we're in this together

"Get yourself some haverim." What in the world does that mean? Haverim is the Hebrew words which is plural for haver, which means a "friend". Havruta is a gathering of students to study Scripture, or the Torah. This is an interactive gathering divided up into various discussions over the text of Scripture. Sometimes vigorous debate going on as to the meaning and application of the text to life. Challenging questions to think and wrestle through the text are welcomed and encouraged.

Enter our western individualism mindset where my interpretation is as good as yours. Out of that comes some dubious interpretations, not to mention all the factions even within single groups. Though in the postmodern influence of today the differences don't matter. But sometimes they do. We see this when we understand the background and setting in Jesus' day, and his differences and confrontations with religious leaders of his day such as the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Zealots. Jesus amazed the religious leaders in the Temple at the age of twelve with his questions and understanding. And he attracted the crowds with his teaching and authority, even as he ended up repelling them and many of his disciples over his hard teachings which he taught were a fulfillment of the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament.

I believe God has been working on me lately to take the time and make the sacrifice to interact more with other believers in gatherings. This is already built into my schedule once a week in a half hour of "devotions" at work, in which we are now working through the book of Ecclesiastes. In this is not only the need to grapple with the text of Scripture, but to grapple with it in terms of our lives, whether or not we're really beginning by grace to live it out. The haver gather in the havruta as disciples. They learn from their Rabbi, or Master Teacher, and then they venture to work out together how that applies to life. This suggests to me that our following of Jesus is to be worked out both in us individually seeking a close relationship and walk with Jesus, and seeking to do so together with others.

And we are to identify with each other in all of life. That includes past and future generations, but where the rubber may meet the road for us, the people we are around and know now. So that we see ourselves in participation with others in some way, at least by being able to identify with them, rather than seeing ourselves as a cut above them, which of course is not really the case.

And there is the need for transparency. Only as we are honest with others about our own struggles and God helping us through them, will they have any hope that God can help them, also. This is about being real and about life. And life in Jesus is meant to be lived out in community with others. And with all our differences, we're to work on the meaning and application of Scripture together. Do we believe we're all in this together, or is it each person for themself?

Do I really believe God wants to work in my life through others? Do I believe that we believers are in this together, each of us having our part? Do I listen well to the stories of how God has worked in their lives? Am I wisely transparent about who I really am and my own struggles? Do I share my own testimony of God's working?

More wisdom than briefly mentioned above is to be found in this chapter and book, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg, chapter 5, "Get Yourself Some Haverim." Next week chapter 6, "Rabbi, Teach Us to Pray."

learning in the way of Jesus

"Following the Rabbi" is a very wise chapter in what I'm coming to realize more and more is truly a wise book, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg. Wisdom from the Bible is rooted in the Jewish writings of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, in Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, and found in other places. And Jesus learned and lived by the wisdom from God given through the Scriptures, and passed on in the tradition of his people. Of course not without critiquing that tradition, while living as part of it.

We know the adage, "Wisdom is more caught than taught." But do we really believe it? It doesn't matter at all what we tell our children if our lives don't line up with our words. They will end up following what we do, and not what we say. Or they will try to chart a new course if they see our lives as making no sense of our profession of faith, and indeed casting doubt on our faith.

This chapter skillfully and from different angles, with one fascinating present day example, looks at the way of being a disciple, learner, or follower as Jesus practiced it. It is a relationship no less, and that of apprenticeship. The disciple submits to the rabbi, or master, as a servant so that the rabbi, imperfect as he (or she, I would add, because of the dynamic in Christ of neither male nor female in the work and service of God) will be, since there is only one true Rabbi and Master, Jesus himself. Nevertheless what we must understand is that it is inevitable for us to live as we see others live, and others will be impacted by our lives, for good or ill. In fact in God's order in Jesus, this is part of how life is to be lived. As Paul told his readers, they were to follow his way of life, as he followed Christ. And this is not a quick fix or instanteous change, but rather a walk of a lifetime. Transformation comes slowly. As the authors point out, Jesus didn't just transform his disciples. It involved close relationship with him and a process.

