Chris Vonada's Blog, page 16

The 10 + 1 Building Blocks Of Relationships: Support

The 10 building blocks are delivered in alphabetical order. Today’s post is #10 in the series… Support.

God didn’t put us all here to walk through life alone. As a body of believers we work together to help support each other’s needs.  Support functions to take us to a place far beyond where we could go individually. In this post I share an analogy to a business concept shared by Guy Kawasaki in “The Macintosh Way” – Doing things right, and doing the right thing. A good user group or circle of friends will help to keep you moving forward in the right direction. (Click To Tweet)

Today I’m honored to be continuing this series as a guest at Carol Peterson’s blog, I hope you’ll follow the link here to Carol’s blog and to the tenth post in the series, The 10 + 1 Building Blocks Of Relationships – Support.

I’ve created a page compiling the links to the previous months’ building blocks too, you can catch up over here.

Carol Peterson is a writer with a heart for encouragement, sharing parables of faith on her blog From Carol’s Quill and making learning fun in Fun with Finance and other teacher resource books.

Carol’s Gems: March Aquamarine

Today’s post, “Carol’s Gems: March Aquamarine”, is a monthly series on birthstones from one of my favorite blogger friends, Carol Peterson. Carol is a writer with a heart for encouragement, sharing parables of faith on her blog From Carol’s Quill and making learning exciting in Fun with Finance and other teacher resource books.

Every month has a birthstone. The birthstone for the month of March is aquamarine. And it reminds me of Jesus.

Aquamarine

The word aquamarine means “water of the sea.” Genesis tells us that in the beginning, the Spirit of God hovered over the water. Later, Jesus became the living water. Water itself—in the Christian practice of symbolically proclaiming our faith through baptism by water—points us toward Jesus. All of us need water to live. We need living water for eternal life.

The aquamarine gemstone is believed to enhance divine communication and help us connect with heaven. Spiritual metaphysics notwithstanding, gazing at the cool, clear blue of aquamarine gives a person a sense of well-being. Spending time with God does so even better.

Bloodstone

A secondary birthstone for March is the bloodstone. It is a dark green jasper with bright red spots, caused by iron oxide. Legend tells that this stone was created when Christ’s blood dropped onto green jasper at the foot of the cross.

Happy birthday to everyone born in March.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for the beauty of this world and the reminders of you and your glory that are all around us. Please remind us that you have gifted us with prayer for divine communication and that through your blood—our living water, we are washed clean. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Know anyone who needs an aquamarine gemstone?

Living On The Edge Of Tomorrow

“The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.” Theodore Levitt

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“When you’re living in the positive, your destination is the brightest star”
Stevie Wonder

 

The apostle Paul said in Ephesians 3, “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus.”

Forward thinking. It’s all about God’s love.

But what about the rest?

Living for tomorrow never allows you to enjoy today – that’s something that many people regret later on.

Living in the past is a waste of time and counter-productive.

When God made man, He obviously created us for forward motion. Our foot points forward, right? Sure, we have the ability to move side to side, and even backward. Sideways motion is valuable in dodgeball, and I sure can glean a lot of wisdom from the past. However, the most natural and efficient motion is in a forward direction.

To me, Paul says in verses 16 through 21 above that God created man to live on the edge of tomorrow, and in God’s glorious love.

I believe with God the possibilities are endless.

Image courtesy of wandee007 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The HA!! : Appreciation

Time for “The HA!!” – This is my mini-series on life lessons I’ve gained through my humbling sports endeavors… I LOVE sports but genuinely suck at most of them, and, therefore, I’m a “HA = Humbled Athlete.” Please check out the other posts in this series at THE HA!! page.

Bill Rodgers at the tape, 1979 Boston Marathon

Every time we compete there are people who win and those who do not. I searched the “greatest athletes of all time” and found a voting website with a top 10 list. Several of my “heroes” are on there, including Michael Jordan (#1), Roger Federer (#4) and Michael Phelps (#8). While we know all of these and many others to be winners, even they didn’t win every time they competed. Growing up, my favorite runner was Bill Rodgers. There were plenty more, including Craig Virgin, Greg Meyer, and Zola Budd. Bill and many others are still running. In fact, the last Gate River Run that I competed in Bill was there, and way ahead of me in the race.

