A Way Through the Wilderness, by Rob Renfroe

Rob Renfroe gives us a wonderful discourse on what it means Biblically to go through a time of "Wilderness" in our walk with Christ. You will recall that Jesus was immediately driven by the Holy Spirit into the Wilderness for forty days after his baptism by John the Baptist. During this time he fasted and prayed. But also during this time he was tempted by Satan in an attempt to get him to stumble.

Jesus withstands the temptations by Satan and gives us a good example of how we should respond when we are driven into the "wilderness." But Jesus isn't the only example. What about Moses when he flees Egypt and goes into the region of Midian for forty years? Or what about the children of Israel when they are delivered out of Egypt but then face a wilderness wandering of their own for forty years?

Each of these examples gives us information on how we should respond when we are driven out into the wilderness in our lives.I think that my favorite chapter in this short book is chapter 5, "Avoiding Wrong Turns in the Wilderness." Renfroe gives us a good discussion on how we need to depend on God to take us through the wilderness, and how often we make wrong turns when we try to short-cut the wandering by following our own direction instead of God's.

This is a very quick read. It is only 140 pages long, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't hold good solid truths that will aid us in our growth in our Christian walk. I think that everyone will gain some benefit from reading through this book. I would suggest that you maybe read it as part of a Book Club reading assignment and then spend time discussing the topics of each chapter with your friends.

Enjoy!

Core Christianity, by Michael Horton

This is a very good primer for Biblical Doctrine. The short ten chapters take us through a variety of subjects and deal with major doctrinal themes, but it does so using very simple terms so that laymen and scholars alike will have no trouble determining what Michael Horton wants us to understand.

Horton starts with a quick discussion of why Doctrine truly matters. He has a simple premise in the "Getting Started" section, he writes, "If God exists, then he is the author of the story that includes you. The gospel -- 'good news'-- that the Christian faith proclaims is either true or false, but it cannot be walled off into a safe room of cuddly bears and the favorite blanket of childhood. Its validity does not depend on how well it works for you, how it makes your life more meaningful, or how it gives you moral direction and inspirational motivation. Instead the gospel is a very particular claim based upon events that happened in datable history with significance for the entire cosmos."

So, if God exists then HIStory needs to be understood. That means that we need a clear understanding of Doctrinal issues in relationship to the Bible and thus in relationship to our lives.

The ten chapters will take us through several issues:
     1. Jesus is God
     2. God is Three Persons
     3. God is Great and Good
     4. God Speaks
     5. God Made the World but We've Made a Mess of It
     6. God Made a Promise
     7. Joy to the World
     8. Jesus is Lord
     9. What Are We Waiting For?
    10. In the Meantime: Callings
AFTERWARDS: Tying it All Together

My favorite chapter is chapter 5, God made the world but we've made a mess of it. That is so true. The mess was not just Adam and Eve's mess, it is our continuing mess. We are not very good at following the directions that God gave us, and thus we mess things up.

This book is a great discussion started for any small group. Taking one Chapter a week will take you through any quarter of the year with a curriculum that will reach into your hearts and lives and help you learn Doctrine and make sense of the history that God has given to us.

Enjoy!