The CSB Worldview Study Bible: answering the important questions of life.

Everybody, whether they know it or not, has a worldview. Our worldview is the belief system that helps us to answer life’s important questions; it helps us make decisions, and guides the way we think. Unfortunately for many people, that worldview is more defined by the world, than the view. People tend to act based on what the world dictates rather than how they think they view the world.

                Many people that I know are convinced that they are Christian, and that their worldview is definitively a Christian one. The only problem is that sometimes their (and my) actions don’t align with what the Bible suggests. So I was excited to be able to participate in Lifeway’s blogger program for the CSB Worldview Study Bible.

                The CSB (Christian Standard Bible) has been out for a little over a year. It’s an easy to read, and as far as I can tell, fairly accurate translation. It falls close to the middle of the Word-for-word/thought-for-thought scale.  But it’s not the Bible that I’m reviewing, it’s this particular Study Bible.

                I used the handy index to the essays, and was pleased to find that they were co-located with the passages in the Bible that ask/answer questions that we all have to deal with.  Things like who is God, who is Jesus, who is the Holy Spirit. And we’re faced with questions about creation, abortion, LGBT issues, other religions, psychology, spiritualism, animism, adoption, education, and a host of other things.

                Because these essays are written by over 100 scholars, they were easier or harder for me to read and understand, but in their totality they paint a vivid picture of what Scripture teaches us.

Like many other bibles, there is commentary/explanation at the bottom of the page, and in the center column there are references to other passages. There is also a time line for each chapter, and a brief synopsis of the chapter: how it came to be written, some background, and how it ties into the whole of Scripture.  There is also a section in the introduction to each book called “Christian Worldview Elements” that includes a summary of the teachings about God, Humanity and Salvation that are found in that particular book.

                I received a copy of this Study Bible from the publisher in exchange for participating in the Lifeway Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review.

5/5

A relationship can start in that first 42 Seconds

I was looking for a way to teach people to share their love for Jesus with family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and yes even those strangers you might meet at the grocery store or on an airplane. So when the title of this book came across my computer, I was curious.  I’m not sure if 42 Seconds: the Jesus Model for Everyday Interactions by Carl Medearis (NavPress, 2018) is destined to become the classic textbook for the topic, but it was definitely a fun read, and has a lot of good information.

The basic premise is that according to a non-scientific study (Medearis and a friends identified all of Jesus’ conversations in the Gospels, read them aloud, and took an average of how long each lasted) that when Jesus interacted with people, the conversation lasted about 42 seconds. Seconds, not hours or even minutes, but seconds. If Jesus could teach someone about God the Father in that short of a time, why can’t we?  For most of us the answer is that we’re too afraid to even try to talk about Jesus, and for the rest, we get tongue tied and go off on rabbit trails. Medearis offers some helpful tips to help us through those difficulties.

This model goes along with another evangelism model: the elevator testimony: sharing the gospel in only the amount of time you get to share on an elevator with someone. It’s not a long time, unless your fear of public speaking in general, or talking religion at all is greater than your fear of being bitten by a vampire bat. But the truth is, unless you have a solid relationship with someone, and that person has specifically invited you to speak Jesus into his or her life, we generally don’t get the opportunity to spend hours on the subject.

This is a guide for the initial encounters, those divine encounters. What Medearis seems to be offering is a way to develop a relationship, a relationship that may grow to the point where the in depth conversations can take place.

4/5 B+

Hope for Nations review

We in the church are concerned about the changes we see happening around us as an older generation fades away, and the younger generations seem less and less involved or interested in Christianity as we know it. Some studies show that the number of Christians in the U.S. and the West is dropping. Others suggest that the percentages are staying the same. Still others say yes, we’re seeing a decline in numbers, but the people who are leaving churches were never really engaged anyway, so the people who are staying are truly committed Christians.

                But all too often the ‘truly committed’ who are staying have reached a point in their lives where they are physically unable to do much of the work that needs to be done, and since they are living on fixed incomes, the financial support isn’t always there either.

                So what does the future of the church look like? We’ve gone through the age of enlightenment, post-modernity, post-truth, and even post-Christian.  Declining numbers, declining percentages, increases in other faith groups that just a couple of generations ago were just a fraction of a percent as far as our population goes. And the many members of the youngest generations are not at all interested in spending an hour in church every Sunday, even if all they have to do is sit there and be entertained. Forget about evangelism, discipleship, missions, and the work of the church.

