Book Review: “Amaze Them With God” by Kevin DeYoung

So who remember the book Don’t Call It a Comeback by Kevin DeYoung? Well I do remember it but not something that made an impact to me or to others. I dont think it made waves or became a bestseller. Nor some of my Reformed friends ever mentioned or recommended it. I think it never rings a bell with you too. It was published in 2011 and the young, the restless and the Reformed is at its peak. So Reformed books and blogs (like mine) where in abundance and a book like Kevin DeYoung’s Don’t Call It a Comeback might get lost and end up in a pre loved bookshops.

8 Favorite Quotes From the Book “Unashamed” by Lecrae Moore

I started the year by checking some of the free audiobooks I accumated by subscribing at Christian Audio. I want to listen to something. If I’m enjoying podcasts over Spotify these audiobooks will fill my time with spiritual stuff. So I started with a biography from a prominent Christian and secular rapper, Lecrae.

So here’s some quotes from that bio book, Unashamed by Lecrae Moore. If you like these quotes please get the book in either physical, e-book or audiobook.

“If you live for people’s acceptance, you’ll die from their rejection.”

“If you are a politician, you don’t have a “secular” job. If you are a computer programmer, you don’t have a “secular” job. The term secular is defined as an attitude, activity, or thing that has no religious or spiritual basis. But there is nothing on the planet that God isn’t ruling over. Everything a believer touches and uses in a way that honors God is, in a sense, no longer “secular.”

“Success is not what I’ve done compared with what others have done. Success is what I’ve done compared with what God has called me to do.”

“But before God could change me, He needed to mature me. And before God could mature me, He needed to move me.”

“There is no such thing as Christian rap and secular rap. Only people can become Christians. Music can’t accept Jesus into its heart. So I am not trying to make Christian music or secular music. I’m just making music. Hip-hop, like all music, is a good thing. I could use it for evil by filling it with violence and misogyny and profanity. Or I can use it to glorify God.”

“A person can be removed from slavery in an instant, but it takes a lifetime for slavery to be removed from a person.”

“Two thousand years ago, the apostle John wrote, “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.”17 Not much has changed in two millennia. Achieving what the world calls “success” has taught me that these are still three of the world’s main temptations.”

“Even though He knew all my mistakes, God still died for me. I don’t even like God, and God loves me. Despite everything, God bought me at a price.”

8 Favorite Quotes From The Book “Beyond the Big C” by Jeremy Marshall

Beyond the Big C by Jeremy Marshall is a nice diversion from reading Write Better which I’m at the half way point of it. I usually do this to reboot my mind and when I’m through with it, I’ll go back to the main book I’m reading.

Anyways, here’s some quotes from the book, Beyond the Big C published by 10 of Those. If you like these quotes, please get yourself a copy of this book by ordering here.

“I am convinced that God has allowed cancer to happen to me for his own reasons which I don’t understand at the moment. But I am also convinced that when I meet God face to face, everything will fall into place and I will see how he used me (and all his children) for his own glory.”

“God’s answer to suffering and pain is not theological truths, useful though they can be, but the humanity, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This means that, if we are Christ’s, we are never alone.”

“Cancer is the great disrupter –changing, complicating and sometimes even breaking relationships. Cancer (and death in general) is awful not only because it makes communication difficult and painful, but because, ultimately, it will end communication completely.”

“Being a Christian is not an insurance policy against disaster: if anything, it’s perhaps the reverse. Crucially, suffering and cancer is not a sign of God’s displeasure – because we are not accepted or protected by God on the basis of how good we are.”

“When I first had cancer, I didn’t go to the doctor because I didn’t know I had it. In the same way, the biggest danger is thinking something like ‘well, I never did anyone any wrong’. Even if that’s true (which I very much doubt), our biggest wrong is not against each other – but against God.”

“The amazing message of the Christian faith is this: that while, by nature, we are rebels against God, God came into the world as a human being and died on a cross for us. He did this not while we were his friends, but while we were his enemies; not while we loved him, but while we hated him.”

“For the Christian, death has lost its sting. Because of Jesus’ resurrection, those who trust Christ have nothing to fear for our bodies in death, for they will be changed: we will rise again, wonderfully remade in the image of the Lord. All of the pains and suffering of life will be gone.”

“God’s ultimate ‘treatment’ is not a philosophy or theology or morality – but a person. When nothing else makes sense, and nothing else is left, Jesus is there and he will hold us fast: if we will only trust in him.”

The Quotable Round-Up #90

Heads up guys! time for some 7 awesome quotes from a Christian book. This time we shall enjoy quotes from the book “Faker” by Nick McDonald. If you find these nuggets of wisdom superb, please get the book at your favorite bookstore or log in to Amazon. God bless and Peace!