I think that running gave me, more than anything, an appreciation for how we support each other in our endeavors. Most folks don’t think of running as a team sport. Cross-country, in particular, emphasized how we strive to do our best individually and how our individual efforts contribute to the goals of a team. The common goals of our team instilled in us a mindset of helping our teammates achieve their individual goals, too.

The greatest challenge in any competition is to be a humble winner; second, to be a gracious loser. (Click to Tweet)

Here’s my take on how that works:

Humble winners?

Our high school cross-country coach taught us that everyone who competes is a winner. He emphasized competing not against each other or the other teams, but to strive to be the best we could be individually. THAT made us all nothing short of winners.

We were like the island of misfit toys in our school… until we made it all the way to the State meet my junior year in high school, winning our conference and regionals. We finished 4th in the State of Florida. At that point we were noticed. And we got new uniforms the following year, a request that our coach was denied by the Athletic Director for the two years prior. I did win one race during my junior year, a 1/2 mile junior varsity event. I don’t remember if I was particularly humble about that. Probably not. Personally, I was way back in the pack most of the time. Did we win? Always. Every one of us. The last guy across the finish line did to! Our coach’s philosophy to be the best we could be and to only look within was our measure of success.

Gracious losers?

You know the saying that “winning isn’t everything”, right? I have no clue who originated it, but I did run across a recent story that may illustrate the meaning of being a gracious loser like no other…

Abel Mutai, a Kenyan competing recently in an international cross-country event, mistakenly stopped running about 10 meters short of the finish line. Running a close second to Mutai was Ivan Fernandez, a Spanish athlete. Fernandez realized what was happening and motioned to Mutai to keep running, allowing the Kenyan to win the race.

Fernandez’ comments:

“I didn’t deserve to win it. I did what I had to do. He was the rightful winner. He created a gap that I couldn’t have closed if he hadn’t made a mistake. As soon as I saw he was stopping, I knew I wasn’t going to pass him.”

Here’s the video of that event…

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The story says you first. And appreciation. It restores our faith in humility, and humanity.

Love it

Extending grace when we lose? Yep, that’s a humbled athlete. Everyone who competes is a winner!

The Deep And Wide Of That One Lost Sheep

Every sheep matters to Jesus

God works in some really mysterious ways. I am continually astonished at His wisdom and the ways of His influence in the world. Sometimes He asks us to do things that seem illogical. Should we just do it anyway? Yep, although I admit I’ve often questioned, second guessed and headed off in my own direction, many times.

I was meeting with another believer recently, trying to explain to my friend the 5 faith catalysts. This is an Andy Stanley concept that seems pretty solid (btw, I think most of Andy’s ideas are super tight!). Andy outlines in his book, Deep & Wide, the 5 essential ingredients or components that seem to comprise everybody’s faith story. One of these catalysts is providential relationships, or how people seem to show up in our lives and leave a lasting impression that draws us in. I’ve written already about a few of mine, The Journey Home is my favorite story to tell about a special friend, John Hall, and how his influence brought me closer to God. So as we were talking about providential relationships, my friend drifted off into somewhat of a trance. It was long and very noticeable.  When he came back to our conversation he started talking about the Bible story of the lost sheep, and that got me thinking…

The story of the lost sheep is a short one so I’m just going to toss it in here:

Jesus said, “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” Matthew 18:12-14

Ever since I read the book Deep & Wide I’ve been thinking about just that, what it means to be both deep and wide as a Christian. Andy’s deep & wide are the church’s founding fathers desire to make North Point deeply rooted in Biblical truth and culturally relevant. They strive to make it a place where everyone who shows up will grow personally from the church experience and the delivery will appeal to a broad audience. I think there’s a deep AND wide message for all of us in this passage about the lost sheep…

