| Volume 3, Number 8 |
August 17, 2003 |
The First Words of Jesus, meditations on the Eight Beatitudes in Matthew 5, will be available this month either on our website or through www.amazon.com. Watch for it. The book is short, printed on sturdy stock and bound with a spiral binding. One blank page faces each printed page. Sound strange? Not at all. The purpose is to provide our readers with a sturdy guide to study the teachings of Jesus about the Gospel of God's love and have pages upon which to write notes. The book is filled with numerous biblical references. We are encouraging our readers to look them up, make notes and comments on the blank pages. In other words, this book is a study guide.
Following is an example from Beatitude Six: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."
After pointing out that "In Christ, we are all equally sinful and equally chosen by God's grace to become sons and daughters of God," the text discusses the blessing: "for they will see God." However, even Moses could not look upon God's face, for the Lord said, "no one may see me and live." Nevertheless, the prophet Isaiah promised that "The glory of the Lord will be revealed and all mankind together will see it." The New Testament follows up on that prophecy to proclaim that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father." By faith now we see that glory in Christ. He is the very image of God. By faith in Him we now see God. The veil is pulled back to reveal God's endless mercy and forgiveness toward us sinners. That is the glory now revealed to us in Christ Jesus."
The Bible references footnoted in this section of the text include: Exodus 33:19-20; Isaiah 40:5; John 1:14; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:6. We encourage readers to look up these passages, study the context in which they appear and make notes on the blank study page.
The First Words of Jesus Workbook - will now follow shortly. This workbook will be useful for even more in-depth personal and group Bible study. Many other Bible passages, as well as questions and ideas about Jesus' teachings, are included. We will publish it in 8.5 x 11 inch format. These materials, we believe, are at the heart of everything we are teaching through our seminars and website. Our prayer is that these materials will bring blessings to many. We urge you to obtain copies of them for your own personal or group study.
What have you been reading lately? If you have a book you would like to present for our readers, drop me a note. Include the title, author and publisher. Also, if you would like to make some comments about it, I'd love to include those as well. We have a growing list of important books we recommend on our website. They present the basics of Lutheran teaching, as well as an opportunity for in-depth study of those teachings. Here are some examples from the website: http://www.crosstiesministries.org/reading.asp
Luther's Large Catechism This links you to www.amazon.com.,where you can choose to order the book. Amazon, in turn, lists comments from people who have ordered the books in the past. Here's one reader's comments about Luther's Large Catechism. Note the five stars, the highest possible rating:
Average
Customer Review: 
|
|
Reviewer:
An Amazon.com Customer from Missouri |
Being
a Lutheran (Missouri Synod) I can say that this is one of the greatest
theological writings outside of the Bible ever. It is a wonderful overview
of many biblical truths. Many of his arguments such as his support for
infant-baptism are practically impossible to soundly refute. If you agree
with his theology or not, it is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to
grow in the Christian faith or learn about what Lutherans believe.
Here is another recommended book: On Being a Theologian of the Cross: Reflections on Luther's Heidelberg Disputation...by Gerharde O. Forde. Another Amazon reader provides this comment:
|
Reviewer:
An Amazon.com Customer from Dearborn, MI USA |
Forde
provides a masterly tome on the differences between theologians of glory and
theologians of the cross. There is no real theology, just those who do real
theology.
Thus,
in this concise, precise written expose of Luther's Heidelberg Disputation,
Forde offers the ultimate in discussing God and man, what does He think of
us?
Suffering
and cross? How can it be?
I'm
overwhelmed by the excellence of this book. Having read both works about the
theology of the cross (von Loewenich and McGrath) I can witness to the
prevailing superiority of this for what theologians of the cross are about.
To
those who are, think they are, and not sure, this book is the place to begin
and end pondering what the differences between theologians is.
Must
read!
........................................................................................................
You
get the picture. We have some great books listed. We welcome your
suggestions for others. Please drop us a line. We're all about helping
christian leaders to grow and to help others to grow. Reading sound,
Bible-based materials is one of the prime ways by which that happens. Let me
hear from you.
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