Any thoughts?

Next week: chapter five, "Get Yourself Some Haverim."

better understanding Scripture and Jesus

From chapter 3, "Stringing Pearls" in Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg.

Stringing pearls is a metaphor for the practice of Jewish rabbis bringing Scripture passages together which had common words. The passages were considered in their own context and then how they shed light on each other. Jesus used this and for us to begin to better study and understand Scripture, we need to learn to recognize it, and study accordingly.

I remember when I was a relatively young Christian engaged with an intelligent young man my age, over whether Jesus is Deity or not. He believed not, and I was trying to persuade him that Jesus is indeed God as well as human. I was probably using some conventional, popular evangelical ways of doing so, but did not get through to him. I wish I would have understood the truth which this chapter unfolds for us.

When it is realized all that "good shepherd" and "Son of Man" meant from the Hebrew/Aramaic Scripture, our Old Testament and Jesus' Bible, then we understand why Jesus' words were so powerful and scandalous to those who did not accept his message and mission. "Good shepherd" was an allusion to Ezekiel 34 where God says he will send a good shepherd to care for and lead his people, and judge the bad shepherds, or leaders of his people, in the process. And indeed will shepherd them himself. And "Son of Man" refers to Daniel 7 which Jesus quotes from during the trial to the Jewish religious leaders before his crucifixion. He is one like a son of man, which suggests this figure is more than human, and all peoples on earth worship him. And in Matthew 25, as the son of man, he separates the sheep from the goats, something ascribed to God, again in Ezekiel 34.

At Jesus' baptism we see passages from the Torah (Law or Teaching), Writings and the Prophets alluded to by the voice from heaven. So that Jesus is in effect called Messiah, Sacrificial Lamb, and Servant on whom the Spirit is so that he will bring God's good justice and reign to humankind and the earth.

This is a rich chapter. As true throughout this book, there is always something good for any serious Bible student, but one does not get bogged down or overwhelmed with too much. And good end notes for those who want to pursue further study. Along with good questions at the end of each chapter to stimulate further thinking or discussion in groups.

This chapter can help us better ponder and understand Scripture and Jesus' fulfillment of it as we learn more and more to read and see it as Jesus did. We then understand more clearly his claims and our place in his ongoing mission and work in the world today.

From any of you who read it, what stood out to you? And any thoughts on this from anyone?

Next week , chapter 4, "Following the Rabbi."

Ed Dobson on not having all the answers

...when I started in ministry I thought I had all the answers. As I enter more deeply into the lives of real people, however, I realize how few answers I really have. In life's most difficult circumstances, the best I can do is to be present to represent Jesus and the community that we call the church. I am there to love, pray, and encourage. I'm not there to answer all the questions.

Ed Dobson, The Year of Living Like Jesus, 22, 23

Ed Dobson's journey in following Jesus

I love Ed Dobson. Deb and I, both. He was our pastor at Calvary Church (of which he is again a part) when we lived on that side of town. As you may know he has been stricken with ALS. It's the slow moving kind, and he continues to be active in sharing his faith and his gift in the community and beyond. Though at the advice of his doctors he stepped down from being a pastor.

Last evening he was at Baker Book House here in Grand Rapids. Quite a crowd of young and old alike; it was wonderful. He shared about how he came to seek to live a year like Jesus did, living like a Jew, and trying to obey Jesus' commands and follow his example, while being kosher. And sharing about his new book on this as well, The Year of Living Like Jesus. I have my copy and look forward to finishing it soon.

