City Notes (CN): Books in 25 minutes or less
CN are more than a book review. They are meant to provide you with direct quotes from some books I've
read in the last year, so you can get a taste of the overall theme of
the book and then begin to chew on what your life might look like if you
applied what you read.
Paul once wrote, ‘When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or
superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved
to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I
came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling’ (1 Cor. 2:1-3) … the
passage Paul wrote to the Corinthians burrowed down into my soul and cemented
itself there. It would be some time before that verse became the center of my
life. + pgs. 30-31
Chapter 2 | Unfair Advantage
Chapter 2 | Unfair Advantage
I do have some thoughts how Jesus might deal with terrorists because He had two with Him in His inner circle of friends. A Zealot and a tax collector. A political insurgent and an economic terrorizer of the common folk. What He did with these two was bring them in as confidants. As students. Disciples. And made them apostles of the early faith. It actually seems to me that the worse someone was, the more Jesus liked them. He didn't just have 'mercy' in the way we think of it, as a sweet, sappy, lovey-dovey sort of thing. It was mercy with a bite. Mercy that led people out of where they were into a new place. This is what Jesus did with the worst of His day. He was really only hard on one type of folks – people like us ... people like me. Hypocrites and such. + pg. 36
We know the Creator. We’re friends with the King. We know where truth is found and its name. We know what brings life and what gives life and where eternal life resides. It’s not fair. While others are explaining and defending various ‘isms’ and ‘ologies,’ we’re simply pointing people to our friend. The One who uncovers and disarms. The beginning and the end of the story. + pg. 38
Chapter 3 | Owning Christianity
We don’t have to defend Jesus. We don’t even have to explain Him. All we have to do is point with our fingers, like the blind man in the book of John, and say, ‘There is Jesus. All I know is that He touched me, and where I was once blind, now I see.’ + pgs. 47-48
We don’t have to defend Jesus. We don’t even have to explain Him. All we have to do is point with our fingers, like the blind man in the book of John, and say, ‘There is Jesus. All I know is that He touched me, and where I was once blind, now I see.’ + pgs. 47-48
The gospel is not a what. It is not a how. The gospel is a Who. The gospel is literally the good news of Jesus. Jesus is the gospel. … E. Stanley Jones continues this thought in his book The Christ of the Indian Road:
The sheer storm and stress of things had driven me to a place that I could hold. Then I saw that there is where I should have been all the time. I saw that the gospel lies in the person of Jesus, that he himself is the Good News, that my one task was to live and to present him. My task was simplified. + pgs. 49, 55
The kingdom of Jesus has somehow become a religion of the mind rather than a spiritual response of the heart. We focus on psychological compliance rather than spiritual dependence upon the teachings of Jesus and the guidance of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. ... What if we were to take Jesus at His word – ‘I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself’ (John 12:32 NKJV)? What if our complicated explanations are wrong, not because they are incorrect, but because they do not constitute the person of Jesus? … Jesus Christ is the gospel. He is the truth. He is the point. He embodies all of the salvation/redemption/forgiveness/freedom stuff Himself, and because He is a personality, He does not require doctrinal mastery to connect with an individual. ... The power of Jesus’ life and death come from His existence as the exact representation of His Father. + pgs. 54-56, 61
Chapter 4 | In or Out
When we focus on ideology, we’re not touching thirsty hearts. Thirsty people don’t want to memorize theology any more than they want to learn a new language. ... When we point at the boundary, we’re trying to define it. But if Jesus is lifted up, He draws people to Himself. ... If we were to look at Jesus, in the totality of His love and determination, we would realize we are not required to make ourselves His followers by force of reason. We would realize He came to us in our poverty of mind and heart. It is our job to follow Jesus ... refusing to know anything else but the crucified and resurrected Jesus.” – pg. 67
I often have to force myself to come back to the straightforward resolution of Paul: to simply know nothing else but Jesus. I know the one place I can’t go wrong is the place where Jesus is. I can be weak, sinful, foolish, and even rebellious. I can fail others, ruin ministries, fumble my work, and still, I cannot go wrong when I stand with fear and trembling, knowing only Jesus Christ. + pg. 71
We all suffer beneath the weight of
sin. (But) Understanding
the doctrine of forgiveness does not deliver us from sin. Jesus does.
Our Western logic, our reason, our ‘right thinking’ cannot deliver us from
evil (apart from Jesus). … Jesus announced that He was present for those who needed Him, as a physician
for the ill and wounded ... My job, no – my joy comes from sharing the good news of Jesus with
people. I point to Him, and He does all the heaving thinking. I don’t have to
convince anybody of anything. I let Jesus run His kingdom. + pgs. 71-75, 76
Christ is all,
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
Curiosity piqued? Something inside you being stirred? Go ahead and connect. For other updates, like and follow Emmaus City on Facebook.
Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan
Curiosity piqued? Something inside you being stirred? Go ahead and connect. For other updates, like and follow Emmaus City on Facebook.
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