Add in the attacks against the church. Make them pay taxes. Don’t allow the pastor to use his pulpit to speak about anything political, and apparently we’re not teaching history because so many young people think socialism would be a good alternative to the society we now have. They forget, Hitler, Lenin, Mussolini, and a host of others whose socialistic societies failed, and led to not-so-minor skirmishes.

John S. Dickerson, in his book Hope of Nations: Standing Strong in a Post-Truth, Post-Christian World (Zondervan, 2018) points out so many things that are rising up against the church. And we need to be aware of them; however, I felt that at times there was a little too much scare tactics involved in his writing.

Even before the Introduction, there is a quote from A.W. Tozer: “A scared world needs a fearless church.” I was hoping for more about the fearless church and less of the scared world. I live in that scared world, and I want my church to fearless in the face of the world.

Obviously the Hope of Nations is Jesus, and in the last section of the book, he does point that out. There are things that churches can do, ways that churches can act and react in the face of fear. And I especially like the ‘manifestos’ found on pages 278 and 279.

Unfortunately the ‘scared world’ reporting almost caused me to put the book down before I got to the part about the ‘fearless church’, so I can only rate this book a ‘C’

I received a copy of this book for ‘Handlebar’ in exchange for my review

3/5

an easy-to-follow model for sharing the Gospel

I can’t begin to remember how many excuses I’ve come up with over the years to not talk about Jesus. To not talk about God. To not talk about the gospel. And apart from not wanting people to think I’m a little weird, there was also the fact that I had never learned how to have a Gospel conversation in a way that made sense.

Of course I’d seen tracts with the four spiritual laws, and several other cartoon type things assuring me that if I didn’t immediately fall to my needs in repentance that I was doomed to eternal hellfire and brimstone.  And that threatening type of marketing has never worked for me.

So when I saw the opportunity to review this little book, eagerly clicked yes!  Have I been able to put into practice everything I learned in the 100+ pages of Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations (B&H Books, 2018) by Jimmy Scroggins and Steve Wright with Leslee Bennett?  Not so much. But this book at least gives me a tool to use, and more importantly gives some tips for turning a conversation that’s already in progress into an opportunity to share the gospel.

                It’s also encouraging to read about conversations that didn’t result in an immediate decision. Far too often an author presents his or her method as one that works—period. They neglect to mention those times when it didn’t work, or mention that some people just aren’t ready (but may be at a later time) or because of their culture or existing religious belief may never want to hear the good news. Even though I know that no method, no marketing tool works 100% of the time, if a book is so slanted that it appears that way, when it doesn’t work for me, I tend to see myself as the problem, and then get discouraged.

                It takes a while to get to the “Three Circles Gospeling Tool” (maybe 30 minutes, because this really is a quick read) but by the time I got to this chapter I was excited to read about the tool and how to use it.

                Another plus is the excellent lead-in, after demonstrating the Three Circles tool, to actually discipling the person who has just accepted Christ. All too often that part gets left out. 

                I received a copy of this book from the publisher as a participant in their bloggers program. 

                5/5

Jesus:won, Superheroes: Zero

It amazes me how so many people can read the Bible and come away from it with such differing opinions of who Jesus is. Or, in some cases, what He is and what He Does. As I was reading Superheroes Can’t Save You: Epic Examples of Historic Heresies, (B&H Academic, 2018) I kept thinking that in addition to the heresies that Todd Miles presents, he is also contributing a lot to a study of Christology.

                I ask to write about a lot of books based on an intriguing title. Sometimes it works, sometimes I’m disappointed, but this book is as intriguing as its title.  Based on a childhood fascination with the Superheroes of the Marvel and DC universes, Miles sets out to compare the superheroes of the comic book world to the Jesus of the Bible. After all in the comics, superheroes save people, and in the Bible, Jesus saves.  What he discovers is that in these battles, it’s a sweep. Jesus: Won; Superheroes: zero.

                As we look at several different superheroes, Miles talks a lot about Jesus, and points out a few similarities, but also a lot of differences, and these differences are what point to the heresies that the church has endured over the year.  Outside of Seminary, I don’t remember hearing a lot about things like ‘Docetism’, ‘Modalism’, ‘Apollinarianism’ or ‘Eutychianism’.  Come to think of it, I don’t remember studying Apollinarianism or Eutychianism at all, even in Seminary.

