What If….?

What If Jesus Meant What He Said?

Just arrived! Check this great book out!

What if Jesus’ words were never intended to fit into your existing lifestyle? What if they were meant to change everything? What if Jesus never wanted merely part of your life? What if He wants everything?

Instead of offering easy answers, these pages ask difficult questions, leading the reader on a journey with life-altering implications.

If Jesus meant what He said, how might His words affect our relationships, investments, speech, perspectives, discipleship, spiritual disciplines, and every other aspect of life?  What if the only balanced Christian life is all-out surrender to Jesus Christ?

 

A New Book by Alexander Strauch

Paul’s Vision for the Deacons: Assisting the Elders with the Care of God’s Church

Alexander Strauch has served in the leadership and teaching ministry of Littleton Bible Chapel (near Denver, Colorado) for nearly 50 years. As a gifted teacher and a church elder with extensive practical experience, Mr. Strauch has taught in more than 25 countries and has helped thousands of churches worldwide through his expository writing ministry. He is the author of Biblical Eldership, Men and Women: Equal Yet Different, The Hospitality Commands, Agape Leadership, Meetings that Work, Leading with Love, Love or Die and If You Bite & Devour One Another. These books have been translated into over 30 languages. In recent years, he has also made an impact on churches around the world through the ministry of BiblicalEldership.com.

Check out his new book Paul’s Vision for the Deacons: Assisting the Elders with the Care of God’s Church today!

Book Review: Fisher of Men

Fisher of Men: Sharing God’s Word With Sailors at Glasgow Docks

By: Sam Laughlin

“This inspiring book relates how one man, with the heart of a true evangelist, reached out to seafarers from around the world on the many ships docked at Glasgow. In the Foreword, Alan Gamble tells how Sam Laughlin “of Ulster stock … spent most of his working life in the Clyde shipyards.” After his retirement at 65, he continued to visit the docks on a regular basis for 16 years. Together with his wife Wilma they opened their hearts and their home, welcoming strangers from all corners of the globe. Alan Gamble states that “God’s work today needs many more servants like Sam.”

The Introduction sets the scene, with Sam driving through the empty Glasgow city streets early one Christmas morning to visit the ships. This was his yearly custom, and “the ships that were in dock welcomed [him] with open arms.” Each seaman received a bag containing biscuits, a hand-knitted hat, a calendar, and a New Testament. Christian literature in their own language was also included where possible.

During his many visits to the docks as Port Missionary, with permission from Clyde Port Authority, hundreds of men and women were brought under the influence of the Gospel, and many visited Sam and Wilma’s home for supper after responding to his invitation to hear the Gospel preached on a Sunday evening at the Gospel Hall in Linthouse.

The book is divided into short chapters, with titles such as “Fire in the Galley”, “The Brave Aberdonian”, and “The Bottle Thrower”, and includes many illustrations and photographs, enabling the reader to enter into the atmosphere of Sam’s experiences, and the colourful characters that he encountered on the ships over the years.”

~ This book review was originally published by Believer’s Magazine (February 2017), written by Alan Cameron.

BOOK PREVIEW: 31 DAYS AT BETHLEHEM’S TREASURE VOL 2: DECEMBER 1

Book Preview: This is an excerpt from the book 31 Days at Bethlehem’s Treasure (Vol.2) written by Shane Johnson.

A great devotional to pick up before December 1!



December 1 – Morning

“Behold, I come, in the scroll of the book it is written of Me.” Psalm 40:7, NKJV

In 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped out of a lunar modular and placed a human foot for the first time ever on the moon. He went down in history as saying, “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” Never before had mankind reached such a milestone in space exploration. For the first time ever we had breached the lunar world. We had come a long, long way.

God had come a long way, too. Stepping out of His own lunar module called Mary’s womb, after taking His first look at planet Earth, He too could say, “That’s one small step for God, one infant step, but one giant leap for mankind.” That one small step jumped the galaxies in order to breach one giant divide. Timely and eternal, small and colossal, that one infant step provided the only Mediator for all mankind. That “one small child in a land of a thousand” bridged a chasm so vast no mere human being could ever have hoped to cross it alone. That one small step forever forged a union of fragile humanity with iron divinity, creating a God-Man who would totally obliterate the sins of this world. “Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary” (At Calvary, William Reed Newell).

But that first manger step was only the beginning of a long journey that lay ahead of Him. After a brief stay in Bethlehem, the little Saviour travelled to Egypt to escape the first of the hostilities He faced on this planet, for the power hungry Herod killed every infant in Bethlehem in a vain attempt to kill Him. Then for thirty years He lived in Nazareth working as a humble carpenter, though He was the architect of the whole planet. He served in the local synagogue in appearance as a worshipper, but in reality the object of their worship. Lastly, His journey took Him through the streets and hamlets of Galilee, unknown to men but known and adored by all heaven. At the end of the line, He eventually came to Judea and to Jerusalem where He would be crucified. His visit to planet Earth would indeed be a hostile one.

