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As Good Friday and Easter (otherwise known as Resurrection Sunday at CBC) approaches, we as Christians should prepare ourselves by meditating on Jesus Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection.  During this time of busyness, it is easy to get caught up in family, traditions, egg hunts, and dress clothes.  However, these things should not distract from focusing on and teaching our kids the truth of what Jesus endured on the cross for our sake.  

Therefore in the next few weeks, I highly encourage you to read a wonderful little book by Frederick Leahy called "The Cross He Bore".  I'm still reading through it currently, but so far it has been an excellent and theologically rich devotional on Christ's sacrifice for us.  It causes me to worship and be thankful to Him who gave up Himself for me.  There are 13 chapters, and perfect as a 2 week devotional leading up to Easter/Resurrection Sunday.  

This book is available in the Calvary Book Nook for $5. 

At some time throughout the year, we come across a certain book that surprises us for our good with a certain power that is unexpected.  David Helm’s One-to-One Bible Reading was an unexpected treat on discipleship and its primary focus in the life of a believer in the world and in the local church.  Throughout this book, Helm argues that the key to discipleship is the centrality of community based Bible reading.  He shares the same vision as the authors who wrote The Trellis & the Vine:

Imagine if all Christians, as a normal part of their discipleship, were caught up in a web of regular Bible reading—not only digging into the Word privately, but reading it with their children before bed, with their spouse over breakfast, with a non-Christian colleague at work once a week over lunch, with a new Christian for follow-up once a fortnight for mutual encouragement, and with a mature Christian friend once a month for mutual encouragement.

It would be a chaotic web of personal relationships, prayer and Bible reading—more of a movement than a program—but at another level it would be profoundly simple and within reach of all.

It’s an exciting thought (p. 12)! 

Helm unpacks this vision—what it is, and how to do it, in less than 100 pages.  Realistically, he helps you identify (with) non-believers, new Christians, and established Christians in your life.  Personally, he helps you engage, befriend, and mentor the various people in your life toward Christlikeness.  Technically, he helps you develop a consistent movement of simple fellowship and gospel-transformation that revolves around the Word. 

With tons of valuable examples, interpreting frameworks, reading plans, print/copy resources, and more, any Christian will be left ready to enter into a healthy and vibrant discipleship relationship that will advance the gospel for the kingdom of God.  This helpful little book is available in our bookstore.  I highly recommend it!  Every disciple of Jesus can do this or do something like it!

Live will truly be empty if you as a creature do not come to know your Creator God. How is it that people do not take God seriously?

Here is the worldly reasoning that leads to life being meaningless:

• There is no God.
• If there is no God, there is no Judge
• If there is no Judge, there is no final Judgement
• If there is not final Judgement, there is no meaning to life.

This leads to the logical conclusion: "I die, and that's it." But, here is Solomon's reasoning:

• God exists.
• He is the creator.
• If he is the creator then he is the judge
• If there is a judge, then there is a final judgement
• If there is a final judgement, then everything we do matters.

Without God, life is reduced to a hollow drag, an empty existance.

If Solomon ended Ecclesiastes before this final section, then life would be a dismal, meaningless excercise. But he does not end there! In this section, he shows us his ultimate conclusion, which is that, with God, everything matters.

In this conclusion, the Preacher intends to show us that he has exhaustively investigated the question of life's meaning, and reached the end of the matter, so that we don't have to.