I found it edifying in being both convicting as well as encouraging in what God can do as we seek to be true followers of Jesus in this world. As you may well know Dobson voted for Obama and said he would do the same again, though he acknowledges that he may well be wrong. But he did so on the basis of which candidate of any party he believed comes closest to what Jesus taught. He explains this in a chapter in his book, and his view on abortion and how he wrestled through it. He said seeking to follow Jesus for a year leveled remaining arrogance he had, so that he doesn't think that he is necessarily right on decisions such as his vote. I found his thoughts on politics and the kingdom of God quite compatible with my largely Anabaptist theological understanding.

Christians on the "right" trashed him, telling him they'd never listen to him preach again, or believe anything he says. The ones Ed found it easy to live with were the needy sinners (of course we're all needy sinners) whom he found in bars and drank beer with, and continues to do so as he shares with them his faith and seeks to follow Jesus. Though after the year he dropped the kosher and Jewish laws. As you can well see, he still has his beard, trimmed once a year.

I look forward to learning more, and being impacted for my journey with others in following Jesus.

(I am downloading a video from my camera from last evening so you can hear him, but finally lost patience waiting, and may post it later.

Couldn't post it for whatever reason, so posted the Zondervan video from YouTube instead.)

faith and feelings

In the near future (or not too distant) we will be looking at Matthew Elliott's book, Feel: The Power of Listening to Your Heart. I have found it an interesting book and I'm not really sure if it contradicts, or refines what I believe on the subject of feelings, or not.

Feelings certainly are important. We're humans and feelings are a big part of what makes us human. Our emotions are surely a reflection of being made in God's image. God while in essence not human- though having become fully human in the Son, Jesus- still is said to have emotions. Some think that is only an accommodation by God to us. But surely it is more. God's love and anger is more than just decrees that come from a passive, unemotional being. Of course God's emotions are untainted, without sin, and God is unlimited unlike us.

I can't live on emotions and feelings. Often, being a morning person, I'm naturally more into things and "psyched" in the mornings, and especially more so than in the afternoons, during which I'd do well to take a nap. I live by faith, in spite of feelings many times. But feelings do come and we need them. I should feel love toward my wife. I should feel love toward God and toward others.

I see feelings as an important byproduct of faith. Normally they should be present in some measure, but if they're not that doesn't mean our faith is empty and void, or unreal. There is "the dark night of the soul." We need to press on in faith, and press through to the reality of God in Christ by the Spirit, and in community with others in Jesus, for the world. And we need to live this faith life out, with all that accompanies it, through everything.

Much more to explore on this, and if you're interested check out the book I refer to above.

What thought might you have on this?

Jesus as Rabbi

From chapter 2: "Why a Jewish Rabbi?" from Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg.

Jesus' calling and vocation was to be the one who was to come, the Messiah, through whom all of God's promises would be fulfilled. And we know that at the heart of this fulfillment is Jesus as Redeemer of God's people, and of the world.

But a crucial part of Jesus' calling and vocation was to be a Rabbi. As the authors point out, although the rabbinic era did not begin until after the fall of Jerusalem at 70 AD, still rabbis were important prior to this. Rabbi means "my master." Rabbis gathered disciples who lived and traveled with them as they taught. And rabbis first had to live out what they taught. What they taught was a way of life.

This is radically true in Jesus. He came as the one who would be what God had called Israel to be, as well as to fulfill all of God's promises to Israel, and through Israel to the world. Of course we in Jesus are called to continue in that mission because of what Jesus has uniquely done as Savior.

While Jesus was more than a Rabbi, his work as Rabbi is significant in the gospels in scope both in quantity and quality (content). Going through all four gospels one soon discovers that teaching is one central part of what Jesus did. And as already noted these Teachers, or Rabbis were not just imparting knowledge, but an entire way of life. Jesus' teaching was about living in the kingdom of God as God's new covenant people in him.

When you think of Jesus as Rabbi, what place do you believe this has for us today? It was important to Jesus' disciples and the people of that time, but how important was it for the early church? How important do you think it is for us today? And regardless of what you think on the last question, how is Jesus as Rabbi to impact us today? What are some of the ways we can begin to try to live this out today?