Yet that first peaceful night, when the angels of heaven told the shepherds of His soft, soft landing, it was just the beginning. Just as Neil Armstrong planted the American flag on the moon’s surface declaring the beginning of space exploration, so too the Saviour planted His flag on planet Earth, declaring He would one day redeem it in His own time. And His banner over us was love.

One tiny step is all He took
but O the gulf He spanned!
For us He donned those peasant rags
and left Immanuel’s Land.

Book Review: Tell me more about the Holy Spirit

Tell me more about… The Holy Spirit

By: Jack Hay

“This is the fifth book in the Tell me more about … series, prepared for young believers who are seeking to learn the fundamentals of “the faith … once delivered unto the saints” (Jude v 3). The writer is conscious of his diverse readership, so “complicated sentences and difficult words” are noticeably absent.

The book has four chapters – The Holy Spirit and His Work; The Holy Spirit and the Believer; The Holy Spirit and the Church; and The Gifts of the Holy Spirit – Tongues and other Miraculous Signs. These are important aspects of truth relating to the Holy Spirit that believers must grasp if they are to make progress in their understanding of the Bible, and are to appreciate the great blessings into which they have been brought. Each of the chapters concludes with a helpful summary of key points, and guidance as to further study. The author begins chapter 1 with a consideration of the word ‘trinity’; a word that Unitarian writers oppose so vehemently. He emphasises that that “there is one God” (1 Tim 2.5), and outlines the Scriptural revelation of three Persons without reverting to ancient creeds, with which few readers would be familiar.

Tell me more about the Holy Spirit also includes clear statements about other areas of controversy such as the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit. The author distinguishes Biblical terms that are often confused, such as the baptism in the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit, and speaking with tongues. Clarity is a marked feature of this helpful publication.”

~ This book review was originally published by Believer’s Magazine (January 2017), written by Tom Wilson.

Book Preview: 31 Days at Bethlehem’s Manger: December 1

Book Preview: This is an excerpt from the book 31 Days at Bethlehem’s Manger, written by Shane Johnson.

A great devotional to pick up before December 1!


December 1 – Morning

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah…” Micah 5:2

Why did the Lord choose Bethlehem to birth His Son? Why not Jerusalem, the nation’s capital, or Shechem, or Jericho, or any of the other famous cities of Israel? One reason is because Bethlehem bears the signature of God. God has always bypassed the rich, the famous and the powerful of this world in favour of the meek. He has hidden Himself from the wise and prudent and has chosen to reveal Himself to babes (Matt. 11:25).

Palestine was a despised nation in the eyes of the Roman Empire at the time of Christ’s advent. Christ did not march into our world a Roman, nor set Himself up as a cultured Greek. Jesus Christ was born a Jew, despised, enslaved, unrecognized and weak. Bethlehem was “little” among the thousands of potential cities of Judah in which Messiah could have been born. Yet God chose this very place to be the black velvety cloth against which He could display His rarest diamond.

You and I are also “little” among the thousands of rich and powerful of this world, yet the Saviour chooses to dwell in us. Marvelous is the thought: He has decided to display His mighty power in these earthen vessels, these jars of clay, in order that His power and excellence might clearly be known (2 Cor. 4:7). He forsook the palace for the stable. He bypassed the kings and nobles, and instead invited the despised shepherds to witness His birth. He refused to call the chief priests and Pharisees as His disciples but chose instead unlearned fishermen and former tax collectors to be among His twelve. That is why He has chosen you and me. God has not chosen the wise, the mighty and the noble to display His glory, but has chosen “the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (1 Cor. 1:27).

You want to be great? Then shrink yourself small.
To look a little like the Son,
Relinquish everything, give up all.
Take as your pedestal a manger stall
And of the world’s fame take none.

When He came here he erased his face,
And let His massive name be killed.
Alexander (the Great) did a little kingdom make
But next to Christ he seems ungreat.
Jesus’ name is the smallest and greatest still.


“If you want to seriously meditate on the great truths of what really happened just over 2000 years ago, and how it shook both heaven and earth, forever, you will not be disappointed with any page of this fresh and rich devotional book written by a man I have come to respect very much.

Shane Johnson has provided us with two meditations for each day of December, predominantly with a focus on the Incarnation – God becoming a man, in real though sinless human flesh – to help us not only understand the plan of God, but to motivate us to worship and serve Him. The last few days in the book shift the focus away from the “Christmas” theme, as Shane points to a new year of putting this renewal of adoration into practice, by first addressing what we really believe.” – From the Introduction by Peter Bolton

 

Book Review: By This Conquer

By This Conquer: Studies In The Epistle to the Philippians

By: Andrew Borland

By This Conquer continues Ritchie’s Classic Reprint series. Subtitled ‘Studies in the Epistle to the Philippians’, it is a verse-by-verse commentary that will prove helpful to a wide age range of readers. The name Andrew Borland was associated with Believer’s Magazine for more than three decades, and he was Editor of the Magazine for most of that period. All who remember his editorial precision will not be disappointed by his elegant prose in By This Conquer. The clarity of his writing will also be appreciated by a wider 21st century readership.

