual formation, spiritual direction, and spiritual guidance can be adopted using the practice of asking questions. In fact, the search for truth often go through the gates of questions. Sometimes, it is embarrassing that we need books like this to remind us of the very basic nature of questions and learning. The older we are, the more we need to learn. Such a disposition is life-long. Even of ourselves, there is still so much to discover. With probing questions and appropriate observations, we can grow to know ourselves even as we grow toward knowing God. It reminds me about the biblical references to asking. Jesus said: "Ask and you shall receive." James urges us to ask God for wisdom, and throughout the Old Testament, we are encouraged to ask freely and diligently. Learning to ask questions is a key attribute of childlikeness and an important way forward in spiritual growth. Perhaps the reason why many of us no longer grow is because we no longer ask questions. May this book be used to move more people along the path of holy curiosity and spiritual growth. It is because God loves us that when we ask questions of Him, He will be delighted.</div>
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Casey Tygrett is teaching pastor at Heartland Community Church in Rockford, Illinois. He is also spiritual director and adjunct professor and has taught at Lincoln Christian Seminary and Emmanuel Christian Seminary.<br />
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Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.<br />
<br />
conrade<br />
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<i>This book has been provided courtesy of Inter-Varsity Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.</i>Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-34835228722479958582018-05-09T09:00:00.000-07:002018-05-09T09:00:03.857-07:00Midweek Meditation: "Counsels on Discernment 1" (Meister Eckhart)<i>One of the most sought-after topics is discernment. What do I do with my life? What is my calling? How do I seek God for my decision making? Starting this week, we will be working through a series of counsels about discernment from the German mystic and spiritual writer, Meister Eckhart.</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060750650/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060750650&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=f9d3f2e433473ea5944bf150719c0e39" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
TITLE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060750650/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060750650&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=f9d3f2e433473ea5944bf150719c0e39" target="_blank">Meister Eckhart: Selections from His Essential Writings (HarperCollins Spiritual Classics)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=yapfaminvan-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0060750650" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
PUBLISHER: New York, NY: <u>Harper-One</u>, 2005, (166 pages).<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><b>About True Obedience</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">True and perfect obedience is a virtue above all virtues, and no work is so great that it can be achieved or done without this virtue; and however little and however humble a work may be, it is done to greater profit in true obedience, be it saying Mass, hearing it, praying, contemplating or whatever else you can think of. But take as humble a work as you like, whatever it may be, true obedience makes it finer and better for you. Obedience always produces the best of everything in everything. Truly, obedience never perturbs, never fails, whatever one is doing, in anything that comes from true obedience, for obedience neglects nothing that is good. Obedience need never be troubled, for it lacks no good thing.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "lora" , serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">...</span><br />
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In true obedience there should be no trace of ‘<i>I want it so, or so</i>,’ or ‘<i>I want this or that</i>,’ but there should be a pure going out from what is yours. And therefore in the best of all prayers that a man can pray, there should not be ‘<i>Give me this virtue, or that way of life</i>,’ but ‘<i><b>Lord, give me nothing but what you will, and do, Lord, whatever and however you will in every way</b></i>.’ That is superior to the first way of praying as the heavens are above the earth. And when one has concluded that prayer, one has prayed well, for then one has in true obedience wholly entered into God. And just as true obedience should have no ‘<i>I want it so</i>,’ so also one should not hear from obedience ‘<i>I do not want</i>,’ because ‘<i>I do not want</i>’ is a sure poison of all obedience. That is what Saint Augustine says: ‘<i>God’s faithful servant has no desire for people to say or to give to him, or what he likes to hear or see, for his first and his greatest aim is to hear what is most pleasing to God.</i>’ (3)Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-76027051046354309542018-05-07T09:00:00.000-07:002018-05-07T09:00:09.994-07:00BookPastor >> "Asking the Right Questions" (Matthew S. Harmon)<i>This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on June 6th, 2017.</i><br />
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TITLE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1433554291/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1433554291&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=8b474a987c5d7a9f612d7bc14343635f" target="_blank">Asking the Right Questions: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Applying the Bible</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=yapfaminvan-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1433554291" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
