Ministries of Mercy

I’ve read nearly all of Tim Keller’s material. And what I haven’t, I intend to. He is full of wisdom for today’s church. I first found his outlook on the gospel in 2005 and have followed a lot of what he’s done since. I recommend all of his teaching.

This book (Ministries of Mercy) is his first publication, from back in 1995. A lot of what he addresses is as a result to the facts of American poverty. He lays out a picture showing how many people are truly in poverty despite appearances. It isn’t just about the homeless undesirables, like the man on the tube this morning ripping up free newspapers but being ignored by the commuters; it’s about the elderly who can barely get by on their state pension, single parents in communities permeating with drug dealers; it’s about the families who’s father has just lost his factory job due to the economic downturn and is not skilled for anything else. Mercy is the undeserved ministry to these people.

Keller paints a picture in the first half of the book of what it would look like if we were merciful, challenging our individual perceptions, and presenting Jesus to bring us to a place of repentant faith to live a life of mercy. It begins with the story of the good Samaritan, expounds some key parts, works through the individual, then moves onto the church.

It is theological and practical in it’s presentation. There are some excellent guidelines for starting up ministries of mercy through the church. This especially resonated with me, as it gave a positive view to the eventual equipping of churches to show mercy, rather than guilt tripping those into action.

He shared his definitions and applications of justice and mercy. He showed how these work together; and how mercy ministries and evangelism are two sides of the same end, bringing the lordship of Jesus into all of life. It’s balanced in it’s approach but very positive in it’s conclusions.

I highly recommend this book. It’s challenging and gives a grand vision for what the church is capable of, but always brings it back to the ultimate ministry of mercy: Jesus on the cross.

 

Explosive Preaching

Ron Boyd-MacMillan shares an imaginary correspondence with a preacher just starting out, in his book ‘Explosive Preaching’. I was recommended this book about 2 years before I read it. That was mostly down to it’s out-dated, and unappealing front cover. (Even though I was proven not to judge a book by it’s cover, I still do.)

The content is a one-sided set of letters, which are written well enough for you to know what was written back without needing to see it. He covers the progression of preaching techniques over the ages; from moralistic lectures, to narrative preaching. He shares his passion for good preaching, without limiting you to a style, or method. By the end of the book there is a feeling of freedom to find your voice, while also having some very instructive guidelines on how to move from average to good.

The highlight for me is Ron Boyd-MacMillan’s description of the Chinese preaching school. The curriculum is lovingly referred to as “the 66, the 33, and the 1″. The requirement is writing 100 preaches ready to preach whenever necessary. It shows both how China is so passionate about hearing the word of God and illuminates the British tendency to make our training over academic.

The breakdown of this Chinese preaching school is as follows:
66 one hour sermons covering each book of the bible. This needs to be memorised. At the point of assessment they pick a random card and ask you to preach on whichever book is on the card.
33 half hour sermons covering the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. You are allowed a page of notes per sermon.
1 sermon on the text, or topic of your choice; for as long as you want. This is the sermon you prepare for heaven.

The whole book is full of wisdom regarding style, technique, preparation, the use of technology, and more. If you think you might preach one day, read this book to kindle the passion. If you preach and haven’t read it, you simply must.

 

Jonathan Edwards on Revival

I read this in the summer last year. It was great to read and covered three main periods of the Great Awakening of the 18th century. It was an enlightening read as the pages told of similar occurrences as are found in Acts; hearts burning with conviction to repent, all manner of people coming to know Jesus, the poor being ministered to, the generosity of the rich.

I would highly recommend reading it, and I’m not a particular fan of church history. To entertain this tangent, the excitement people get for church history is lost on me. There are many amazing things that were done through the centuries in the name of Christ, and there are amazing theologians who carry much weight in today’s understanding of scripture. But, there is a lot of reliance on practices and interpretations that aren’t the Bible, and whether they agree with scripture or not, there is far more emphasis on something that is not authoritative, or apostolic in the way the Bible is. It is my firm belief that to depart from historical Christianity is not to depart from scripture. Sometimes it is necessary to do so to remain faithful to scripture. However, church history can teach much, raise faith, and ultimately confirm much for the future of the Christian expression. Rebuilding orthodox belief from the ground is always to be encouraged, but we are influenced in many ways, the are kept in check by historical theology from the like of Calvin, Luther and, in this case, Edwards.

The story that stuck in my mind after I put the book down was of a young girl convicted by the spirit of her sin, and, in exploring and seeking for redemption would be found missing for much of the day where it later turned out she had found a secret place to pray and seek God. She wouldn’t entertain children’s ministry as she wanted to hear Mr. Edwards preach. The story is a wonderful picture of revival. In each narrative given by Edwards, the variety of God’s spirit settling on whomever He chooses is most obvious, and young and old, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, spoke especially into where my wife and I are called in Islington.

I would recommend this book, however archaic the language, for the sheer relevance an awakening of the spirit is in all generations. We apply the revival in Acts to ourselves. Why not join in Edwards experience, and even have our own to boot?

 

Book Reviews — Coming Up

I read books. Sometimes I feel like I don’t read enough, but that is down to my reading speed. I can read a book in days, but the average is usually a month. As a result I have a repertoire of books I’ve read that I’d love to flag up as recommended to you, the readers of the content on this blog. Some of you may find no relevance in it, but that shouldn’t discourage me. If I though I had to write what interested everyone I wouldn’t write anything. Imagine convincing yourself you had to learn every language to make content accessible to all?

No, I read books that interest me. If you think that rather self centred, then the tangent I’ve found myself in is as far as anyone will ever read.

Back to the main theme: I have read 3 particular books I will attempt to review in the next 3 posts.

1. Jonathan Edwards on Revival — Jonathan Edwards
2. Explosive Preaching — Ron Boyd-MacMillan
3. Ministries of Mercy — Timothy Keller

The first I was reluctant to read due to the archaic language.
The second I was put off by the cover.
The 3rd I was cautious to read as the content is far too challenging to my own lifestyle.

Sometimes you should dive in regardless of the content. Like stepping on a train you have no idea where it’s going. These books both changed and encouraged me. I hope I can do them justice.