I’ve heard pastors utilize the lost sheep story in a variety of ways to help teach about Jesus and God’s goodness. Generally, we learn from these verses of how important each of us is to Jesus, and how God’s economy differs from that of the world. Oh the importance of that one lost sheep to the shepherd! If you’re a lost sheep or haven’t had a relationship with Jesus just yet you can be sure that He wants one with you. Jesus wants a relationship with you just as much as anyone else. And, we can’t play hide-and-seek with Him. The lost sheep in Jesus’ story “wandered off” … indicating that this fellow once was a follower but for some reason has gone astray. Not to worry though as He knows where you’re at… what you’re doing… who you’re with… how it’s going… yep, everything. Going deep with Jesus is His desire to connect with each and every one of us. That one lost sheep, in many ways, refers to each of us. We were all lost without hope until Jesus came along, right? Like being adrift at sea without a paddle. Yep, you can be sure that all of us at one time or another were lost sheep. Where are you now? Or, maybe God is calling you right now to help bring back a lost sheep… like, as Elwood Blues said, “we’re on a mission from God!”

My take on the wide part and what happened with the flock of sheep is centered on having a broad influence. Maybe think of the 99 as a group that was observant. They individually opened their eyes to see what He inspired down deep within each of them, and they experienced some things in this life that brought them together in harmony. Maybe even making the earth shake along the way! And so it was in terms of the mixer blending together the many people, personalities, priorities, and passions that we all introduce into our environment every day. Another face in the crowd? Maybe just the oneness of the body of believers.

The discussion with my friend about the providential relationships didn’t lead to my understanding of his thoughts about that one lost sheep. Perhaps it was about his sheep experience. Maybe the Holy Spirit took him to some other place that day, a place in his past that finally connected the dots, for him, or to know a special meaning of these verses about the sheep. Whatever it was, I witnessed one of the “Oh My God!!” moments in someone’s life. For me personally, this verse has a new significance of how Jesus is continuing after that one lost sheep, how broad our influence can be, where my friend went to on that day of our conversation, and how we’ll never know for sure how we might influence someone else through the opportunity of a providential relationship.

Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

What interesting story or lesson have you found in the one lost sheep?

Image courtesy of Evgeni Dinev at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Book Review And Giveaway: Grace by Max Lucado

Please click the book picture to purchase at Amazon

Grace by Max Lucado. “More than we deserve, greater than we imagine.”

Grace – that unmerited favor we don’t deserve and can’t earn. Our human nature makes us feel guilty in a way just thinking about it. Max writes about grace in his trademark flowing and easy to read style that satisfies the answers about how “Christ in you” works. Why we need to be rescued and restored. How God overwhelms us with love. How He’s after you. And me too. He answers the  question, is that mercy or grace? There is also a very helpful reader’s guide in the back of the book on grace-shaped living. This would be an excellent book to enjoy and study with a small group.

“Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:4-5

An excerpt from the chapter, “Coming Clean With God”:

People are attracted to honesty. Find a congregation that believes in confession. Avoid a fellowship of perfect people (you won’t fit in), but seek one where members confess their sins and show humility, where the price of admission is simply an admission of guilt. Healing happens in a church like this. Followers of Christ have been given authority to hear confession and proclaim grace.

Confessors find freedom that deniers don’t.

“If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.” 1 John 1:8-9

Oh the sweet certainty of these words. “He will cleanse us.”

That sounds about as sweet as orange blossom honey!

Please leave a comment below with your thoughts on grace and I’ll do a random.org drawing this Friday to ID a winner and mail you a copy of this book!

Temperament Theory And Why Some People Naturally Shine Online

Inside Pygmalion’s lovely statue he found a heart of stone.

I’m fascinated by people and personalities. So I borrowed this book, “Please Understand Me, Character & Temperament Types“, written by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates. I discovered, among other things, there’s a reason for my interest in people… I’m hot wired for it! Like the majority of authors, my personality is one of the NFs – types of people who have dominant intuition and feeling characteristics. The book points out that people are fundamentally different, and explains temperament theory and why being different is OK. Keirsey reinforces through his work, “It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is.”