AUTHOR: Matthew S. Harmon<br />
PUBLISHER: Wheaton, IL: <u>Crossway</u>, 2017, (144 pages).<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1433554291/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1433554291&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=8b474a987c5d7a9f612d7bc14343635f" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="182" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c9TpHAlOc20/WS9Ts8cDq0I/AAAAAAAAKE4/fnvmnVIGNi8pPozlfsyvSaAWLDwfkAq9wCLcB/s1600/askingrightquestions.jpg" /></a></div>
While most believers do not dispute the importance of the Bible, many however are uncomfortable about studying the Bible for themselves. Some may think they lack certain theological training. Others may claim to be mere believers who lack guidance. Still there are many who may have been Christians for a long time but for various reasons, are unable to have a personal Bible breakthrough. I have met individuals who had faithfully attended Church for years but still find themselves inadequate in leading a Bible study. Is it for lack of knowledge, lack of courage, or both? Still, there are people who tried to lead but the whole gesture seemed like a case of the blind leading the blind. The Bible is indeed a big book and can be quite intimidating, especially for younger believers. This is where this book comes in. Author and Professor Matt Harmon aims to do the following:<br />
<ul>
<li>How do we figure out the big picture and the important ideas in the passages we read?</li>
<li>What is the context of the Bible?</li>
<li>What do we look for?</li>
<li>What is the Bible all about?</li>
<li>How do we ask questions of the Bible?</li>
<li>Specifically, what are the four simple questions to help us apply God's Word into our lives?</li>
</ul>
<a name='more'></a>I suppose the last point would interest many. As the title of the book suggests, this book is about asking the right questions that will help us along a better way to study and understand this ancient text. Harmon begins with the contexts, going through briefly the segments of Creation, Crisis, Covenants, Christ, Church, and Consummation. It's a nice way to remember. I would have thought we could include another "C" to make it a more complete 7. Some possible words are "Commitment" or "Children" which can be a way to emphasize discipleship and Christian living; or "Commandments" to hone in the Law proper. Anyway, the six Cs do fit nicely. These six themes or segments as the author puts it, will equip us and prepare us to ask the right questions. On reading the Bible, Harmon makes several intriguing observations. One of them is the part about imagining Jesus leading us through a Bible study through the Torah, the Prophets, and right through to the Historical Books. It is a fascinating overview using the way the foundational segments set forth before. Jesus often summarizes rather than quotes verbatim. The principles of reading the Bible are:<br />
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<ol>
<li>Seeing each passage from the perspective of Christ</li>
<li>How a saved people get sent out to proclaim the message of salvation to all</li>
<li>God is sovereign and has ordered world history accordingly toward redemption</li>
<li>Our focus as New Testament believers ought to focus on Jesus and the Word</li>
</ol>
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Contrary to what some believers think, the Bible was not written "to us" but to the hearers at that time. We are able to listen in and to learn to interpret what we read contextually. The Bible was written for our instruction, for our encouragement, and for giving us hope. Then comes the four foundational questions:</div>
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<ol>
<li>What Do We Learn About God?</li>
<li>What Do We Learn About Humanity?</li>
<li>What Do We Learn About Relating to God?</li>
<li>What Do We Learn About Relating to Others?</li>
</ol>
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Following that, the rest of the book is dedicated to putting these four questions to practice. Through and through, we learn about our fallen condition, our need for repentance, faith, and hope. Using code names for Fallen Conditions (FC) and Gospel Solution (GS) with regard to the four questions, we have a template for Bible study and application. Harmon even anticipates objections like difficult passages and points us to resources to help us. He explains some of the genres that help us interpret accordingly. Like an experienced teacher, he shows those of us who are in a teaching position to ask the right questions ourselves.</div>
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Do not be deceived by the simplicity of the whole book. It may seem quite a tall order to let four questions open up the whole Bible. We may even think whether these four questions are too crude for passages that require more surgical precision such as Bible exegesis and applied hermeneutics. Certainly there will be. Harmon has not promised that this book is for advanced readers, though it could be helpful from a pedagogical angle. What he has set forth is basically a simple way to equip the believer to take the next step of faith to begin eating solid food for themselves. They should be teachers already, like how Hebrews 5:12 had admonished some Jewish believers. This book excites me from a Bible teaching standpoint. Though many of the concepts are familiar, there is a certain freshness in the way Harmon puts it. I have some concerns though. It is quite a challenge for some passages to be compressed and forced into seeing Christ in the words. I think of the passages in the book of Job and the difficult passages in Leviticus. Without adequate biblical theology training, it is hard to systematize everything into seeing Christ in the difficult passages. Harmon has provided a six-segment framework to help us make sense of the big picture. Genre interpretation aids our asking of the right questions. Perhaps, use this book with a mentor or guide. That would be most profitable.</div>
