Review of "Humble Orthodoxy" a very good short book.

Review of "Humble Orthodoxy"

Before I get into my review let me encourage you get this book!  It is so needed by Christians today.

My first thought in readying the title almost scared me away from this book, just because seeing the word "orthodoxy" personally brings negative, overly traditional connotations to my mind.   But then seeing "humble" in front of it got my curiosity, plus I respect Joshua Harris as a Christian author and pastor.   I'm happy to have read this small book (61 short pages plus an added beneficial study guide). If you're a Pharisee in heart you really need this book, but likely won't want to read it.  As stated in his forward to the book, "Pharisaism is a poisonous weed that grows in every garden of orthodox religion."

In this book the author, Joshua Harris, does not down play the importance of Biblical truth, but stresses the importance of having the right spirit about these Bible truths.  The way in which Joshua uses "orthodoxy" is "...right thinking about God.  It's about teaching and belief based on the established, proven, cherished truths of the faith."  I like that definition of "orthodoxy."  As he expresses "humble orthodoxy" he says, "We must care about truth, and we must also defend and share this truth with compassion and humility."  He says, "We don't get to choose between humility and orthodoxy. We need both."

He brings balance to the whole subject of "biblical truth" and "humility." We so often get in the ditch of all Bible teaching (doctrine) and not an ounce of love and humility, or we get in the opposite ditch of all love, love, love and no concern or priority put on Biblical truth (orthodoxy). As I stated earlier (and worth repeating), I so love how Joshua says we need Biblical truth (orthodoxy) and humility, it's not either or, but both!  

As you prayerfully read this book, hopefully, you will see the need for both and that they don't have to be viewed as oxymoron's, but can flow together.

In one to two short readings you will have read this short book. Even if you do this book as a group, it is basically only going to be 4 sessions (utilizing the study guide in the back of the book).  When you are finished you will have a lot to think about and pray about.

None of us has a right to be proud of the truth we do understand, even that knowledge is all by God's grace!  And none of us has the right to dismiss/compromise the truth in the name of love or humility. 

As Joshua says, "We can demonstrate a humble orthodoxy, holding on to our identity in the gospel.  We are not those who are right; we are those who are redeemed".   

To that I simply say, "AMEN!"

I received this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

I was not required to write a positive review.

Review: "Simply Jesus"

 

Simply Jesus by Joe Stowell

"Simply Jesus" is a book on really experiencing Jesus in your life. That is not hard to do, as I believe this book shows.

This is a short book and easy read with only 62 pages, but definitely worth the read.  Many authors would have made this a 200+ page book with lots of drawn out repetition.  I like that this book said what was needed to be said on this subject and did it in 62 pages.  He enhances the book by telling some stories which is a good thing.  He also makes it clear that this is a 24/7 lifestyle, and you won't experience Jesus in the way he talks about unless you give your heart to the Lord 24/7.  He also shares how it is God working in us (grace) and not about our doing good works.  Fruit will always be the result of a life in communion with Jesus (see The Gospel of John chapter 15 and Matthew 7:17 & 18).

In this short 9-chapter book you will find a wealth of good information on knowing Jesus intimately mostly based on the truth found in Phil. 3:7-11.

This book is NOT to short and does NOT need to be longer, it is just the right length to get those wonderful truths into our hearts.

The only negative would be the use of too many versions of the Bible and some weak paraphrases. 

I received this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. I was not required to write a positive review.

Divine Appointments

 

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD
and he delighteth in his way. - Psalm 37:23
(This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible)

"Our Steps are Ordered by the LORD" or "Divine Appointments" wherein God places us in situations for our benefit and/or the benefit of others.

As Oswald Chambers (Author of "My Utmost for His Highest) put it, "God is the Great Engineer, creating circumstances to bring about moments in our lives of divine importance, leading us to divine appointments."

Remember, Jesus at the well ministering to a woman who had been married many times (See John 4:5-42). This is a good example of a "Divine Appointments ."