                But all these heresies, and a few others, are things the church has wrestled with over the years, as people tried to understand Jesus: fully human, fully divine; or as the church tried to understand the concept of the trinity.  So Miles brings in the superheroes, and although they are pretty impressive in their own right, they pale when compared to Jesus. Superman hides behind the identity of Clark Kent, and Batman lives as Bruce Wayne, but they are not both at the same time. Jesus wasn’t God in disguise, and he was a lot more than just a remarkable human being. Using Superman, Batman, Ant-Man, Thor, Green Lantern, the Hulk and Spider Man, as reference points, Miles points out the reality of Jesus as compared to the fantasies of our childhood superheroes.

                A received a copy of this book from the publisher as part of their blogger program.

                4/5

the adventure of a lifetime: Beyond the Sun

Once again my friends at Grace Hill Media have reached out asking people to blog about a movie that releases this week across multiple platforms.  They’ve also promised me a gift card that I can give to one lucky reader (selected at random later this week from among those who comment on the blog (or FB or Twitter)

And if you really feel lucky, you’’ want to watch the trailer and then enter the contest to be eligible for a trip for 4 to Rome (Italy, not NY or any of the other states with a city of the same name) with a tour of the Vatican.

Summer means a slew of big blockbusters featuring the biggest Hollywood stars.  But this summer, the most inspirational person to hit the big screen may not be The Avengers, Tom Cruise, and even “The Rock.”  It’s Pope Francis!!!

The Pope will appear for the first time ever in the family movie, BEYOND THE SUN. The film hopes to bring a message of joy, and God’s love to all audiences.  

watch the trailer HERE

Kids, you know they’re always up for adventure, and sometimes those adventures take them a little farther than they knew they wanted to go. And in their quest for adventure, sometimes they make some pretty bold statements. Often those statements have to do with belief in God. Or lack of belief. (That’s probably where Pope Francis comes in)

           

            So bloggers have been asked to write about a childhood adventure memory, or an adventure with our own children. I like SCUBA diving, and love swimming where I can watch sharks, so one of my favorite adventures with my son was getting him certified, with the hope that one day we would be able to dive places like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and enjoy the majestic beauty of sharks in that area. It hasn’t happened yet, but there have been other dives.

            Our first open water dive after he got certified at the age of 10 or 11 was in Mazatlan, Mexico.  I was excited, he was nervous (just as I had been on my first few open water dives) and I was much more interested in watching him experience the joys of SCUBA than I was seeing anything under water. (To be fair, I had been diving there several times.)

But things didn’t go quite as planned. He had trouble maintaining buoyancy, and he is convinced that he was in shark-infested waters.

            I was disappointed, but certainly learned that not everyone experiences God's glory in quite the same way. It also taught me that my son is his own person, with his own interests, and although I can share the things I like, that doesn’t mean that others will like those same things. It’s turned into a life lesson in ministry also. I can share Jesus, but I can’t force anyone to become a believer…each of us makes our own choices, and what is fun, exciting and full of adventure for one person, might have no appeal  for another.

            A search for God is its own adventure. One which I would encourage everyone to experience.

A heartwarming family film is releasing this week.  Distributed by AMBI Distribution, BEYOND THE SUN, is a modern day tale of hope, faith and courage based on stories from the Bible. This delightful family movie chronicles the adventures of four young friends in search of God.

The film features a very rare special appearance by Pope Francis.  In support of the film, AMBI Media Group is holding a special contest where one lucky winner will win an Exclusive Private Tour of the Vatican and Front Row Tickets to an Audience with The Pope For Four! 

For anyone who has ever wanted to visit Italy and The Vatican, this is your chance!  For additional details about the contest and to enter, please go to: Contest info and entry form

BEYOND THE SUN will be available for purchase across multiple platforms including iTunes, Amazon, and TUGG on May 15th.

Growing Down. Bigger is not always better

Bigger is not always better, but unfortunately we’ve grown up in a society that suggests that more is what we should be going for, not just in a paycheck, but in everything else also.

Michael Kelley sets out to remind us that ‘less is more’ is a biblical concept. Remember John the Baptizer, while talking about Jesus, saying, “He must become greater, I must become less.” (John 3:30, NIV).  In Growing Down: Unlearning the Patterns of Adulthood that Keep Us from Jesus (B&H Publishing Group, 2018) Kelley offers numerous examples of areas of our life where we definitely need to become less so that Jesus can become more in our lives. Just a few examples are how we have learned to be self-reliant, when what we should be striving for is dependence on the Savior; or how we should unlearn anxiety in favor of trust. And my favorite is how the busyness that we’ve been taught is a good thing has to become secondary to Sabbath rest if we are to find time to be with Jesus in any meaningful way.

