i am an offering

I totally apologize to Craig Groeschel for trusting me to write a review of this book in a timely fashion and taking months to do it! I want to live up to my word, however, and make sure this does get reviewed, as this book is a very valuable resource.

Craig Groeschel of Lifechurch.tv recently wrote a book called “Going All the Way - Preparing for a Marriage that Goes the Distance.” It is a fantastic book. It’s easy to read in the fact that Craig’s humor and writing style are very personal and it is easy to relate to him. It’s hard to read in the fact that there are a lot of challenges to popular culture’s view of love and marriage that might be hard for some folks to get through. But bravo, Craig for hitting the nail on the head. From the first chapter:

Let me warn you: this book may require a radical shift in your thinking. If small changes would do the trick, everyone would be making them. Minor adjustments produce marginal results. Most of us need to overhaul our thought processes. To experience the kind of relationships we long for, we must, with God’s help, prepare to be genuinely different.” (pg 7)

Well said. The one thing I appreciated most out of all of this book was that after the introductory chapter, the first chapter is about “finding the one.” In common cultural language, we immediately think that he’s talking about finding the one person we’re meant for on this earth. But he doesn’t write about that at all. He writes about Jesus being the one. Jesus being our first love. The person you marry will always be “the two” and Jesus will always be “the one.” Fantastic way of opening the book.

The rest of the book goes on to present some great challenges in how we handle relationships. Friendships, romantic relationships, engagements, roles of husbands and wives.

This book is a very, very good resource, especially if you are struggling with wondering how to handle a romantic relationship in a godly way while being immersed in a culture that’s full of lies about relationships and sex. Craig breaks through the confusion and lies of our culture and sets things straight.

It is really refreshing to see a church that to some people might look like a thouroughly “seeker-sensitive” church have a pastor that writes this.

In an increasingly relativistic society, many churches have and are (scarily) moving away from teaching the Bible as an ultimate source of absolute truth.  However, it seems that there is a shift for many other churches to move back to that teaching and promote it hard and hold fast.  I want to always be a part of the second church, not one that has moved back, but one that has preached God’s Word from the beginning and never looked back.

I completely agree with Craig that environments can enhance an experience of worship for people, but they are not a necessity at all.  What of the worshiper in Honduras who worships on a dirt floor with barely any walls around him?  What of the worshiper who worships underground in China, afraid for her life?  One thing is the same in America, Honduras, China, anywhere: God’s Word in the Bible will stand, no matter what.

I love these words from Craig:

The churches that thrive will be Biblical churches. God’s Word will be preached. People will feel uncomfortable, challenged, convicted. The future church will be more about preaching and living God’s Word than about attracting people with clever sermon titles, videos, and programs. Sure, we might use those things (or maybe not - GASP!). But only those who preach God’s Word will thrive. The rest will die.

Hello everyone!  Here are some thoughts going through my mind today:

• Had a great meeting with my pastor this morning.  How incredibly encouraging it is to just sharpen each other.
• “The number one reason that churches don’t grow is because of a lack of personal evangelism.”  I think I have to agree with that.  If we take the responsibility of “you shall be my witnesses” seriously, we should spend our efforts trying to reach out to the broken and help them get healed with the help of Jesus.  When they see that Jesus heals, they’ll fall in love with Him, and will want to be part of His church, His bride.
• Speaking of Jesus’ bride, I found this post very intriguing and eye-opening.  “Membership in and service to a local, biblically organized church body is not optional in the life of a believer, and is something that should not be taken lightly.”
• Along those lines, I think the quote above should read, “Partnership,” not membership.  Check this out.
• I’m still waiting for your questions. I would really love to get to know who’s reading this blog.  Even if it’s a question like, “Who in the world are you and why do you think you know anything about worship and music?”