Another good example of this is found with Philip joining the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch who just happened to be reading Isaiah 53:7, 8 and didn't understand it. Think about it, at EXACTLY that moment Philip shows up by the LORD's leading and explains the passage in Isaiah to him and thus about Christ (see Acts 8:26-39).

I know a minister who always seems to be running into opportunities to minister to others – because he is expectant and available. Personally, I know that when I'm expecting and available, God uses me and it seems like I have many more of these divine appointments.

What I want to deal with in this short devotion is that there are many opportunities that are orchestrated by God for us to minister in some way to others, but some-times we are not willing, or we are not paying attention, or we are not looking and expecting these opportunities - these "Divine Appointments." 

An example of this happened to a friend of mine and myself on a trip we took together a few years ago.  He is a pro pool (billiards) player, and I run a pool/billiards ministry nationwide (www.christianpoolplayers.com). He picked me up in Atlanta, GA (my home at the time), and we drove to the event in Valley Forge, PA (approx. 800 miles).  This event was a pro event and also a pool expo with lots of people.  I ministered to individuals at the event (primarily amateur players), and my friend played in the pro event and ministered to people, too.  When the event ends we head back for Atlanta, GA. About a few hours into our trip (approximately 2:30 in the morning) we both find we need a bathroom break (God ordained as you'll see).  So we stop and go to the men's room. On the way out we both briefly share how the young girl running the store has been put on both of our hearts and that we are to share Jesus with her.  Long story short, we both end up telling her God sent us there to tell her "Jesus love you".  She opened her heart and shared how her family are born again and that her brother is a minister.  We didn't really get any more details than that, but I'm sure her family was praying for her, and unknown to us, God was going to use us to let her know that God knows her and cares about her.  All I can say is it was an awesome experience.

Now, I want to encourage you in your everyday life to ask God to help you to not miss His hand moving in so many of your life situations. Tell God you are AVAILABLE to be used by Him in this way.  I PROMISE you that as you seek His face with a pure heart, and as you ask Him to use you, He will give you many opportunities. What a blessing it is when you see God line you up with people! There will be other occasions God will move, and you didn't see it, but eternity will reveal it – Hallelujah!  

As I said previously, I know a minister who constantly has stories to tell about God using him. He is not bragging on himself, he is just sharing. It is because he is available, and he is expecting God to use him.


No matter what I'm doing or where I go, I ask God to use me with the people I meet everyday, to make "My Steps to be Ordered by the LORD."

May this devotion encourage you that God's many divine appointments out there for all of us if we would just believe Him and be willing, ready vessels.

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 4:2 "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season." Also, in I Peter 3:15 "...be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." This is what we should be doing. We should always be ready; we should always be looking for opportunities, and if you are a vessel like that, God will use you.

I believe this is a great lesson for all of us. If we all start looking for those "Divine Appointments."

If we all start being AVAILABLE to be used of the LORD, we will see things happen that we would have never expected to see happen previously.

If we were to multiply that by the MANY in the Body of Christ, what
a change that would make in the world we live in! Thank you, Jesus.

Jim

E-mail: Jim@BibleFood.org

Website: www.biblefood.ORG

Review: Live Second

My review of: "Live Second"

Periodically I review books for Thomas Nelson

This is my latest book review - I hope you find this helpful.

 

Live Second –  365 Ways to Make Jesus First

Before I get specifically into the book "Live Second", I will say I love the "I Am Second" website, video clips (testimonies), and the fact that they have chapters all over the country.  I also find "I Am Second" so refreshing in a world where we are so me-centered (self-centered), as their entire premise is that Jesus must be first in our lives.