Next week we continue in the chapter, picking out another truth within this theme and question, "Why a Jewish Rabbi?" Plenty of time to get this book, and well worth both the reading and rereading of it, as well as studying and pondering its content.

our "posture"

From chapter 1, "Joining Mary at the Feet of Jesus," in Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg.

What kind of posture do we have in life? In other words what do we think about and what occupies our time in what we do? It could be any number of things. For Mary it was about "drinking in" the words of the Rabbi Jesus, as she sat at his feet. And as we learn in this book, it is listening together, as much as listening to Jesus in our own private times.

The authors begin to take us back into the first century world of Jesus. Much has opened up in the past century, and even recent decades about the setting in which Jesus lived. And for all the turmoil of that time including the Roman occupation, he lived in a devoutly Jewish setting. This can be helpful for us to better understand the gospels, and indeed with them the rest of the New Testament.

We don't help ourselves or our faith if we simply think the Old Testament is there with some good moral lessons for us, and to get us ready for the New Testament and new covenant. The new covenant in Jesus is indeed a fulfillment of the old covenant, and that fulfillment is essentially Jewish in nature. So that there is much in the old covenant that speaks to us as God's covenant people today. And we can learn from what the Jews learned over the centuries, since God gave to them his special revelation that they might bless all nations.

For me this book has been illuminating and helpful for my walk in Jesus. I can learn and benefit in a kind of direct way from what I read from the Hebrew Bible (i.e., the Old Testament), and as a Christian, I see its meaning or goal realized in Jesus, as I read the gospels. And for me this means I need to adopt the posture of sitting at Jesus' feet, drinking in his words, and learning- so as to better follow him.

Here is a helpful study guide for the book written by Elisa Stanford. From it I take one question based on this chapter: If you were literally sitting at Jesus’ feet with Mary, what is the first thing you would ask him?

What would you like to share with us on this, or any thoughts?

Next week we finish this chapter with another reflection from it on the anointing of the Messiah, the Christ, and we who are in Christ.

(Note that observations I make here are my own interaction from this book. Some of the thoughts are from the authors and some are my own.)

preview of study of book and keeping God's commands

Next week we begin a study of Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg's book, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith. We will take a chapter at a time each week, but may remain in a chapter more than one week, as I want to keep these posts as short as possible. We certainly can't cover every detail of the entire book.

What I like about this book is that it opens up for us a world that we little know and understand. At least a few of us have heard somewhere that there is now a scholarly consensus that the New Testament in our Bibles, including the gospels (Matthew through John), and Paul's writings along with the rest are basically and essentially Jewish to the core. The way we can best understand them is through the Jewish world they lived in, including the Jewish Scriptures (our Old Testament) that they were steeped in.

What I also like about the book is its emphasis on putting the truth we learn from this and from Jesus from our minds to our hearts and feet (lives). This can help us not only appreciate the Old Testament anew and afresh, but better enter into the world of the New Testament and see it more clearly.

In going through 1 John recently (and this is evident in James as well, which I'm in now) one of the things that struck me (and is also evident in the gospel of John) is the emphasis on God's commands, and in the importance of keeping them. In our Christian heritage I have frankly found and still find that grace means to many that we're always going to fall short of keeping God's commands. Or at least that this should not be the focus of our lives, but rather of God's forgiveness to us in Christ and our hope of complete change in the life to come. Good, but Scripture holds up more for us in this life.

This thought to me is surely at least in part a byproduct of having read and reread this book about the Jewishness of our faith. Keeping/obeying God's commands is central to our existence as God's people in this world. It's not that we're going to do so perfectly, or that we will be sinless, but by God's Spirit we will be working out this salvation we have in Jesus with fear and trembling, from God's work in us.