5 Reasons why Solomon's research on the meaning of life should be considered "the end of the matter"

1. The skill in which he taught (Ecclesiastes 12:9). It was an exhaustive search, carefully weighed and proverbs carefully constructed.
2. The words in which he chose (Ecclesiates 12:10). He chose delightful words, words easily grasped, dependable, and accurate.
3. The intention of the preacher in writing this message (Ecclesiates 12:11). The message was intended to poke and prod (goads and nails) to think about the right thoughts and actions, to keep moving us in the direction of truth. The goads include: the brevity of life, the inability to predict the future, the meaninglessness of work, prosperity of the wicked, the risk of all endeavors, the restrictions of old age, the emptiness and horror of death, the human inability to figure out God, and judgement. These are intended to nail down the truth so that it would poke your soul.
4. The warning of the preacher (Ecclesiates 12:12). He's saying: be warned about all the different teaching out there, most of which leads to folly, emptiness, disillusionment, and death. Be careful of the teaching that promises to give all the answers to life's problems. The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom;if you don't start there, you don't have any knowledge or wisdom.
5. The conclusion of the preacher (Ecclesiates 12:13-14). Everything matters! So:Why? Ecclesiastes 12:14 gives the reason: God will bring every act to judgement. God will judge every act, even secret acts.
   • Fear God. (Ecclesiates 12:13) The first appropriate kind of fear is terror, the second appropriate kind of fear is awe and reverence. Both are necessary, in that order. The gospel message is first the wrath of God (Luke 12:4), and only then the love of God. (Proverbs 16:6; Proverbs 19:23)
   • Obey God. (Ecclesiates 12:13)

Where does a message like this lead us? If all will be brought to judgement, since we are all guilty, what can we do?

This message leads us straight to the foot of the cross! Christ, our Substitute, died on the cross for us, bearing the Divine judgement for all believers. God is just to forgive every sinner that comes to Him on the basis of Calvary. That is where Ecclesiastes ultimately leads us!

The major point in Ecclesiates: 1. Find God early in your life, 2. Fear God during your life, 3. Rest in Christ at the end of your life.

Last year, I stumbled upon a rare jewel, called, Repentance, by C. John Miller (a.k.a. Jack).  As I began reading this thin book, I soon realized how thick the implications were!  It is obvious that this book is about ‘repentance’, but how extraordinary it might appear in our Christian lives.  It is possible that there is more to repentance than we ever imagined.    

I believe this is part of what makes this work unique.  This is not a mere textbook on self-denial.  It is a passionate plea from a broken-hearted pastor who lives a life of repentance with all of his heart.  In it, Jack shows how the Christian life begins and ends with repentance in order to get more of God.  Repentance has to do with enjoying God and cherishing your acceptance through Jesus Christ.  Like a spiritual doctor, he helps to diagnose the self-righteousness that obscures God's grace and blocks God's presence in our life.     

I love some of the opening lines in the book; words of warmth from start to finish:

What we all desperately need to see is that the love of a holy God is manifested covenantally at the cross.  In the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, the Father promises to receive contrite sinners on a daily—no, hourly—basis.  The cross says, ‘No matter what your sins, unlimited mercy is available to those who turn to God through Jesus’ merits’.  Thus, at Calvary we behold the infinite nearness and compassion of the infinitely majestic God (11-12).

I can’t tell you how timely this book was for me.  It is truly a treasure to cherish and read again and again.  Read this!     

What happens when you weave the Exodus story, the gospel story, and real stories of suffering from real people?  You get this book: Redemption: Freed by Jesus from the Idols We Worship & the Wounds We Carry, by Mike Wilkerson.

This was the most honest, raw, and personally hard-hitting book I read last year.  I have never read a book like this one.  In 200 pages, Wilkerson shows how the redemption of Jesus Christ is far greater than all of our sufferings, shame, guilt, and idolatry.  It is case study rich, smothered with Scripture, and completely gospel-centered.  With great discussion questions at the end of each chapter, you may read this book with a group or with a friend. 

I was moved to tears as I read about real people who were defeated by their shame, lusts, and sufferings.  I could identify with their stories and so can you.  Their stories were a good reminder that redemption is not just something to be experienced as a singular monumental event of the past but for everyday.  Everyday, Jesus wants to liberate us from everything that holds us back from real peace, joy, and holiness.

Like every good story, there is a kind of Exodus to be celebrated that turns tears of pain into tears of joy.  If you read this, you will be drawn to see the glory of God’s grace triumph in the lives of spectacular sinners.  You will see how God wants to make much of His redemption through your life.  Read this powerful book!