As I read through this book, "Live Second", I was somewhat disappointed. There are days where the devotions are great, others when there did not seem to be much depth in what was said.  Day 1 of each week was probably the part I liked most where you are directed to a specific video testimony on their site with a different person each week. Very inspiring! But then the questions asked on Day 1 after watching the video are the same generic questions each week for the entire book. I believe questions related to the video testimony would add so much to the book.  The "Talk with God" are good, although most were too brief, but at least they are directly related to the devotion for each day. Where as the "Live it,  How can you live more second today?" and then the "Tell it. How will you share what was learned?" is repeated in so many devotions, that after the first few devotions I feel it is not necessary to keep taking up space with these repetitive questions. The space would be better used for longer devotions or a longer section on "Talk with God."

I am only giving it 3 stars for some of the above stated improvements I feel are needed in his book. If you are part of a "I Am Second" group and/or using this book for a group discussion, although it still could be better, it definitely would be a good addition to your "I Am Second" group.  If I ran an "I am Second" group I would encourage people to use this book.

Note: Thomas Nelson gave me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review, and these opinions are my own.

I also rate and review books from my personal library

Here they are:
View all my reviews

Has God Failed You?

"Has God Failed You?"

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them:

 for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee;

 he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Deuteronomy 31:6

Let your conversation be without covetousness; 

and be content with such things as ye have:

 for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.    

Hebrews 13:5
   

Have you ever felt like God failed you in an area that you were believing Him to move in,

and the outcome just wasn't what you expected from God or His Word (the Bible)?

Some people are so sure they understand every aspect of God and scripture and what He (GOD)

has promised them, that they will THINK they can demand God to do something they ask for because they think it is a "clear-cut promise."  They THINK they can just claim it and it must happen!  

I have even heard people say things along this line, "God if you don't do this, based on the Bible, then you are a liar, and I will no longer believe in you."  While they say they are not being irreverent but holding God to His promises, I think it is quite an irreverent way for a "man" to talk to God.

There are promises in the Bible that I personally have stood on and they never came to past.  

Maybe it was for someone's healing, or for a job, etc,  But you know if it doesn't turn out the way we expected, the fault is not with God being a liar (what a terrible way to think) but with our FINITE mind not understanding what God was doing in a given circumstance.  

One thing is for sure God did NOT fail us.  

The bottom line is that we misinterpreted scripture and God's will in a given situation.

I like the strong words found in Romans 9:20  

"Nay but O man [MERE MAN IN COMPARISON TO GOD], who art thou that repliest [ANSWER, QUESTION, DISPUTE, ARGUE, CONTRADICTS] against God. Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?"  

Also we see the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY correct Job on this very attitude in Job 40:2

"Shall he [Job] that contendeth [FINDS FAULT, ARGUES] with the Almighty instruct 

[HAVE THE ANSWER FOR] Him?..." 

Job saw how wrong his attitude was and in verse 4 properly answered the LORD with,

"Behold I am vile; what shall I answer Thee? I lay mine hands upon my mouth."

Boy can I relate to Job!  I have needed to put my hand(s) over my mouth and repent of some attitudes and words I felt when God didn't do it the way I expected Him to.  

Do you, for a moment, think God knew less than you what was best in a given situation, or why something happened and He didn't seem to intervene?  

Do I have all the answers to all what happens around me and you? - NO! But at least we need to NOT blame God or get upset with Him.  

In the future when you stand before God and He reveals Himself in ALL your past situations, you sure will wish you had just trusted the LORD with that situation and just moved on!

We must realize our understanding of things is limited.  

As I Cor. 13:12  states,

"For now we see through a glass, darkly [obscurely, blurred]; 

but then face to face, now I know in part [fragmentary fashion, incompletely]; 

but then shall I know [fully, completely] even as also I am known."  

Only in eternity, face-to-face with the LORD, will it all be crystal clear. 

As we think on the words in today's devotion and the scripture passages referenced, 

let us look inside our hearts to see if we have have a wrong view of God

and of those circumstances that we just don't understand. 

Today, by faith, GIVE them to the LORD and LEAVE them with the LORD, and MOVE ON with God's plan for you.