Certainly command keeping as part of what is important for us in the life in Jesus will keep us humble, yet pursuing and pressing on to God's highest for us individually and together in Jesus and for our witness to the world.

Do you have a copy of this book? Even if you can't get access to one, please follow along in our study. I think it will be fun as well as challenging in a way that won't leave us the same afterwards as we encounter God through his word to us in Jesus.

What thoughts would you like to add here?

the book (other than the Bible) that shaped me the most

Mom read us books as little children and the one she read the most and that I remember most vividly is Kenneth Taylor's The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes (the original of it, 1956- the year I was born). The pictures stood out to me and for me as a child were surely iconic, as the simplicity, clarity and power of the spoken word came through clearly for a child in Kenneth Taylor's (the author of the paraphrase The Living Bible) words, with simple questions at the end of each short entry.

This book surely was the most formidable of all books for me as a child in influencing and shaping my thought and formation, the fruit of it coming forth in my conversion years later. But before my conversion I rarely if ever doubted the truth of the simple gospel, or of the Bible. It's only now, as I look back on it, that I begin to understand just a little the profound impact this book, and my mother's faithful reading of it to us, had on me.

The picture of Jesus hanging on the cross always stood out to me. Also the first picture of the book- of God creating the heavens and the earth, along with a good many others. Each picture was quite important to us, and the words were kept simple and few, with good questions afterwards, just right for a child.

I have many good childhood memories, but this ranks among the best. My guess is that Mom often read several at a time. I can't remember exactly how I felt during such times, but I'm sure it was formational for me and to this day has an impact on what I do in more ways than I can understand. I think what it did tell me is that the Bible is both true and true to life. So that I carried that belief with me, even through my years of rebellion.

There are surely better books out there for children now in expressing the truth of God's word and God's kingdom come in Jesus. But surely there's no better book as to the format that was used and captured me as a child, preparing me for a love for God's word and the story in it, which continues on to this day.

Do you have any similar story? What book or books shaped you the most through your formidable years?

Thanks to Diane, of Emerging Quaker, who both brought up this question to her readers and then asked me to develop my thoughts further.

following Jesus in his way

It's one thing to teach correctly, but it's quite another thing to live it out over time. Jesus' words to his disciples were powerful, penetrating, and life changing. But without Jesus' life, they would have made no difference at all. His disciples remembered his words, but it was more than just words they needed to learn from the Master. This is a remarkable posting (and if you have some extra time, read the links) from Lois Tverberg, whose book, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, we're going to start an interactive study from, Wednesday, September 22. An excellent book with life changing truth. So I'd encourage you to get hold of a copy of Lois' book.

Living is a way of life. Of course that would seem to go without saying. There are many ways, however. The Jesus way is one we can learn from others. But we must pick up something of their spirit, something that maybe we are hard pressed to explain or describe, but that is real, nonetheless. We must live out by faith the Jesus life, so that others might see and follow Jesus. This doesn't mean we can ever think we've arrived. Though we may be trying to live this out before others, we need to find those we can watch, at least knowing that we're to ever grow toward maturity in Christ. And we're to do this together. So that we can appreciate seeing Jesus even in a young convert who is still an infant, feeding on the milk of the word.

What would you like to say about passing on the Jesus life to others?

Dante and Scot McKnight on the love of the Triune God

In the deep and bright essence of that exalted Light,
three circles appeared to me;
they had three different colors,
but all of them were of the same dimension;
one circle seemed reflected by the second,
as rainbow is by rainbow,
and the third seemed fire breathed equally
by those two circles.

Eternal Light,
You only dwell within Yourself,
and only You know You;
Self-knowing, Self-known,
You love and smile upon Yourself!

...The reason we are special is that we came from this three-circled splendor of loving Light that also draws us back into that Light so that we might be restored by embracing grace.