“At the cross we see these two stunning realities about God: He is the holy King and Judge of our world. His overwhelming purity demands death for sin. He dethrones us.”

“…God, in his goodness, gave up a relationship more precious than anything you and I can imagine. It was a relationship better than the best marriage. Better than the most googley-eyed date. Better than the best BFFs ever. It was a perfect, intimate relationship that existed forever, between a perfect Son and a perfect Father.”

“Through the propitiation of Jesus’ blood, we, like the tax collector, can be declared good. Jesus Christ defeated the death we deserve by dying in our place, and then by rising from the dead three days later. The victory is won. The battle is over. When we place our faith in him, we are united to his death and resurrection forever—because he died, we can live.”

“So to say “God is love” is true, but incomplete. Love isn’t god—God is, among other things, love. He isn’t a god who loves like we do. His love is “other”: it’s better than our niceness. It own from his volcanic, beautiful purity.”

“Whenever I’m tempted to think that my failures are devastating, or think I made myself successful, I can look to this truth: God, the King and Judge, is truly in control. Not me. He gives, and takes away. Whenever I’m tempted to fret about pleasing people, I can remember: “These people don’t have ultimate power. God does. He controls my life, not them.”

“See, the God of the Bible is a God I wouldn’t have made up. He’s a God who’s over me, not a god who’s under my thumb. He’s a God who confronts me about my claim to the throne of my life.”

“The Bible says the problem with self-righteousness is this: the instant we say: “I’ll be good/right/worthy of love according to me,” is the instant we say: “I am the king and judge over my own life.”

 

The Quotable Round-Up #82

Hello guys! I hope you’re having a great day as you dive in this brand new collection of quotes! This time we are featuring fresh quotes from Theron St. John’s book titled “Something More” . And if you got stoked with these quotes, please get the book at Lulu.com.

“Inquiring about identity is an essential element in finding one’s purpose.” — Theron St. John, “Something More” #theronstjohn #somethingmore #purpose #satisfaction #meaning #joy

“Understanding the purpose, or aim of life, will enable one to endure the ups and downs of life.” — Theron St. John, “Something More” #theronstjohn #somethingmore #purpose #satisfaction #meaning #joy

“When someone can identify who they are at the core of their being, when they realize their purpose for life, and when this search for purpose couples with the pursuit of joy, the hoped-for result is to find satisfaction.”– Theron St. John, “Something More” #theronstjohn #somethingmore #purpose #satisfaction #meaning #joy

“Maybe the reason our relationships, possessions, and achievements fail to provide us with purpose and fulfill us with satisfaction is not because we are searching for what cannot be found. Maybe the issue is not in the objects in and of themselves. Maybe the vanity of our search stems from our ruling desires and expectations. In other words, the problem is not that we are looking for happiness. The problem is that we are looking for happiness in all the wrong places. We settle for lesser things.” — Theron St. John, “Something More” #theronstjohn #somethingmore #purpose #satisfaction #meaning #joy

“We can only unearth the root problem in our pursuit when we discover how far we’ve drifted from the grand and glorious purpose for our lives.” — Theron St. John, “Something More” #theronstjohn #somethingmore #purpose #satisfaction #meaning #joy

The Quotable Round-Up #80

Hello guys! I hope you’re having a great day as you dive in this brand new collection of quotes! This time we are featuring fresh quotes from Chris Bruno’s book titled “The Whole Story of the Bible in 16 Verses” . And if you got stoked with these quotes, please get the book at your nearest Christian bookstore or on Amazon.

“The way we think about God shapes the way we think about everything else, along with the way we act and respond to every circumstance.”

“When he had finished making everything, God looked at it all and saw that it was “very good.” Notice that God was the One who pronounced the verdict. The entire universe came to be because he spoke, and he was the only one qualified to evaluate his creative work. We don’t see the angels coming alongside God to give him some encouraging feedback. (In fact, we don’t even know when and how God created the angels, though we can be pretty sure they started praising him right away.) No, the focus at the very beginning is on God, his creation, and his authority over that creation.”

“Don’t tell the guys at Trinity Broadcasting Network, but financial prosperity is not the primary indicator of God’s blessing. Think back to the garden. What was the greatest blessing that God gave to Adam and Eve? The greatest blessing was living in God’s very presence, knowing him, and worshiping him.”

“God redeemed his people from slavery in Egypt by means of a substitute. Very early in the Bible, then, the patterns of redemption are established. In the first Passover, we see the pattern that God established in the law. The entire Mosaic covenant points forward to the need for a greater sacrifice. It points us to the promised seed.”

“Jesus, as the anointed King, the Messiah, would succeed where Adam had failed. Even though Adam was the image of God, he did not rule God’s kingdom as he should have. Neither did any of the kings in Israel or Judah. But finally here was One who would do what no other king could do. He would act as God’s representative Ruler, the true King. But in order to establish his perfect reign, he would have to be the representative servant of God, which meant he would have to suffer on behalf of God’s people.