Honor, respect and appreciation for our individual differences in personality. That means you can be you and I can be me and we’ll all get along copacetically. Hermann Hesse described what we all attempt to do to the people in our closest relationships, at least to some degree…

“In Greek legend, a brash young sculptor named Pygmalion found the women of Cyprus so impossibly flawed that he resolved to carve a statue of his ideal woman, embodying every feminine grace and virtue. For months he labored with all his prodigious skill (and also with a strange compulsion), rounding here, smoothing there, until he had fashioned the most exquisite figure ever conceived by art. So exquisite indeed was his creation that Pygmalion fell passionately in love with the statue, and could be seen in his studio kissing its marble lips, fingering its marble hands, dressing and grooming the figure as if caring for a doll. But soon, and in spite of the work’s incomparable loveliness, Pygmalion was desperately unhappy, for the lifeless statue could not respond to his desires, the cold stone could not return the warmth of his love. He had set out to shape his perfect woman, but had succeeded only in creating his own frustration and despair.”

As I was reading about my type I found out that we’re odd balls in some respects, that it is very difficult for the other temperament types to really grasp what it is that makes us NFs tick! Keirsey gave an example, please read this passage…

“Becoming a Person means that the individual moves toward being, knowingly and acceptingly, the process which he inwardly and actually is. He moves away from being what he is not, from being a facade. He is not trying to be more than he is, with the attendant feelings of insecurity or bombastic defensiveness. He is not trying to be less than he is, with the attendant feelings of guilt or self-depreciation. He is increasingly listening to the deepest recesses of his psychological and emotional being, and finds himself increasingly willing to be, with greater accuracy and depth, that self which he most truly is.” Carl Rogers.

Would you consider that passage to be convoluted and tortuous rhetoric? Ummm, not for me! However, I can understand now when I rattle on why someone would perceive me to be from another planet, or on drugs. I can assure you that neither would be the case, but that my mind works quite differently than most. According to Kiersey, the NFs make up 12% of the population, however, we have extremely broad influence as we account for the vast majority of novelists, dramatists, television writers, playwrights, journalists, poets and biographers. So we’re an island in the stream, so to speak, but one that rises well above the plains.

I’m using the NF type as an example, and there are plenty of other ideas to learn and share about personalities and how they mix (or don’t!). The work by Kiersey is but one piece of this puzzle to the makeup of extraordinary relationships.

“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.” Thomas Merton

Are you fascinated by people who have different personalities? Do you find yourself trying to change people to match your character?

Image courtesy of Alex Bakharev and Wikipedia

The Low Down On Living Water

Just lending a hand with the living water

I don’t find water to be especially tasty. I know I need water to survive, but I wouldn’t include drinking a glass of water as “bucket list” material. This all changes for me if I am very thirsty, like when I’m out for a long run. While I might opt for a refreshing frosty glass of iced tea when I’m chilling or just hanging out, after my run I am ready for water. Preferably cold, but I will drink it however it comes when I’m parched. After a long, hot run, when I’m drenched in sweat and ready to flop, please just give me the water. Think of it this way: In my time of need, I am most satisfied by that which I need the most. (Click To Tweet)

In the book of John, Jesus mentions the living water twice, and we learn that it has a connected, dual meaning:

As Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well, He reveals where we find satisfaction for our thirsty souls.

“whoever drinks the water that I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13

Quenching the thirst. Not just for one, but for everyone. The woman that Jesus was speaking to at the well was a Samaritan, the mixed race that was hated by the Jews. This is an excellent verse related to unity… that the good news of the gospel is for everybody. Thirsting after God is like a hunger deep down inside, from the soul. If we yearn for satisfaction, eternally speaking, this is the only place to find it. Deep inside our core it lives and breathes, when we accept it. All of it. We humans need this, to be fulfilled, the same as our physical bodies need water to survive. The parallel isn’t just a coincidence, it’s a vital part of the lesson. Scratch that… it is the lesson.

And, the second instance of Jesus teaching about the living water…

Maybe think of this as the babbling brook, or the real prosperity message.

Jesus said… “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:37

You know, I sort of doubt that it’s pure coincidence that certain parts of the Bible just got stuck together. This second part of the living water is also profound in regards to unity.