If you want, you may read the first 28 pages here.

The book of Psalms begins with the way back to Eden. In it, we are confronted with two ways to live...but only one way that is blessed, leading back to Eden. But you can't live this blessed life! Your only hope is to be connected to Jesus, who did live this way. This is really a "Jesus" Psalm.

4 Charcteristics of the Blessed Life from Psalm 1:1-6

1. Wisdom (Psalm 1:1)
   • The Word of God is the way to wisdom.
   • Wisdom has to do with all of the areas of your life, private and public.
   • Wisdom has to do with the way that you think, the way that you behave, your identity.
   • There is a natural progression from walking, to standing, to sitting (or taking on the identity of). Adam and Eve walked in the counsel of the serpent, then stood in the way of the serpent, then sat in the seat of the serpent.
   • Embracing the counsel of sinners will lead to death.
   • Avoid folly in your relationships!
   • Of course, you can do neither of these things perfectly..only Jesus can, and the fact that he did is credited to your account (if you are a believer).
2. Delighting in the Word (Psalm 1:2)
   • Real delight comes from the law of the Lord.
   • Instead, we often sin because we want to...we delight in sin.
   • In actuality, the Bible isn't a set of rules, but a guide to liberty.
   • The law is a celebration of Jesus's righteous life.
   • The law is a spiritual ideal that only Jesus can meet.
   • Jesus satisfied the spiritual ideal for you. He is the reason why the commands of God are not burdensome.
   • The more you delight and rest in Jesus, the more you will naturally desire and delight in God's law.
   • Some simple ways you can rekindle your joy to God's Word: 1. Pick a time (e.g., sometime in the morning). 2. Pick a spot. 3. Memorize. 4. Pray the Bible. 5. Pray Psalm 119. 6. Discipleship.
3. Prosperity (Psalm 1:3)
   • If you do the above, you will be transformed into a prosperious tree.
   • 3 indications that you are becoming a prosperous tree: 1. you will become stronger. 2. You will be fruitful. 3. You become triumphant.
   • Jesus is the one who has perfect strength, fruit, and prosperity. We should rest in this!
   • The wicked do not prosper (Psalm 1:4-5). Farmers would toss grain into the air after the harvest ... the wind would blow away the chaff and the grain would remain and fall to the floor.
   • Just like this, sinners will be separated from the assembly of the righteous.
   • But if all your hope is on the one who was firmly planted, you will not be blown away (in and of yourself, you would be blown away!)
4. You are known by God (Psalm 1:6)
   • Many people think they know God ... but does God know you?
   • Jesus closes his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:13-14 in a similar way.
   • You deserve to be forgotten by God, to perish, but he does not forget a sinner like you, because of Jesus.

Christ is the fulfillment of Psalm 1. There are two ways to live. There is only one way to Eden. Jesus is that way. Rest in him.

I love reading books with my wife.  Last year we had the great pleasure of reading Francis Chan’s book, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit.  If there is anything that we as evangelicals tend to be unclear about in our thinking, it has to do with the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.  Chan makes this case: we have simply forgotten or neglected the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians.    

He is right.  This is why the Church of Christ does not tend to be marked with power.  After reading this book, I came to terms with all the misconceptions I had of the third Person in the Trinity both theologically and personally.  The more I think about the message from the book, the more I am challenged to remember His power and influence upon my life in and through everything.       

Chan’s passionate communication of the Bible bleeds all over these pages.  The most unique feature to this book are the short biographies of real Christian men and women who have demonstrated the power of the Spirit in their lives through love for others, suffering, joy, risk-taking, and stepping out in faith.  Chan’s greatest strength is his ability to be so personal and so simple in helping you to see the ways you might be neglecting the Spirit in your life.  In particular, Rebekah and I have gained so much from the chapter on following God’s will with the Spirit’s leading.  I really recommend it. 

Here is Francis Chan, explaining more of what this book is about.  Enjoy!