“We saw in Isaiah 53 that the final substitute for the sins of God’s people could not be a lamb. No, it had to be one of them. It had to be the Promised One, who would represent the people and stand in as their substitute. It shouldn’t surprise us to hear Jesus say that his mission was not “to be served but to serve.” His main task as a servant was “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). When he said that, he was pointing back to Isaiah 53:11–12. He was the servant.”

 

The Quotable Round-Up #57

Here are some of the quotes from the book “We Destroy Arguments” by Stephen Feinstein. If you enjoy these quotes, please buy the book at your nearest Christian bookstore or on Amazon. Feel free to share this post over your social media. God bless you and enjoy your week!

“Christians are not out there to prove that a god exists, but instead that the biblical God exists. We are to prove that this biblical God has made Himself clearly known to all people at all times with clear distinct revelation that has left people without excuse. You cannot accomplish this by using piecemeal arguments that only demonstrate one sliver of the Christian worldview at a time. Instead, the Christian worldview as a whole is what is to be presented. Yet, it is even more than this. Christianity must be presented not only as an entire system, but as the only system of truth that is even possible.” – Stephen Feinstein, “We Destroy Arguments”

“When 1 John 4:8 declares that God is love, we need to ask, “Love of what?” If the answer is love of the world, then the divine attribute of love depends on the existence of the world, once again removing the independence of God and the creator-creature distinction. Furthermore, an attribute by definition is something that God must possess to in fact be God. If love could not exist until the creation existed, then God also could not have existed as God until He first created the creation! The position becomes logically self-defeating. Yet, if God is one, and yet three persons, then God can share love in an absolute sense being an absolute person and still be absolutely independent of creation. John 17:24 clearly teaches that the Father and Son loved each other in eternity past, thereby demonstrating from Scripture that God’s attribute of love is independent of the creation. Thus, the Trinity actually is necessary in order to keep every single one of God’s communicable attributes intact.” – Stephen Feinstein, “We Destroy Arguments”

“Under the Christian, metaphysical worldview God is only one God and is a perfect unity, but is also a unity of a plurality (three persons). Since God is a unity of plurality, it is not difficult to see creation in a similar light. We are all made from the dust of the ground making us one with creation (unity), but we are different ontologically from plants, animals, rocks, and other humans (plurality). There is no absolute unity devoid of plurality, and there is no absolute plurality devoid of unity. Only the Christian worldview accounts for this, and even though many secular philosophers and pagan religions reject a universe of both one and many, nearly all people live their day-to-day lives as though it were true.” – Stephen Feinstein, “We Destroy Arguments”

“Dependence on God leads to consistent and true knowledge and a consistent view of reality that makes learning and discovery possible. Independence from God leads to millions of inconsistencies on various views of reality, and it renders the idea of true knowledge and standards as impossible.” – Stephen Feinstein, “We Destroy Arguments”

“Atheism can be theoretical or practical, or both. The theoretical atheist outright denies the existence of God, whereas the practical atheist just lives as though there is no God. Based on the definition of practical atheism, agnostics truly are atheists just in disguise. After all, if they truly did not know whether or not God existed, would they not show up to church every other week and try to live in obedience to Scripture half of the time in order to shore up their bets? Yet, just about every agnostic most of us have ever met never goes to church and live their lives as though no God exists. Their words do not comport with their actions but instead are a mere attempt to take some misconstrued highroad of humility.” – Stephen Feinstein, “We Destroy Arguments”

“Ultimately, the combination of atheism and idolatry is the unbeliever’s way of suppressing the truth of God that is within them, and yet being able to navigate through the world with set standards. When the Christian apologist begins to critique unbelieving thought, unbelievers will move thoughtlessly back and forth between these two positions making it difficult to pin them down. For example, when you press their relativism to its conclusion, they will then appeal to reason (their idol) to support the items that they feel are absolutely true. When you then push them with reason into a self-defeating position, they will effortlessly move right back into their atheistic relativism. It will take patience and skill to reveal this to them, and ultimately it will take the work of the Holy Spirit.” – Stephen Feinstein, “We Destroy Arguments”

“If a Christian presuppositionalist pushed epistemology with such atheists, he could easily reveal to the atheist the impossibility of objective truth in an atheistic worldview. Thus consistent atheism requires the extreme of relativism, which itself is self-defeating. After all, would not a declaration that there is no absolute truth be in of itself an absolute truth? Furthermore, the atheist who holds to relativism is never consistent with it. After all, he acts as though reason and logic are trustworthy (absolute) and would seek justice if robbed (a moral absolute). Thus, the unbeliever committed to atheism in either its theoretical or practical form is left in a state of absolute certainty (rationalism) and absolute uncertainty (irrationalism) simultaneously and cannot account for it.” – Stephen Feinstein, “We Destroy Arguments”

Book Review: “Aspire: Transformed by the Gospel Part 1” by Matt Rogers

     This book is such a surprise because I would expect it’s just the usual book format that we all know. But as I open it from the postal package, it was this big journal size book. And as I thumb a few pages, the fonts are big and lots of lines which is where you’ll jot your answer. So this is not a usual book. And so is the content.