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Matthew S. Harmon is Professor of New Testament studies at Grace College and Theological Seminary. He teachers New Testament Greek, Theology, and Biblical Backgrounds. His research interests include Biblical Theology, New Testament Use of the Old Testament, Pauline Theology, and Jonathan Edwards. He also serves on the Preaching Team at his local Church in Winona Lake.<br />
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Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.<br />
<br />
conrade<br />
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<i>This book has been provided courtesy of Crossway Publishers and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.</i>Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-5455894762528472382018-05-02T09:00:00.000-07:002018-05-02T09:00:01.605-07:00Midweek Encouragement: "Hymns vs Choruses" (Barry Liesch)Many of us have heard this time and again. Should we sing more hymns or contemporary music? Take time to read the excerpt from Barry Liesch's "The New Worship," which gives an interesting take on worship below.<br />
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Dianne Bowker, a scholar who is interested in how worship, theology, and the arts interface, cautions against falling into the trap of musical chauvinism, and her concern intersects with the spirit of these verses. "Musical chauvinism," she maintains, "consists of thinking of one's preferred style more highly than what we ought to. (See Rom 12:3).<br />
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Since I've spent so much time talking about hymns in this chapter, you may think I'm saying that hymns are better. Not really. I'm arguing for diversity, musically and textually. Hymns do some things better, and choruses do some things better, as the chart below suggests.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9UzK8jMgdJ4/Wnyl0duaJkI/AAAAAAAAKUU/fOOjwXpO4mcnF5tBuKdyMgMDbct53VKUgCLcBGAs/s1600/HymnsVsChoruses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="495" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9UzK8jMgdJ4/Wnyl0duaJkI/AAAAAAAAKUU/fOOjwXpO4mcnF5tBuKdyMgMDbct53VKUgCLcBGAs/s1600/HymnsVsChoruses.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Barry Liesch, <i>The New Worship</i>, Baker Books, 2001, p29)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-88813263787182445622018-04-30T09:00:00.000-07:002018-04-30T09:00:30.351-07:00BookPastor >> "The Old Testament is Dying" (Brent A. Strawn)<i>This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on June 9th, 2017.</i><br />
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TITLE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801048885/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0801048885&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=004f8b959ac0ae8296b0693af1dceac8" target="_blank">The Old Testament Is Dying: A Diagnosis and Recommended Treatment (Theological Explorations for the Church Catholic)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=yapfaminvan-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0801048885" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
AUTHOR: Brent A. Strawn<br />
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: <u>Baker Academic</u>, 2017, (336 pages).<br />
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It all began at a Bible class the author was teaching. When asked about Old Testament references to Jesus' words, his class responded with a blank. People might have claimed to believe the Old Testament as canonical scriptures. Unfortunately, their lack of knowledge and interest are disconcerting. For some, they would even say that "Old Testament is dead." Author Brent Strawn lists four 'hard data' reasons why it is not dead but dying. <b>First, many are increasingly religious, yet religiously illiterate.</b> Using a Pew Research Center data, evangelicals and mainline Christians score poorly in their religious knowledge. They are not even familiar with the big stories or details of fundamental truths of the Bible or their historic faith. A majority (over 80%) do not even know about the Reformation! This is disconcerting because such basic things are not even recalled correctly. Not only that, in a secular age where it is becoming unpopular to talk about religion in public circles, even religious people hardly talk about their faith. <b>The second concern is about sermons.</b> Based on collections of best sermons, there is a trend that shows us most preaching focus on the New Testament (four out of five). Not only that, whatever Old Testament texts quoted are not dealt in much detail relative to the New Testament passages. Among Old Testament passages, most popular are the Psalms, Genesis, and Isaiah. There is a general preference for familiar passages too. It comes as no surprise that unfamiliar passages from the Old Testament are taken up by professors or scholars of Old Testament, so-called experts. Strawn has high praise for preachers like Walter Brueggemann who preaches often and brings to life OT passages. <b>Third, the use of hymnody based on Psalms may look encouraging at first.