The story of the Eikon derives absolutely and only from the very beginning. God's own inner perichoretic dance of love, Dante's three Circles of Light dancing amongst themselves in such a manner that one is not sure which is which. We can now slightly modify our opening definition of the gospel: the gospel is the work of the triune, interpersonal God to restore Eikons to God and others into that divine communion, and to unleash it into the rest of the world.

Scot McKnight, Embracing Grace, 36, first quote from Dante's Divine Comedy: Paradiso.

slowing down

I'm not sure how I'm going to negotiate this, but I had inklings of it, already, before the trip to Texas. I realize that I push my body too hard, and I also realize that I need to be more like Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet.

So I plan to be slowing down. I still want to do what I do, being open to changes from God, of course. I like to read, and keep reading, and in the midst of my reading be stretched intellectually and in every way within my commitment to Jesus and to the Christian faith. But I need to make sure that I'm always majoring on my walk with Jesus and in the community of Jesus in mission in this world.

So this means I'll daily continue to work on this through being in the word and prayers, nothing new there, as well as daily in some devotional book, the book I'm using now for this, which has much in it to not only read, but digest into one's life.

Slowing down for me means more sleep. Less caffeine. And more relational time with others. I think I've been improving and growing in doing that with my wife, but I need to work on doing the same with others. That does take a commitment and effort on my part.

Have any of you thought about slowing down, and what that might mean for you? Do any here see the need for that? And why? Or any thoughts.

let your life speak

"Let your life speak," or more precisely, "listening to your life" is a thought that came from Frederick Buechner. And indeed it is a wise thought.

I often read (on blogs) or hear someone else, and rather wish I was like them in some way. But what's important for us is to let our own lives in and from God speak to us and to others. We need to listen to our lives, and more precisely to God through our lives.

This means that I don't worry about all my limitations, but I go with what I have, and look to God to do the work that only he can do.

It's a strength and a blessing to learn more and more to accept ourselves fully, where God has us, and to accept others fully where God has them. And to do so with joy, realizing all good is a gift from God. And that he indeed is speaking to us through our lives. And through the lives of others.

Any thoughts you'd like to share here?

The Screwtape Letters

We saw over the weekend a most magnificient rendition of The Screwtape Letters. A good friend of mine and brother in Jesus, Jonathan Schaefer played the role of Screwtape, and he did exceedingly well. I thought everyone did quite well, and that C.S. Lewis himself would have been pleased. Though I wouldn't want to be the one trying to adapt his book, because I'm sure he'd best know how to do it, since he wrote it.

A major challenge in watching it was to hang in there through all the darkness expressed in wanting to twist all that is good so that humans live lives separated from God. As well as the hatred. The lady who played Screwtape's sidekick, Grabslatter, with her flaming red hair, managed to keep on a most devilish, diabolical looking face. And hatred along with seeking to live lives in reverse of God's will, was at the heart of the demonic activity in seeking to destroy the life of one particular man.

While I'm one hundred times glad to have seen the play, there's no substiute for simply reading the book. This is one of the favorites from C.S. Lewis, for good reason. And it's more than just interesting, entertaining material. It speaks of life, and what is going on in our lives, especially undercover, and unknown to us, which we do well to become aware of.

Have any of your read "The Screwtape Letters", and what would you like to add here?

the effect of God's word

I generally notice a difference in myself when I'm meditating on God's word, and when I'm not. It's true that we're normally pondering something. I can easily get enmeshed and lost in my own thoughts, which sometimes go down a pathway that is not helpful or good.

As I take up a portion or passage in Scripture, I find over time as I ponder that grace begins to set in. God's love by the Spirit comes to the fore, and the old, doomed thoughts and attitudes are gone.

This is why I like to be in God's word all day as much as possible. God's word has a power all its own, and a wildness which can't be tamed, except by our systematic theologies, which can take the potency and power, yes what it really is as God's word, right out of it- and by themselves they do, as this excellent book which I'm rereading once again is reminding me.