Jesus spoke these words at a time just prior to his arrest and persecution. I think that’s relevant for the obvious reason that He wanted the thought to be fresh, so when the Holy Spirit showed up the people would be able to grasp the connection. My Bible highlights the second meaning of living water, the presence of the Holy Spirit in all who believe. That’s the low down, part II. As the living water satisfies our soul, it’s like a breath of fresh air… we exhale with the presence of the Holy Spirit to replenish others. So the Holy Spirit lives within us when we believe, and we have the opportunity to live eternally through the same living water. Getting thirsty?

Looking closely, again, to the place this verse shows up in scripture, and how it relates to unity: people were asking questions, and there were those looking for opportunity to trip Jesus up in their own self-righteous and narrow-minded pursuit. For me, the most troubling part of this living water passage and its place in the Bible is that the people who were persecuting Jesus were religious people.

Pause here and think about oneword… “living” … in both of these passages, living rings to the tune of eternity. Our soul yearns for this, and we’re depriving a thirsty need whenever we resist quenching it. This serves as a parchment to us individually, where we most need a direct, personal relationship with Jesus… and where we may try to substitute a network of defiance to togetherness. This is, I believe, maybe the most resounding fact related to truth and parallel to our need for unity in our world today:

“Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms.” C.S. Lewis (Click To Tweet)

The vibrant message here is one of submission. That’s the low down on the living water, that we get there by submitting to Him, wholeheartedly and obediently. That’s the thing about Jesus… when it comes down to the living water, it’s pretty black or white, all or nothing. There’s just no way around it. If you’re thirsty, there is fulfillment. Just head for the well, where He’s waiting. He won’t disappoint you.

Are you feeling thirsty?

Shakespeare : Saving The Best For Last… The Last Act

Act 1 of The Tempest
Image courtesy of George Romney / Wikipedia

“All the world’s a stage” - Shakespeare and The Plays…

As a little kid I did a lot more playing than reading. I seldom read anything, being way more interested in most anything outdoors… climbing trees, riding my bike, playing GI Joe, acting goofy…

I’m a fascinated newbie when it comes to Shakespeare. I started writing about his work last fall. From what I have gathered, he gained influence from several other writers, including those who scribed God’s inspired word that makes up the Bible. Shakespeare also had a profound love of nature. Yep, Shakespeare was FOR the birds!

Just rattling on with The Bard…

How do we get there from here? An expression of hope, right?

You can’t get there from here. A roundabout way of saying it’s just not going to work.

Saving the best for last. The last act, and the curtain call.

The better I do at planning for the future, the less I have to be concerned with cleaning up from the past. (Click to Tweet)

What’s that got to do with it? Saving the best for last…

Indeed, Shakespeare was a playwright. With that said, perhaps the most profound element of his writing that makes it stand out is that it utterly opposed the neoclassical theory of style.

Shakespeare’s plays followed a very interesting pattern, or life cycle, that, upon reflection, tell a story in itself. Here’s why… as a generalization, Shakespeare’s plays followed a profound theatrical pattern…

- The early works were comedies and histories.

- Then, it was on to the tragedies.

- Ummm, you guessed it… the last hoorah… “The Late Romances”… well, some would say that romance is for the birds… and, yes, Shakespeare knew the exultation of joy that comes from our friends who go #tweet.

Whether you believe that the romances are a separate group of plays or not, the distinction is noteworthy… and it will stick in my book.

So, I’m guessing that you must be thinking I’m going to go off on an eloquent, harmonic spiel on Romeo and Juliet, “throwing off the name” and sacrificially giving in to the heartfelt romance that one would associated with the “love month” of February… particularly since, on the day after Valentine’s, my heart just throbs with each beat to the tune of a sonnet… weeping like a well-tuned violin that is being stroked by a rosined bow… and filled with a crescendo of the perfect love that God envisions for the multitude… a cappella… ahhhh yes, the oneword… dolce!