</b> On closer look, the way many hymns had been phrased is a misrepresentation of what the psalms mean in their original contexts. Some writers pick and choose the types of Psalms used and are not familiar with what the Psalms actually mean when taken as a whole. According to research from W. Sibley Towner, contemporary use of the Psalms in hymns tend to be selective and functional. It is more about what works rather than what the Psalms are saying to us today. Being selective of some also means being neglectful of others. Indeed, it is worrying when man tries to take God's Word and manipulates it to mean more of what man wants rather than what God means. Misrepresentation leads to misinterpretation, which in turn will lead to misapplication. <b>Fourth</b>, Strawn examines the Revised Common Lectionary, the supposedly last bastion of hope for a more even coverage of both the Old and New Testaments. He also finds several things wanting and imbalanced in what is supposed to be a balanced work. Some readings are easily omitted by users. Certain weeks are focused on New Testament readings and preachers often for various reasons choose New Testament passages from the lectionary.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Just like a dying language, the Old Testament languages are increasingly unfamiliar with a modern audience with new linguistic skills. In linguistics, the pattern is that any dying language would go through a process of "repidginization" which are several steps away from the original and happens at the tail end of a language life cycle. Through oversimplification and reductionism, the original loses its former levels of inflections and nuances. When that happens, not only is there a loss of communications skills, there is also a loss of cultural understanding. Essentially, when the generation most familiar with the language die out, so does the language. From languages and linguistics, the author also highlights three further external factors contributing to the demise of the Old Testament. There is the challenge of the <b>New Atheists</b> who often ridicule the Old Testament for the "outdated" laws and stories. The lack of contextual understanding increases the perception that the Old Testament is no longer relevant for our modern age. Then there is the <b>"Marcionites Old and New"</b> that behaves like the early century Marcion, who caricatures the Old Testament as a "false, anti-godly" book when compared to the New Testament. Strawn highlights the rise of the "<b>Happiologists</b>" or the New Plastic Gospels that creates a whole new realm of understanding the Bible from the perspective of happiness, like Joel Osteen. Such prosperity gospel misinterprets the Old Testament and creates a whole new "Happy Testament."<br />
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Thankfully, Strawn's diagnostic chapters are accompanied by some recovery strategies. If nothing is done, the OT will die out in terms of disuse and misuse. We can record it. We can multiply the number of speakers of it. We can provide reasons for speaking it. Using the preservation of Hebrew is a case in point. Strawn points out that it is possible to learn to speak it as a "second language." He brings readers through bilingualism and "code-switching." He also anticipates objections to his thesis that the old testament is dying. Like how can canonical texts ever die? He shrewdly distinguishes the levels of understanding the canon: the perspective from religious bodies and the perspective from laypersons. He uses the state of the Apocrypha as a case in point, that language dies out for lack of use. There are ways to save the Old Testament. Through repetition, regular use, re-training, we can definitely revive the greater use of this ancient canonical texts.<br />
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Saying that the Old Testament is dying is definitely a bold statement. Strawn backs it up well with statistics, observations, plus others, especially from a cultural and a linguistic standpoint. His first few chapters that outlines the states of decay is particularly poignant for Church leaders, pastors, and preachers in general. he is spot on when he notes how many people claim to preach from the whole Bible but in practice, choose mainly the New Testament texts. Even the use of the Old Testament is limited to choice verses and popular passages. Most parts of the Old Testament are never truly preached upon for various reasons. Churches that preach only one testament over the other is like walking on just one leg. Hopefully, with this book, readers can be awakened to this important matter to learn to re-activate the use of the other leg. Lest it becomes too late for the succeeding generations. While he makes a powerful case to argue how the Old Testament is dying due to neglect and lack of use, it avoids the reasons why people are doing just that. Reasons such as the ones mentioned by Craig Blomberg about the external barriers in his book entitled, "<a href="http://booksaint.blogspot.com/2014/07/can-we-still-believe-bible-craig-l.html" target="_blank">Can We Still Believe the Bible?</a>" where he addresses the doubts and skeptics surrounding the reliability of the Bible. Many of the difficult issues include the need to explain the brutal genocide and violence that are attributed to a good God. For example: If God is so loving, why did He order the killing of so many people in the Old Testament books of Judges and Joshua? Perhaps, it is partly addressed or alluded to in the segment about the Fall of Man. For a book of this nature and size, readers will have to supplement themselves with other questions. Having said that, as far as Strawn is concerned, the issue is not about the reliability of the Bible but the lack of Old Testament literacy. For that reason, I applaud the effort and recommend this book for all. Long live the Old and New Testaments.<br />