I enjoyed reading the book, but I’m not sure how much potential to be a life changer for me. It’s short and easy to read, but I didn’t find a lot of ‘AHA’ moments.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my review. I was not required to post a positive review.

3/5

You too can be the perfect Christian ☺

So I wear Christian tee shirts, I listen to Rend Collective and the Best of WOW worship. I have bible apps on all my devices, and read theologically deep books by respected theologians. I share every FB post suggesting that Jesus is my homeboy, but still don’t have that feeling that I’m walking close to Jesus. (By which I mean either hand in hand, or several steps ahead of Him).  And then, thank you Jesus, I came across this how to guide, and now I feel that I can finally make some progress.

Of Course I’m talking about The Babylon Bee’s How to Be a Perfect Christian: Your Comprehensive Guide to Flawless Spiritual Living by Adam Ford and Kyle Mann (Multnomah, 2018). This delightful book is billed as a satire, but all too often I found myself thinking something along the lines of “I know that person”, or “I’ve been to that church”.  And of course that’s the point of satire, to poke fun at something we all know and love.

                So now thousands or even millions of people can learn how to be besties with Jesus. And if you read through your 8 pound study Bible and find something to disagree with, you missed one of the most important guidelines: get the app with 57 Bible translations in English, and find a version that agrees with you.

                But really, what’s not to agree with? After all we all know that if it’s fun it must be sinful, that Republicans and Democrats are exactly alike, except that Jesus was a republican, and there are certain things that you must do if you want to spend eternity floating around on a cloud, strumming a harp, and polishing your halo before bed time. And then of course there are those things that you can do if you want to, but you risk an eternity of hellfire and brimstone.

                I have to admit that I laughed a lot at this book. (Is laughing a sin? Nah, I don’t think so.) In fact I kept getting distracted from the other things I was supposed to be doing today so I could go back and read another chapter.

                I think everyone will enjoy this book, and if you don’t you’re probably a democrat who goes to the wrong church, drinks beer, and doesn’t read the Bible in the original languages as translated from the King James.

                C’mon, get over yourself. Lighten up, get a copy, read it, and enjoy a good laugh. And then thank God that Jesus’ love and grace are bigger than all the rules that mankind has ever invented.

                Can I rate this book 6/5 (it gets an extra point for being so much fun!)

What time is it? How to answer the question

I know some of you might be disappointed to learn this, but discipleship is more than getting someone to come to your bible study or join your church. There is more to it than giving someone a ride to and from church or visiting someone in the hospital or jail. And, as I read Eschatological Discipleship: Leading Christians to Understand Their Historical and Cultural Context by Trevin Wax (B&H Academic, 2018) it also seems that there’s a lot more to it than right here and right now.

                It’s not even all about next month or next year (unless the Lord returns by then).   Thoughts, words and actions agree. And to help us answer those questions, Wax suggests that we need to be asking the question ‘what time is it? And we ask that question not in terms of whether or not we can read another chapter before going to bed, but in relation to our understanding of where we find ourselves on the line that begins with creation and will one day end with the return of Christ.

Discipleship for the Christian should be about end-times. And even that can be a little tricky to define, because depending on your world-view, the end times can be any number of things. But For the Christian, a world view should include Jesus at every level, and so discipleship should model a balance of sound doctrine, right practice, and proper sentiment.

                I was impressed by the scholarship demonstrated in this book. Dr. Wax (who by the way is Bible and Reference Publisher for Lifeway Christian Resources) identifies incidents in the Old Testament which set the precedent for Eschatological Discipleship before moving on to the examples that can be found in the Gospels and in Acts, and also in the letters of the Apostle Paul.

                But as mentioned earlier, worldview plays an important part; and today, perhaps more than ever before, competing worldviews have left people confused about what they believe and why. Wax takes time to describe some of the worldviews to which we are exposed, including Enlightenment, the Sexual Revolution, and Consumerism.  Your worldview helps you answer the big questions of life, and helps you determine a proper course of action when confronted with a particular situation. That combination of sound doctrine, right practice, and proper sentiment is highly dependent on the worldview to which you subscribe.

