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It’s Almost Here!

May 12, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

The official release of my latest book Life as Worship is one week from today (May 19). As we approach that day let me share some ways you can help generate a movement with regards to the book and its usefulness.

Buy a copy! – Well of course, that makes sense doesn’t it? You can preorder it now from www.amazon.com or www.christianbook.com or just about any other online seller. Doing so now puts the wheels in motion so that they will begin to stock the book and have it in place for the actual release.
Talk about it! – Buzz is what we’re after. Talk about it on Facebook (share the link to the book’s page at Amazon.com or other online sellers). Tweet it. Show someone your copy. Email friends you think might benefit from the book. Pin it at www.pinterest.com.
Join the fun! – If you are local to Northeast Ohio come for the book signing event at Logos Bookstore (976 W Main St, Kent, OH 44240) on Saturday, May 23 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. If you know people in the area, encourage them to come. Or, better yet, bring a friend with you.
Rate it! – Once you’ve received a copy go to www.amazon.com and rate it. Of course I’d love five stars and some glowing words, but give it whatever you think it deserves. Ratings—of every kind—tend to help generate interest in and discussion about a book. Help me get that ball rolling by adding your review. If you are willing, you can post the same review at www.christianbook.com, www.goodreads.com and other online forums as well.
Study it! – Recommend it to your small group Bible study leader or Sunday School teacher as a good curriculum for your next class study. The thirteen chapters fit perfectly into one quarter. Ask your book club leader to consider it for your next topic. Loan him/her your copy so they can look it over and consider your suggestion.
Give a copy! – Think of someone you believe would benefit from the book and purchase them a copy, adding your personal endorsement of the book when you deliver it. Encourage them to do the same, if they find it to be helpful.

I appreciate anything you can do to help spread the Word of God as it is expounded in Life as Worship!

In an Age of Pluralism

May 4, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

The first century was an age of pluralism–every bit as much as this twenty-first century. How did the fledgling Church survive and, indeed, thrive in such a context of competing voices? How did they become “These men who have turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6)? What can we learn from those who lived most closely with Jesus?

William Ramsey was an expert on first century life. He describes the scene in this way:

“An easygoing Christianity could never have survived; it could not have conquered and trained the world. Only the most convinced, resolute, almost bigoted adherence to the most uncompromising interpretation of its own principles could have given the Christians the courage and self-reliance that were needed. For them to hesitate or to doubt was to be lost.” (The Letters to the Seven Churches, p.220, italics added)

Ramsey was not a preacher. He was a classical scholar and archeologist. He was reporting to us as a historian. He had no theological ax to grind; nor was he seeking a soapbox. He was not peddling ideology, but reporting the facts as they stood in that intensely pluralistic age. He penned his words in 1904, well before the cultural shifts of the 20th century which had such a profound influence with regard to a resurgence of pluralism in our nation.

His words when read through our current cultural grid may seem to promote an isolationist mentality. That would be to misread the facts. The earliest Christians wore their insistence upon the exclusive claims of Christ in a missional way that thrust them out from holy huddles and into the mainstream of their society. Their pagan contemporaries wondered aloud about their selflessness and love for the disenfranchised and marginalized of their age. They held their stubborn orthodoxy with profound love toward both Christ and those around them. They proved that resolute faith in the exclusive truth of the Gospel is at the heart of transforming love, not its enemy. May the Lord who held the balance of “grace and truth” so beautifully enable us to do so in our day and may He find us such ready channels for His love that once again the world might label us “These men who have turned the world upside down.”

Yesterday, When I was Young

April 27, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.'” (Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1)

Revival in the Rubble on Sale!

April 23, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

Through May 15 you can get Revival in the Rubble for just $3.90! That’s 70% off the regular price! You can by a single copy or purchase them in bulk. It makes an excellent group Bible study guide or Sunday School curriculum. You will need to order directly from the publisher. You can do so at www.clcpublications.com, 1-800-659-1240, or orders@clcpublications.com.

For electronic readers, you can purchase it now at Amazon.com for just $4.99 (62% off retail).

Help me spread the word!

What then is this thing, hope?

April 4, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

What then is this thing, hope?
Its presence so easily presumed upon
Its price so consistently devalued
Its promise so seldom realized

What then is this thing, hope?
A whisper of another world
A herald from a King
A schematic of a future home

What then is this thing, hope?
Whose absence is hell
Whose advent is life
Whose actualization is heaven

What then is this thing, hope?
On a dark Saturday
After a Good Friday
On this day before …

What then is this thing?

Light to Live By