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Brent A. Strawn is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Candler School of Theology. His research interests include near Eastern iconography, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the legal traditions of the Old Testament, and theological exegesis of Deuteronomy, Psalms, and biblical poetry. He is also ordained elder of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.<br />
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Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.<br />
<br />
conrade<br />
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<i>This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Academic and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.</i>Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-31591052689482988022018-04-25T09:00:00.000-07:002018-04-25T09:00:27.106-07:00Midweek Meditation: "On Success" (Billy Graham)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Billy Graham passed away on Feb 21st, 2018. Our world is constantly infatuated with all things success. Learn from Graham as he offers a different take.<br />
<ul>
<li>"Where do we get the notion that our idea of success and God's are the same? You have written a book; you are a clever manager and promoter; you are a talented artist; you are independently wealthy; you have achieved fame and fortune. Without the gifts of intelligence, personality, and physical energy - which are all endowed by God - where would you be?"</li>
<li>"Success stories may be great motivational material for sales seminars, but we are not always successful." </li>
<li>"Many of the wicked are receiving their wages now. Many Christians who may not be succeeding according to the world's standards now, will reap great rewards in heaven."</li>
<li>"Our world is obsessed with success. But how does God define success? Success in God's eyes is faithfulness to His calling."</li>
<li>"God measures people by the small dimensions of humility and not by the bigness of their capabilities."</li>
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Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-14448418115557764512018-04-23T09:00:00.000-07:002018-04-23T09:00:11.724-07:00BookPastor >> "Questioning Evangelism" (Randy Newman)<i>This review was first published at Panorama of a Book Saint on May 29th, 2017.</i><br />
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TITLE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0825444284/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0825444284&linkCode=as2&tag=yapfaminvan-20&linkId=2ed3f9232c26598b0eaf957a4977eb09" target="_blank">Questioning Evangelism: Engaging People's Hearts the Way Jesus Did</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=yapfaminvan-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0825444284" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
AUTHOR: Randy Newman<br />
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: <u>Kregel Publications</u>, 2017, (280 pages).<br />
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There was a time in which evangelism is about declaring the gospel outright, spouting out the promises of faith and the perils of non-belief. Then comes the popularity of apologetics where the skills of defending the gospel take on a more prominent role. The ministries such as RZIM and Lee Strobel's Reason for Faith help to fill in the increasing demand for training in defending the gospel. Building upon these two core skills of declaring and defending the gospel in evangelism, author Randy Newman zooms in on a third core skill appropriate for a postmodern climate: dialogue. It is about engaging people where they are. It asks the tough questions of life and goes beyond mere defending toward greater understanding. It prompts people to know that even Christians ask the same set of questions. Legitimate questions are never bounded by faith positions. In fact, learning to ask questions and to respond to them well is key to engaging people these days, just like Jesus did during His days. Use these questions as bridges to foster dialogue and sustain meaningful conversations.<br />
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Newman shares about the power of questions even as he deals with basic words such as "God," "love," "sin," etc. We tend to be easily frustrated when we struggle with finding out pin-point answers to complex questions. We can learn from the way of "Rabbinic Evangelism" where we respond to questions with questions. It is not simply to give a logical, rational answer, but to open up the conversation for open learning by all. We learn about Solomon's four lessons:<br />
<ol>
<li>Avoiding arguments</li>
<li>Recognizing a fool</li>
<li>Remembering people are people</li>
<li>Remembering the power of the tongue.</li>
</ol>
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Evangelism is not about winning arguments. It is about winning souls. Even though questions may not give us answers, they can pave the way for meaningful responses. Newman gives us five principles and five operative questions to help us along. They cover a wide variety of possibilities which would open up the conversation. Through the process, we can also uncover important questions asked by many in the secular and atheistic culture:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>"Why are Christians so intolerant?"</li>
<li>Why does a good God allow evil and suffering?</li>
<li>Why does God allow 9/11 to happen?</li>
<li>Why should anyone believe in an ancient book?</li>
<li>"Why are Christians so homophobic?"</li>
<li>"What's so good about marriage?"</li>
<li>"If Jesus is so great, why are some of His followers such jerks?"</li>
<li>...</li>
</ul>
