Today in Blogworld 07.23.14

Mike Leake 1 Comment

What Your Gut Feeling Is Actually Telling You

There are likely reasons why you have a gut feeling.

How Christianity Lost It’s Cultural Influence (And How to Rebuild It)

I normally don’t link to book reviews but this one is so intriguing that I have to.

7 Shortcuts to Hitting Your 10,000 Hours as a Preacher

I’m clueless as to how many hours I’d be at, but using this outline I think I’d be close to 10,000 hours.

Help Your Kids Say “No” to Porn

I wish this article was dumb and unnecessary. It’s not. It’s spot on and something worth considering.

I abhor the song Royals by Lorde simply because it hi-jacks the KC Royals hashtag (#Royals) on Twitter. So I’m happy that Weird Al has spoofed it:

How to Give the Gospel a Hearing In Your Local Library (20 Book Suggestions)

Mike Leake 2 Comments


Last week I noted that Christianity doesn’t stand a chance at your local library. I also noted that this is likely not because your local librarian hates Jesus. More than likely it is simply because of the nature of how books are acquired and the type of books that are on the best-seller list.

I encouraged folks to help me come up with a list of books that would fit the criteria that was set and would help to give the gospel a hearing in your local library. I broke them up in four categories: apologetics, Christian living, helps, and Classics/Research. Here are the twenty I came up with:

Apologetics

  1. The Reason for God by Tim Keller  (some libraries will have this)
  2. Truth Matters by Kostenberg, Bock, and Chatraw
  3. Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper
  4. The God I Don’t Understand by Christopher Wright
  5. The God Who Is There by D.A. Carson

Christian Living

  1. Tempted and Tried by Russell Moore
  2. Radical by David Platt
  3. Pleasures Evermore by Sam Storms
  4. How People Change by Paul Tripp and Timothy Lane
  5. Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller

Helps

  1. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
  2. How Long O, Lord by D.A. Carson
  3. What Did You Expect by Paul Tripp
  4. 40 Questions on Interpreting the Bible by Robert Plummer
  5. What’s Best Next by Matt Perman

Classics/Research

  1. Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin
  2. The Works of Jonathan Edwards
  3. The Story of Christianity by Justo Gonzaelz
  4. Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem
  5. The Cradle, The Cross, and the Crown by Kostenberger, Kellum, Quarles

The Plan

Last week I promised to have a challenge for my readers. Here is the challenge.

Step One: Make a list of books you’d like to see in your library. You can use mine as a guide or cut and paste the entire thing.

Step Two: Contact your local library and ask if they’d be willing to stock a few more Christian non-fiction books.

Step Three: Give them your list and offer to partner with them in donating some of these books (or perhaps all of them).

Step Four: Continue to build a good relationship with your local library and encourage folks in your church to occasionally check out these books and read them as well. The more use the greater likelihood they’ll stay on the shelves.

Step Five: Retweet or Share this challenge. I believe the Lord uses good books to help Christians grow and also to help people come to know Him. I want to see many local libraries stocked with great Christian books to give the gospel a hearing at your local library.

Today in Blogworld 07.22.14

Mike Leake 1 Comment

23 Hilarious Fixes

These are quite creative. I think my favorite is the new car mirror.

3 Tips for Better Bible Reading

I really like the chart outlining how long it takes to read each book of the Bible. And I too encourage people to read through entire books a time—it’s a great benefit.

9 Things About Mormonism

Joe Carter continues his helpful series, this time looking at Mormonism.

5 Reasons Your Church Might Consider Using EBay to Increase Giving

This is such an interesting idea. I’m actually considering what this might look like in our church.

If Mario were real it might look a little like this:

The Most Shared Verses In Their Context (Hebrews 4:15)

Mike Leake


At the end of last year, YouVersion highlighted the top 10 Bible verses that were shared the most. I found the list interesting and thought that it could be helpful to understand them in their original context. Today we are looking at Hebrews 4:15—which according to YouVersion was the fifth-most shared verse in 2013.

The Verse:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15 ESV)

The Context:

The letter to the Hebrews was written as a type of sermonic letter to encourage people to remain faithful to Jesus in the midst of persecution and the difficulties of life. Some have speculated, and I believe it is quite likely, that the audience of this letter is being persecuted by unbelieving Jews. In the midst of such persecution it would be attractive for them to shrink back into a type of Judaism and not hold fast to their confession. The author of Hebrews warns against such apostasy.

The way that the author warns his audience is brilliant and beautiful. Throughout the book he exalts Christ as superior to everything. This serves as both an encouragement and as a warning. This truth encourages them to press on because Christ is superior to all. But it also serves as a warning because if Christ alone can pay for our sins, rejecting him means that “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment” (10:26-27).

In Hebrews 4 the author is building up his argument that Jesus Christ is the great high priest. He is greater than angels and he is greater than Moses. He alone is the means by which we enter into God’s rest.

Hebrews 4:12-13 leaves the reader laid bare before the penetrating word of God. If one were listening to this sermon for the first time at this point you would be crying out for a great high priest to cover you from the “eyes of him to whom we must give account”.

Thankfully we do have such a high priest. And it’s a high priest that is able to not only atone but also to sympathize with our weakness. Hebrews 4:14-16 begins a new section that will show that Christ not only sympathizes with us but he has also made a once-for-all sacrifice to secure the redemption of those that hold fast to their confession.

The Meaning:

Hebrews 4:15 is such a comforting verse. It is not surprising that this is one of the most shared verses. Christians often feel the weight of our weakness. It is comforting to know that Christ was tempted in the same way that we are. It is a great comfort to know that in the midst of our struggles we have one that truly understands what it means to be human.

It is also comforting to know that Christ endured the difficulty of temptation and he did it without sin. It is one thing to have someone empathize as a fellow struggler. It is quite another thing to have someone empathize but to do so from the position of a conqueror.

It is also worth noting that Hebrews 4:15 provides the meat to a sandwich of exhortation. In Hebrews 4:14 we are told that since we have such a high priest we must “hold fast our confession”. And in Hebrews 4:16 we are encouraged to confidently draw near the throne of grace.

On one side you have a subtle warning that to not “hold fast our confession” will lead to us rejecting the only fitting high priest to atone for our sins. And on the other side we have a precious encouragement to boldly enter into the presence of the Lord to receive the grace that has been purchased for us. Christ is like an immovable doorstop into the throne room of heaven. Grace is always ours.

Conclusion:

To really grasp the beauty of Hebrews 4:15 one needs to consider the two verses that surround it. The of Jesus Christ the great high priest serves as a subtle warning and a warm invitation on the other.

Let the truth of a sympathetic savior draw you, a desperate sinner, into the throne room of grace.