People of the Book
“Jesus + nothing = everything”. This is the catchy title of a recent book that delved into the fundamentals of the Gospel. The main idea is that it is through Christ (and Christ alone) that we are rescued from sin and given life, purpose, and forever relationship with God. Did Christianity need this book to make this clear? No. Does the Bible not unequivocally teach this? No, it most certainly does. But was it helpful? Absolutely, as it was essentially a written series of sermons expounding on specific passages dealing with the sufficiency of Jesus at a time when we needed the reminder.
“God’s Word + nothing = everything needed for training in truth”. This is the not-so catchy title of a book no one has written (but who knows, maybe someday I will!) that deals with the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. The main idea of this unwritten book is that the Bible is the only written communication from God and that it is 100% objectively true. Scripture (and Scripture alone) is “God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” In other words, the truths contained in Scripture are all the truths a Christian needs in order to carry out our calling.
So then why have “Christian” books? If the Bible is all we need, wouldn’t a book such as the one I just proposed be ironic?
Yes … until you consider the fact that, as I alluded to above, books, like sermons, wax poetic about biblical truths. And this, my friends, is what most good non-fiction Christian books and booklets are: An elongated sermon put down on paper that recognizes and attempts to shed Scriptural light on aberrant beliefs and/or behaviors. They’re often written by a Pastor, Missionary, Ministry Leader or Theologian with experience and expertise that is often used by God to return and reaffirm biblical truths to His worldwide church.
Let’s face it, Pastor Toby can’t preach on every topic and with the laser-like precision that might be very helpful for you to hear preached on at this stage of your Christian Walk.
Where am I going with this? I guess you could say I’m going to the foyer, by the coffee counter. Maybe you’ve noticed that we now have both a book and booklet rack located there. We stocked it with titles that we believe could be extremely helpful to you as you look to grow in Christ. The booklets deal specifically with problems you may be facing while the books deal with just about everything from Marriage (“Sacred Marriage” by Gary Thomas) and Parenting (“Give Them Grace” by Fitzpatrick and Thompson), to Christianity in the Workplace (“The Gospel at Work” by Traeger and Gilbert) and The Sufficiency of Scripture (it’s not ironic!) (“Taking God At His Word” by Kevin DeYoung). We want these books to be a resource to you and will continue to stock them with various titles at different times. So please, check ‘em out! We’re asking $10 for the books and $3 for the booklets in order to mostly cover our cost. But if money is ever an issue, let us know and we’ll be happy to let you take it.
Happy reading!
Pastor Matt
Categories: Evergreen Connection