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Many of these questions are also difficult for Christians to deal with directly. Sometimes, the best answer when we don't know how to respond is to admit we don't know. The final part of the book touches a little bit about that when questions and answers alone are no longer enough. It is good to be able to dialogue in the open, but there are journeys in which every individual would have to take and decide for themselves. Such questions include matters of the will rather than reason or in matters of the heart instead of the head. There is also a time where the best thing to do is to be quiet. Notice how Jesus refused to answer some of the taunts and jests by the religious leaders of His day? Throughout the entire book, Newman gives us examples of how Jesus had dealt with opposition and issues during His day. Jesus uses a host of skills to deal with threats and traps. He uses Rabbinic style of replying to questions with questions. He often points people toward the more eternal things of life. He does not mince his words when proclaiming truth. The author believes that the way of "Questioning Evangelism" is essentially the way of Jesus. Jesus adopts all forms of declaration; defending; and dialogue.<br />
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There are many issues addressed in the book. One of the main areas is how to respond to skeptics and critics in an increasingly hostile climate. One can respond to the hypocrite charge with a simple question, "Do you seriously think that ALL Christians are hypocrites?" One can seek to understand the reasons behind the charge through questions that open up bridges of understanding. There is no need to jump to any defense because truth can defend itself. When dealing with questions that have no immediate answer, we could approach it with compassion. One of the most moving parts of the book is in how we differentiate anger from contempt. Newman quotes Dallas Willard's brilliant take on the Sermon on the Mount:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<i>In anger I want to hurt you. In contempt, I don't care whether you are hurt or not. Or at least so I say. You are not worth consideration one way or the other. We can be angry at someone without denying their worth. But contempt makes it easier for us to hurt them or see them further degraded.</i>"</blockquote>
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There are many other examples on how to deal with our angry self and when we simply have no words to say. In our day and age, books like this will increasingly be relevant. No longer are people open to unilateral declarations of the gospel. They want their voices to be heard. They are not content to simply hear the gospel proclaimed but to deal with the bad news occurring all around us. They are more open to conversation with people who care to listen. This book paves the way for us to do just that. <br />
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Randy Newman is the senior teaching fellow for evangelism and apologetics at the CS Lewis Institute in Washington DC. After serving over thirty years at Campus Crusade for Christ, he started Connection Points to equip Christians on matters of evangelism. He specializes in helping people of diverse backgrounds on issues of faith.<br />
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Rating: 4.75 stars of 5.<br />
<br />
conrade<br />
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<i>This book has been provided courtesy of Kregel Publications as part of their blog tour event without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.</i>
Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14547775.post-84002185412270539412018-04-18T09:00:00.000-07:002018-04-18T09:00:03.656-07:00Midweek Meditation: "On Religion" (Billy Graham)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Billy Graham passed away on Feb 21st, 2018. He has seen many decades of cultural change. One of the most difficult is the postmodern period of skepticism and doubt. Hear what Graham has to say about religion.<br />
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<li>"Something distinguishes Christianity from all the religions of the world. Not only does it carry the truth of the redemption, by the death of our Savior for our sins on the cross, but it carries the fact that Christ rose again."</li>
<li>"We see that humanism has become for many a polite name for a vocal, aggressive, influential crusade against religion in the name of social and moral advance. There is nothing new about humanism. It is the yielding to Satan's first temptation of Adam and Eve: 'Ye shall be as gods.' Genesis 3:5"</li>
<li>"There are many bibles of different religions; there is the Mohammedan Koran, the Buddhist Canon of Sacred Scripture, the Zoroastrian ZendAvesta, and the Brahman Veda . . . they all began with some flashes of true light, and end in utter darkness. Even the most casual observer soon discovers that the Bible is radically different. It is the only Book that offers redemption to us and points the way out of our dilemma."</li>
<li>"Nothing seems to satisfy. Not politics, not education, not material goods. Some who refuse to turn their hearts toward God have created the New Age movement, with all of its aberrations. This is actually not new but only the latest attempt by man to place something other than Christ inside himself in a futile attempt to satisfy spiritual longings."</li>
<li>"Some Christian leaders . . are willing to give up some of the teachings of the Bible in order to harmonize Christianity with the other religions."</li>
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Conrade Yap, (Dr)http://www.blogger.com/profile/12256834680709396244noreply@blogger.com0