The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Sterns

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I sat down to read this book.  Richard Sterns is the new CEO of World Vision International.  In my life I was blessed to have known about World Vision from someone very closely associated with the founder, Bob Pierce.  I have watched and been impressed with their ministry to the poor.

The first part of this book describes Richard Sterns battle with himself in yielding to the Lord’s Will and accepting the job as the CEO of World Vision.  He did not feel qualified or prepared in a Theological or Non-profit Organization way.  He was the CEO of a company that produced fine china and tableware.  He had good organizational skills for a For Profit company, but how would that translate to World Vision.

Also, he did not feel spiritually or theologically prepared.  He fought the process at every step.  What was amazing was to read about the confirmations that were placed in his path as the process proceeded.  Also, to see how Satan attempted to throw a huge obstacle in the way of God’s will, the obstacle of pride and wealth.  To Sterns credit he was so seeking the Lord that he would eventually agree to take on this position and serve the poor as his Savior requested.

Starting in part II Stearns talks about Isaiah 58 and Matthew 25 and the teaching that comes through here regarding serving the poor and helpless.  He does a great job of declaring the message that was so on the heart of Christ and the Father.  Serving the poor, the hungry, the widow, the orphan and the sick is what the Lord desires for his people to do.  Our true belief in Christ will show it self in our tangible outward actions.  Unfortunately for many of us our outward actions still ignore the poor and destitute, because they make us uncomfortable. 

Sterns pointed out in the beginning of the book about a group of students who took their Bibles and marked all of the references that the Bible has in regards to the poor, the widow, the needy and also about justice.  The result, a huge portion of scripture deals with these topics.  One of those students then took a Bible and cut out every reference they had marked.  What was left?  Well, what was left was a Gospel message with a huge hole in it.  What a great visual graphic

Sterns paraphrased Matthew 25 in this way, “For I was hungry, while you had all you needed.  I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water.  I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported.  I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes.  I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness.  I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.”

Ok, so that really helps bring the message home.  You might be asking yourself, is this book just a book intended to make me feel guilty?  Is it a device to make me give a donation to relive my feelings of guilt?  My answer to those questions, NO.  

If you feel guilty, maybe it’s because you have not thought about the poor.  Maybe you have turned a blind eye to those in need.  Maybe you are living more like a Pharisee than like a Disciple.

I believe you will learn much from this book.  I think it will challenge you to look at others around you differently.  It will help you ask the question, is there a hole in the Gospel that I preach, teach and demonstrate through my life.

There have been many Christians and even Denominations that have taken this message though and gone overboard and become nothing more than a social concerns network or agency.  Don’t make that mistake.  Just recognize that we have ignored a major portion of the Gospel message and we need to get back to addressing it.  But be sure to do it from a heart of compassion that is sold out to Jesus not a heart of guilt that is worry about making it into heaven through good works.

I have a question: What do you think?

Read through my recent blog regarding the book Republocrat.

Here is the question, "What level of involvement do you think a Christian ought to have in politics?"

Maybe a follow up question is, "Can a Conservative Christian vote for a Democrat?"

Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative, by Carl Trueman

I appreciate professor Trueman's view of political life in America. Being a Brit who now lives here he does bring a good unbiased look at how we Chrisitans have seemed to migrate to just one particular political party. Why do we do that? Because it is the conservative party that most holds to our Theological views. Professor Trueman is challenging that view in his thesis. 

If you love Bill O'Riley and Fox news you are going to be frustrated with Trueman. But I would suggest that you take a deep breath, count to 10 and then ponder what he is saying and decide whether his point of view holds any merit. 

He does take equal shots at MSNBC and what we consider the Liberal Media. So at times you are left to ask, what is he trying to prove. 

For me I think a large task is to help remind us that God has a heart for the poor, the widows and the orphans. The Bible often has views that would probably be more socialist than capitalist. We as Christians need to be more careful how we view the political parties and as Professor Trueman would push us, we need to study, understand the Bible and take a stance on issues rather than on one party or the other. This works itself out in the fact that instead of voting a straight party line you might actually vote for candidates from multiple parties at one election because those individual candidates best reflect your Biblically held views. 

I don't like all that Trueman has to say, but he has helped me to understand abp bit better why many of my much younger colleagues voted differently than me in the last election. 

Let us return to being a people who are well read, understand our Bibles and take direction from the Holy Spirit when it comes to our view of politics and government. 

This book is a very quick read that will actually take you a long time to get through if you stop to really digest what Trueman is saying. You won't necessarily agree with all he says, but you need to seriously give consideration to his thesis. 

Enjoy!

Think, by John Piper

John Piper uses two main texts to discuss the topic of thinking.  They are from Proverbs 2 and 2 Timothy 2. According to these two texts, insight and understanding are what we should be seeking and what God desires to make known to us. 

Piper puts forth the premise that many people feel that the Holy Spirit being the source of all life and truth means that we do not have to do the important work of thinking, just rely on the Holy Spirit to reveal knowledge to us.

But through Pipers good exegesis we will find that the power of thinking is actually an act of bringing honor and glory to God by using His word and His creation to come to understand who He is and to learn how to love Him and His people.