In his Foreword, the author modestly suggests that this book contains “nothing new”; he claims to leave that to “more scholarly and more original thinkers”. Yet his exposition of Philippians is much more than a re-working of other writers’ interpretations, and he parts company with many in his approach to Philippians 3.11-12. His defence of Christ’s Person, as presented in Philippians 2, is trenchant. He states clearly his defence of both the Lord’s deity and His humanity and, in so doing, he opposes emphatically those who try to have one foot in the camp that would dare to present ‘a fallible Christ’, and the other in a more fundamentalist camp. He strips aside their veneer of reverence to Christ to expose their desire to have “a non-miraculous Jesus … that leads to a purely legendary Christ.”

The chapters of By This Conquer were originally published in a monthly magazine, so every verse is not covered in the same level of detail. Many younger readers will be encouraged by the brevity of the chapters – 30 chapters are covered in 232 pages. By This Conquer is a good choice for Ritchie’s Classic Reprint Series. To those familiar with his writing, it is Andrew Borland at his best. To others who never heard him preach, or who may not have had opportunity to read his articles or books, By This Conquer will provide an introduction to an author who proved helpful to many in past generations.”

~ This review was originally published in the Believer’s Magazine (January 2017), written by Tom Wilson.

Book Review: The Suffering Servant of the Lord: A Prophecy of Jesus Christ

The Suffering Servant of the Lord: A Prophecy of Jesus Christ

“David MacLeod, a Professor at Emmaus Bible College and a commended teacher among American Bible Chapels, has written a fine, if very scholarly, exposition of Isaiah’s fourth Servant Song from a thoroughly conservative evangelical and pre-millennial standpoint. It has also been presented as a series of lectures given in various parts of the world to well-grounded Christians, including some missionary brethren and sisters. It includes hundreds of extensive footnotes, which present, and sometimes refute, the views of scholars of various persuasions, and discusses in great detail the meaning of the original Hebrew text, which the author quotes throughout.

MacLeod divides his exposition of the prophecy into its five stanzas of three verses each, to each of which he gives a helpful heading relating to its fulfilment in the life, sufferings, death, and resurrection glory of Jesus Christ. He is in no doubt about the Messianic nature of the prophecy, and emphasizes the vicarious nature of the Saviour’s sufferings for sin throughout the chapters covered. He points out that Isaiah anticipates the very different reactions of the nation of Israel to our Saviour, both at His first coming in humiliation and then at His future appearing in the end times.

Five long appendices complete the book, including one on the various Jewish interpretations of the chapter, another on the question of healing and the atonement, raised by verse 4 and here answered helpfully, and a third on objections to the doctrine of substitution.

This book is recommended to very serious Bible students, who will also appreciate its clear layout, literary style, and typographical production.”

~ This book review was originally published in Precious Seed (2017, Vol. 72, Issue 2), written by Malcom Davis.

Book Review: Chitokoloki

Chitokoloki: Celebrating a Century of the Lord's WorkChitokoloki

“This is an interesting and informative book, written by Alma Turnbull, recording how the Lord has worked in a mighty way in a settlement on the banks of the Zambezi River called Chitokoloki. The remarkable story commences in late 1913 when three faithful men Mr Frederick Arnot, Mr T Lambert Rogers and Mr George Suckling heeded God’s call and established a ministry in an area of Zambia yet to be reached with the gospel.

This beautifully illustrated book uses many photographs, historical accounts and documents spanning 100 years of service in order to bring the story to life for readers who have never experienced what it would be like living and working in such a region of Africa. There is a helpful map which can be used to locate the places referred to, and a chronological index of missionary workers to help readers understand where and when the workers fit into the history. My only slight criticism of the book is that it would have been nice if all the photographs came with a brief description.

The author sets the scene well and then focuses on the mission station and its workers, the advance in education, the spread of the gospel and the teaching of God’s word. A large proportion of the book records the development of the medical work from a small hospital with few patients to a fully fledged hospital with modern equipment capable of conducting major surgical operations, interspersing this with touching accounts and testimonies of individuals whose lives were changed both physically and spiritually.

What makes this book interesting and challenging is the thread that runs throughout – God is faithful! Yet the reader is caused to stop and appreciate the remarkable nature of events that are recorded so simply. There is a good balance between the joys of being involved in such a work and the heartaches, difficulties and at times seemingly inexplicable circumstances that have been faced along the way.

Alma Turnbull gives a clear insight into the work that has been done but when reading this book it needs to be remembered, this is an ongoing work. It is also likely that this book will leave you challenged, to quote Gordon Hanna speaking at a graveside in Chitokoloki, ‘what is important is not the quantity of our life but the quality – not how long we spend here on earth, but what we do with the time God has given us’.”

~ This book review was originally published in Precious Seed (2017, Vol. 72, Issue 1), written by Esther Scarsbrook.