Matt Rogers “Aspire” is geared for one on one discipleship by tackling first the very foundation of the Christian faith which is the gospel. This book unravels the basic topics pertaining to the gospel in a 15 week study. The weekly studies discuss the gospel incorporated in some Christian doctrines. The starting point is creation where sin enters and how sin where our worship changes its focus from God to Satan. As the book progresses we see how this gracious and merciful God redeems these fallen worshipers. Of course when discussing doctrine, theological words are needed to be defined. “Aspire” covers that by highlighting these important words and defining it. The book’s later parts prepares the reader to be mission minded and to disciple too.

Now comes the sweaty part: the questions. You need to answers these to get most of the book. The questions on each part of the study are not just your run-of-the-mill passive questions you can get from a study guide in a usual book. Rather these questions will make you think and reflect for a moment. Also some of the questions are quite personal. And if you think this question and answer portion of “Aspire” left all the figuring out to the readers, think again. Chunks of biblical content are explained enough for you to chew and be satisfied on. “Aspire” will aid anyone to a healthy spiritual growth fit to be a disciple of Christ.
“Aspire” is well written, theological rich and personal workbook that will ground you in solid foundation. If you don’t know where to start with your discipleship, this book will definitely get you a jump start. If this book is so good how much more would be the sequel? For a pastor this will be a go to book for a deep one on one discipleship. For the individual Christian, prepare for a book that will pull you into a deep understanding of the redemptive story of God. Highly recommended.
My verdict: 5 out of 5 stars
(I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review)

The Quotable Round-Up #44

Here are some of the quotes from the book “Tactics” by Christian apologist Greg Koukl. If you enjoy this quotes, please feel free to share this post over your social media. God bless you and enjoy your week!
“Without the work of the Spirit, no argument — no matter how persuasive — will be effective. But neither will any act of love nor any simple presentation of the gospel. Add the Spirit, though, and the equation changes dramatically.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“Here’s the key principle: Without God’s work, nothing else works; but with God’s work, many things work. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, love persuades. By the power of God, the gospel transforms. And with Jesus at work, arguments convince. God is happy to use each of these methods.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“Our job is to communicate the gospel as clearly, graciously, and persuasively as possible. God’s job is to take it from there. We may plant the seeds or water the saplings, but God causes whatever increase comes from our efforts.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“Understanding God’s central role in the process removes a tremendous burden. We can focus on our job — being clear, gracious, and persuasive — and then leave the results to God (what I called “100% God and 100% man”).”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“Sometimes the little things have the greatest impact. Using simple leading questions is an almost effortless way to introduce spiritual topics to a conversation without seeming abrupt, rude, or pushy.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth

The Quotable Round-Up #43

Here are some of the quotes from the book “Tactics” by Christian apologist Greg Koukl. If you enjoy this quotes, please feel free to share this post over your social media. God bless you and enjoy your week!
“Beware when rhetoric becomes a substitute for substance. You always know that a person has a weak position when he tries to accomplish with the clever use of words what argument alone cannot do.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“Always make it a goal to keep your conversations cordial. Sometimes that will not be possible. If a principled, charitable expression of your ideas makes someone mad, there’s little you can do about it. Jesus’ teaching made some people furious. Just make sure it’s your ideas that offend and not you, that your beliefs cause the dispute and not your behavior.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“To be of one mind biblically doesn’t mean that all have to share the same opinion. It means a warm fellowship based on communion with Christ in the midst of differences. It does not mean abandoning all attempts at refining our knowledge by enforcing an artificial unanimity. True maturity means learning how to disagree in an aggressive fashion, yet still maintaining a peaceful harmony in the church.” — Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
” We need to cultivate the ability to disagree with civility and not take opposition personally. We must also have the grace to allow our own views to be challenged with evidence, reasoning, and Scripture. Those who refuse to dispute have a poor chance of growing in their understanding of truth.” — Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“This is a dangerous attitude for the church because the minute one is labeled mean-spirited simply for raising an opposing view, debate is silenced. If we disqualify legitimate discussion, we compromise our ability to know the truth.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth
“Arguments are good, and dispute is healthy. They clarify the truth and protect us from error and religious despotism. When the church discourages principled debates and a free flow of ideas, the result is shallow Chris tian ity and a false sense of unity.”– Gregory Koukl, Tactics #apologetics #christianconviction #defendingthetruth