Piper acknowledges that there are many other books on the market by good theologians that do a good job of discussing “Thinking.”  So, why does he write his book?  He wanted to put together a shorter treatise on thinking that would examine it from a very Biblical orientation by looking at several main texts.

In Piper’s own words, “The aim of this book is to encourage serious, faithful, humble thinking that leads to the true knowledge of God, which leads to loving him, which overflows in loving others.”

As you will read you will be challenged to realize that “thinking is indispensable on the path to passion for God.”  But also reminded that “thinking, without prayer, without the Holy Spirit, without obedience, without love will puff up and destroy (I Cor. 8:1).”

In Chapter three Piper will expound that “Reading is Thinking”.  We don’t just read a text and move on, but we need to read a text and then ponder it, delve into it, ask ourselves what the writer really wanted us to hear and understand and then seek the Holy Spirit on how to apply what we learn to our lives.  Reading is active not passive.  Reading is work.  Thinking is work.

Throughout the rest of the book Piper will examine and expound on the topics of Relativism, the difference between subjective and pragmatic thinking, arguments for and against intellectualism and anti-intellectualism.

For me Chapter nine was one of the most enlightening chapters.  The challenged Piper set forth was that often intellect is pitted against feelings and emotions.  For me a very feeling  / emotion oriented person that caused me to pause and think through, do I frown on intellectuals because they go against my emotions, or should I be encouraged by them because they do the hard work of actually “Thinking”?

Piper will leave you encouraged that it is hard work to “Think”, but it is essential work if we are to understand and know God and love Him completely and then in turn love people as well.

This is a short quick read, but one that you will ponder for long periods as it challenges you to confront whether or not you are sloppy in your thinking and thus sloppy in your walk with Christ, or are you careful and reflective in your reading / thinking and thus coming to Know God in a way that brings Him Honor and Glory.

Enjoy!

City of Man by Michael Gershon and Peter Wehner

Gerson and Wehner are two former White House staff members under the presidency of George W. Bush. These men were staff writers who helped to craft policy and the statements to the public about those policies. They are both conservative and they are both Evangelical Christians. 

Their book is unapologetically Evangelical and Conservative. Their goal is to give Evangelical Christians a wake up call to their need to become involved in the political and moral life of the communities and the country that they live in. 

In their conclusion of the book they state that they hope they have providing three broad propositions to the Evangelical Christian Community. Those are; 
1. Politics is the realm of necessity 
2. Politics is the realm of hope and possibility 
3. Politics can be the realm of nobility 

It is their premise that Christians should be decided vocal about politics and become more involved in helping form and shape the political landscape of our country. 

Chapter 1 of the book takes us on an exploration of Religion and Politics and whether they are friends or enemies. I think they do a good job of addressing the Biblical aspects of why we need governments and that God is not opposed to the formation of governments. They explore also how governments ought not be formed with an absence of religious thought, but should give consideration to the moral values that religion brings to society. 

Chapter 2 gives a history of the Religious Right and does a good job, I think, of showing the good and the bad inherent in what happened with the Religious Right. The movement wasn't bad, but it did birth some individuals who tended to take more pleasure in their power than what was prudent, Biblical or necessary. But the movement itself was not poor. 

Chapter 3 gives their view of what "A New Approach" ought to be now that the Religious Right has had it's moment in the sun. 

The final chapters are very good in regards to Human Rights, Morality and the Role and Purpose of the State. I specifically enjoyed Chapter 5. I felt it had the most nuggets of gold for what I was looking for. The following quote was my favorite from the book, "A wise government, constructed around a true view of human nature, thus creates the conditions necessary to allow the great mass of the people to live well and to flourish, the enjoy both order and liberty, to live under the protection of the state without being suffocated by it." 

This book gave a good introduction to the need for us to be aware of our politic culture and able to articulate our beliefs and disagreements. 

I think a good reference tool for Christians looking for a Biblical answer to the social questions and political questions we face today will be found in Wayne Grudem's book on "Politics". 

But I think thoughtful Evangelicals will enjoy this book for the concepts that it promotes for us. 

Enjoy.

Politics According to the Bible by Wayne Grudem

This is a fantastic reference book for any Christian who is wondering what the Bible has to say about Politics, Governments, our involvement and Social Concerns for our day.  With the current political state of our country I have grown increasingly concerned about what we as Christians should do and say.

There is so much discussion about the Separation of Church and State yet I don't think that most of our politicians understand what our Founding Fathers were truly after.  The separation as I see it was that the State (government) was to not intrude on the exercise of religion.  BUT, people with religious values were to be active and strongly involved in shaping our government, culture, communities, social structures, etc.

Bottom line, the government should not tell Pastors what to preach, but Pastors and Christians should be able to tell politicians what we want done in the government.

Anyway, Wayne Grudem's book is a great place for you to start to re-engage in the political process.  To learn how we as Christians should view our government and the governments of other counties and what our responsibilities should be to be involved and active.  You will also enjoy reviewing the many social concerns that Grudem covers in the last two thirds of the book.

You won't always agree, but you will be challenged to think.

Let me know what you think our involvement with government should be.

God bless,