Well, I’m not thinkin’ that, so back to the storyline…

The rains fell and overcame the fire. Steam rose from the burning embers. Eventually, the steam subsided, leaving just ash. (Click To Tweet)

So, as I mentioned, I was reading more about this fellow and found out there was incredible symmetry with the Bible. After banging around with Macbeth, which is a sort of twisted tale, I settled in with The Tempest to ramble on about…

The Tempest. It seems dark. Well, to be honest, my church seems dark inside, but it’s really not “dark” – in terms of a reflection of the light of God. Yes, when you walk inside this and many other contemporary churches today they seem dark inside…

“There came a man who was sent from God, his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” John 1:6-8

So I’m thinking that people aren’t really light or dark… they may be a reflection of one or the other… just like the character Prospero. It’s postulated that Prospero represents God in The Tempest.

The Tempest seems sort of dark, too. It’s filled with illusion, manipulation and magic… there’s a storm and an island…

Here’s a wonderful summary of this work and it’s parallel to the Bible, written by Hannibal Hamlin, associate professor of English at The Ohio State University, he is co-curator of the Manifold Greatness exhibition at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

“Shakespeare’s interest in this plot has to do partly with exploring humanity in isolation from civilization. What happens when people are forced to fend for themselves, without the aid of law or civic institutions? Seventeenth-century explorers to the New World were asking similar questions as they encountered native people living seemingly in a state of nature. Were such people brutal savages, in need of civilizing, or were they noble innocents, free from the corruptions of European society? The Tempest explores such questions, often in biblical terms.

Shakespeare’s island is a kind of Eden, presided over by the God-like figure of Prospero, with Ferdinand and Miranda as a version of Adam and Eve, and Ariel and Caliban and angel and devil. As in the Genesis story, temptation and obedience are crucial: Prospero charges Ferdinand and Miranda not to have sex before they are properly married, anxious about the temptation they offer each other alone on the island. Prospero and his brother Antonio may also have a biblical model in Cain and Abel, the first brothers and the first murderer and death. For Shakespeare and his contemporaries, the Bible was the place to go for puzzling out life’s big questions: can siblings really get along? can anyone? are humans inherently wicked or just corrupted by society? are forgiveness and redemption possible in this world?”

“All the world’s a stage…” – to me, that says it’s more about the journey than the destination. The journey, and discovery… living in the light…

Oh to know the voice of thy Shepherd and to achieve unity within our church, and to be held in the bosom of God… only then may we take a bow and the curtain call…

What do you think about life’s big questions?

Book Review & Giveaway: “Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart” by J.D. Greear

Purchase this title by clicking the image to head over to Amazon

Salvation… how do we know for sure we are saved? Some denominations over simplify this topic. Others don’t seem to make answering it a priority. “Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart” takes us on a journey through the Bible investigating this topic. Greear assures us that God wants us to know the answer, helps us understand the critical elements of believe and repent, how we CAN loose our salvation, and answers many questions about how repentance is belief in action. A Theologian and Pastor, Greear’s work is a treasure to anyone truly interested in Christianity and, most importantly, the salvation we find through Jesus.

“Repentance is belief in action.” J.D. Greear

I’m not sure why this book hasn’t been written before. It seems like it must answer a question that would be on everyone’s mind: How to know for sure you are saved. After reading it I am also wondering why the material isn’t covered in churches today. I would think this would be a no-brainer… something we would want everyone to know. Maybe replace the Membership 101 class with a study of this book. It’s relevant to everyone who in their heart wants to be a follower of Jesus. If you really want to know how to walk in assurance this is the book that will show you clearly. Not knowing may not get you to heaven. That seems important to me.

Paige Patterson, the President of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes the forward to the book: “This book is a profound reflection of the nature of salvation. Salvation is the most complicated subject in Holy Scripture. The longer I study it, the more convinced I am that no one has a total grasp of its meaning since in the end it is an act of God that we cannot fully fathom. But for all of its difficulties salvation is also wonderfully simple. Salvation is simple in terms of how people obtain it.”

The publisher, B&H Publishing Group, has graciously offered to support a book giveaway, so I’m going to take them up on it! You can get in on the deal by leaving a comment to this post. I’ll do a random.com drawing on Friday, 2/15 and announce the winner by posting in the comments section.

Here’s the Q: Has your Pastor thoroughly covered the connection between repentance and belief?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”