TRUST Him with them, and someday in this life, or more LIKELY in the life to come, He will make all those things crystal clear.

Just remember God has NOT failed you 

and He NEVER, NEVER, NEVER will!

"Are you a ROCKMAN or SANDMAN"

 

Scripture Reading: Matthew 7:24-27 (It's best to read the entire chapter)

7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them NOT, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

This is an interesting passage, yet it is quite a simple passage to see Jesus' "MAIN POINT." Most of the time you hear people say we need to be founded upon the ROCK which is JESUS, which is True, but that is not the SPECIFIC principle Jesus was teaching here. Jesus was teaching what makes a person have a solid foundation or an unstable foundation or what makes one a "wise man" or a "foolish man," which comes down to ONE thing, which is whether we DO what we hear or not. Let's look at the difference between the "Wise Man" (Rock man) and "Foolish Man" (Sand man).

WISE MAN (built house on rock)	FOOLISH MAN (built house upon sand)
heareth these sayings: Doeth them rains descended floods came winds blew beat upon that house It Fell Not	heareth these sayings: Doeth them not rains descended floods came winds blew beat upon that house Great was its fall

What is the difference? As you can see, the only difference is one was a doer of what he heard and the other was not a doer of what he heard. They both heard the same thing, had the same set of circumstances, but one fell and one did not, because one was a doer of the WORD and the other was a hearer only. James 1:22 says, "But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."

These scriptures makes it quite clear that we are deceived and in for a great (big) fall if we think hearing alone will benefit our lives. We can hear all the Bible studies, devotions, sermons, Christian conferences, Christian workshops, etc.; but if there is NO application you are not on a good foundation. I will say here that that should not be a discouragement from hearing (learning), as it is the first step to being a DOER.  I can't DO what I don't hear.  So, we need to HEAR! Then, we need to DO! I personally don't do 100% of what I hear (even though I should), but thank God I DO a lot of what I hear.  That DOING is where my foundation in Christ is established. Just for the record, I am NOT talking about "good works," but BEING DOERS OF GOD'S WORD.  There is a difference. If God's Word clearly tells us something then our goal should be to DO it.  

Do you want to establish a Firm (Solid Rock) Foundation? Then start putting God's Word to practice in your life. I promise you God who can not lie will bless your life!

I appreciate all your hunger for God's Word and hope to impart that which would make a Godly difference in your life.

The Devotional Life Is Almost Crowded Out

I love writing devotions, but when I find a devotion by someone, such as this one, that though written so many years ago (way before cell phone and computers), all I can think is how "more" true this words ring today.  I must share this with others.  May it speak to you all in this modern days of distraction, often taking us away from that which matters most - Time alone in quietness with our Lord!  - Jim (jim@biblefood.org)

Devotion by A.W. Tozer

And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business… 

That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without…. 1 Thessalonians 4:11, 12 

We Christians must simplify our lives or lose untold treasures on earth and in eternity!

Modern civilization is so complex as to make the devotional life all but impossible, multiplying distractions and beating us down by destroying our solitude.

“Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still” is a wise and healing counsel, but how can it be followed in this day of the newspaper, the telephone, the radio and the television? These modern playthings, like pet tiger cubs, have grown so large and dangerous that they threaten to devour us all. No spot is now safe from the world’s intrusion.

One way the civilized world destroys men is by preventing them from thinking their own thoughts. Our “vastly improved methods of communication” of which the shortsighted boast so loudly now enable a few men in strategic centers to feed into millions of minds alien thought stuff, ready-made and predigested.

Are you burning the candle at both ends...

 

 

The need for solitude and quietness was never greater than it is today. Even the majority of Christians are so completely conformed to this present age that they, too, want things the way they are.

However, there are some of God’s children who have had enough. They want to relearn the ways of solitude and simplicity and gain the infinite riches of the interior life. They want to discover the blessedness of what has been called “spiritual aloneness”—a discipline that will go far in making us acquainted with God and our own souls!