How does God's word impact you? Or what would you like to share here?

a new start

Of course we don't want our car's gas tank to get on empty, but if it does, then we're stopped dead in our tracks. Sometimes in our lives we can find ourselves seeming to be on empty. Yes, we carry on, but something seems either wrong, or that we're lacking something.

Inadequate rest, or diet might be the problem. Or some needed change in one's life. I'm thinking in terms of getting back to basics, and this book is as good as any I know to help us do that.

I have to think that often the Apostle Paul felt this way. Paradoxically Christ's strength came to the fore in his life in the midst of his weaknesses. Paul was definitely not full of himself. It was a "not I, but Christ" kind of existence for Paul.

Whatever the reason may be, I just sense the need for a fresh and new start. But one not done on my own, but from God. This is what I will be endeavoring to do as I can during the next few days.

Any thoughts you'd like to share on this?

meeting Lois Tverberg

Last evening, Deb and I had the privilege of meeting the author, Lois Tverberg, in a coffee place in Holland. It was fun, and it was nice to get to know Lois a little. She indeed has an infectious enthusiasm for learning from the gospels what it means to follow Jesus. A very human enthusiasm surely not unlike the people who knew Jesus personally when he lived here on earth, not just on some academic level.

Her framing of this in its Jewish context is quite helpful both in understanding it, and for our lives today. I plan to start an interactive weekly study, based on her latest book, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, probably in September if not before. And it's good to know she's working on another book to be published by Zondervan, with more, hopefully, to come.

To read the book by her and Ann Spangler from cover to cover will likely clear up any questions one might have. I really appreciated hearing her perspective of the book. She was really the mind, in her scholarship behind it, while Ann was perhaps the writer, though Lois can most certainly write. But Ann was helping it connect with readers, not unlike a Sunday morning message from a pastor might connect to his or her church.

What I picked up the most from Lois was joy. Joy expressed in seeking to share and be a true follower of our Rabbi Jesus. Jesus is our Rabbi as we read and glean God's truth from him, from the gospels (Matthew through John).

To be a true follower of Jesus in this life is difficult on many fronts, not least of all the home front. We are "naturally" (but not really natural in what is intended in being truly human) turned in on ourselves, so that we see everything in relation to ourselves. Rather we need to learn to see God as the center, and we and all else in relationship to him. That involves conversion in and to Jesus, to be sure, and a lifelong process in seeking to be a true follower of Jesus.

So I highly recommend that you get and read the book! You won't be disappointed, I can assure you. And I look forward to our interactivity on it.

What might you like to add here?

quote for the week: N.T. Wright on Paul's summary of the gospel

Paul has various ways of summarizing his "gospel." In Romans itself, he does it in 1:3-5, where it is the proclamation that Jesus, the Messiah, is the risen Lord of the world, summoning the whole world to believing allegiance. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 he does it in terms of the Messiah dying for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and being raised again also in accordance with the Scriptures. But the important point to note is that "the gospel" is a message primarily about Jesus, and about what the one true God has done and is doing through him.

N.T. Wright, Justification: God's Plan & Paul's Vision, 181.

sin's problem

Isn't sin essentially self-centered, and idolatrous- at its core? Sin is turning all of God's gifts, and life in on one's self. It's all about me and what I want. Sounds idolatrous, doesn't it?

But God is in charge and God is the One to be worshiped and in Whose Love we are to live. And we are poor gods. Besides we can't order the world as God can. So sin ends up being self-destructive, at least God's image in us is further defaced.

If we refuse this Life God offers to us in Christ, a life that begins to turn us right side out, and ends up rescuing the world from its being upside down, beginning now in Jesus- then we simply end up not being a part of God's good kingdom that eventually is to take over the earth, setting all things right, and making all things new- in Jesus.

A helpful book on this is C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. The divorce is between heaven and hell, but really the book has more to do with this life than the life to come. Another "must read" from him: Mere Christianity.

Any thoughts on this you'd like to share?