                Further complicating things is the lack of a commonly agreed upon definition of discipleship, or disciple, or evangelical. In fact whole books have been written on any number of definitions of these key terms. Wax does an outstanding job of comparing and contrasting several different models to help the reader ask the worldview question ‘What time is it?’

                This book is published by an academic publishing house, so its reader appeal may be limited. Having said that, I think that the audience for which the book is intended will be pleased with Trevin Wax’ masterful work.

                I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a favorable review, only an honest appraisal.

                5/5

"Wraith" a story about the importance of all life

A few months ago I read a scary story.  Except it wasn’t just a story—an idea turned into a novel, a book with a plot, a problem and a solution and interesting twists and turns along the way. This was a non-fiction book, by a respected author, written after much research. It was about how world-views are changing, and in the process much of society has adopted the position that personhood is more valuable than humanness.

                One of the things that stood out was all persons are humans, but not all humans are persons. Yeah, it seems that not all humans have the necessary qualifications of personhood. As such abortion and euthanasia are not only accepted, but often encouraged. A fetus is not a functioning member of society, so doesn’t enjoy personhood. Children, as cute and engaging as they may be can’t really make informed decisions about what’s best for them, and so are not really persons. And disabled or handicapped humans—since they can’t fully participate in what some people consider a ‘normal, fulfilling life” really aren’t persons either, even though we do consider them to be human.

                There were other things addressed in this book, and by the way, the author was reporting on the phenomenon of personhood, not advocating it, that if widely embraced would definitely be taking society down a slippery path. Many of the ‘solutions’ considered acceptable within this world view fly directly in the face of a basic Christian worldview.  For example abortion is widely accepted, early, late, or very late term. If an embryo or fetus is inconvenient, head for the clinic. But it goes even further, since a child hasn’t reached personhood, if he or she becomes inconvenient, there’s no reason to let ‘it”—human but not a person—continue to disrupt your life. Post-partum abortion.

                With that worldview still gnawing at me, I was eager to blog about a movie that will be released on Blue-ray/DVD and several VOD platforms on Tuesday May 8. It address evil, not the evil of abortion, as you might expect, but a supernatural evil (remember this is a movie) that invades a family when decisions need to be made about an unexpected pregnancy. It’s an older couple that finds they’re expecting, and all options are on the table as they discuss the medical risks, the financial burden, and how a baby will impact the family dynamics since they have a teenaged daughter.  Evil comes into the house, strange things happen to the daughter, and the family can’t imagine why.

                I’m all too familiar with the scenario. I had recently retired after an Air Force career, we had been married a few years and had no children. Both of us were a little older, (my younger brother already had an adult child), and we were thinking that retirement on a beach in Mexico would be an option, but a routine visit to the clinic changed everything. One comment before getting a prescription led to a pregnancy test. And suddenly we were making different plans. We struggled with some of the suggestions, and finally decided that even though this was a high-risk pregnancy because of our ages, that we were going to refuse the genetic testing.

                Invasive procedures involve risk, and we had no intention of aborting, regardless of what the test showed. Some of those tests early on show an abnormality, but don’t tell you the extent of the problem. We made the decision to have a baby and love him or her regardless of issues. There were a couple of problems near the end of the pregnancy, but we have a healthy son who is the joy of my heart.

                Wraith tells the story, and makes a point about which the writer-director feels very strongly. Human life is sacred. We’re created in the image of God, and as such should love like God loves. Michael O. Sajbel (director of One Night with the King (the story of Esther)) wanted to be a voice for those who do not yet have a voice, but he wanted to add an interesting plot twist rather than film a documentary about how we should view all life. The result is Wraith.

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Wraith (rāth) noun: a ghost or ghostlike image of someone, especially one seen after, or shortly before, their death

Something’s very wrong in the Lukens’ house.

After living uneventfully for years in their historic home, the Lukens family have somehow awakened a ghostly presence. Who is this frightening spirit and why won’t it leave their 14 year-old daughter, Lucy, alone?

Everything changed when Dennis and Katie Lukens discovered they were pregnant again. Expecting in your 40’s is always high-risk and dangerous, so when the Lukens decide all options are on the table - including termination - the unexpected starts to happen. Sinister forces are now conspiring against the family. But is this eerie, wraith-like spirit actually trying to haunt them...or help them?

Wraith is available on all VOD platforms and Blu-ray/DVD May 8^th.  

watch the trailer here