Best book I've read about the Cross

John R. W. Stott, pastor of All Soul's Anglican Church in London, is one of the most respected evangelical writers in Great Britain. I just finished reading his classic book, The Cross of Christ, and I found it to be the best book I have ever read about the Cross.

Stott writes as an evangelical pastor and scholar. While he thinks deeply, he writes with clarity and frequent illustrations. In fact, I used his book as the basis for a series of sermons on the cross that I preached recently.

Stott begins by making a passionate argument for the centrality of the cross to the Christian gospel. Then he explores the reasons for the crucifixion, and while describing many "images" of atonement, he zeroes in on Christ as a substitutionary sacrifice to satisfy both the holiness and love of God. His discussion in chapter seven of propitiation, redemption, justification and reconciliation is perhaps the best chapter of the book. The book concludes with chapters on what it means to live as followers of the One who died on the cross, with excellent explanations of service, overcoming evil, and understanding suffering.

Stott has read widely on the subject and he graciously comments on opposing views from liberal and Roman Catholic scholars. He takes other views seriously, but is faithful to an orthodox evangelical interpretation of scripture. I found it interesting that he disagrees with the popular view of Jesus' death as a "ransom" paid to the devil in a strictly literal sense. His discussion on the distinctions between Protestant and Roman Catholic views of justification is particularly insightful. Stott rejects the doctrine that God does not suffer, maintaining in chapter 13 that it is precisely because God did suffer on the cross that we are able to bear our suffering.

Many parts of the book read as if they were sermons. This is not surprising, since Stott is a pastor. Yet it comes together as a systematic theology of the cross. His conclusion makes an excellent sermon on how central the cross is to Paul's Letter to the Galatians.

This is a book that I will read again and again in the years to come.

Here's a woman who knows how to witness

Revival breaks out in Jena, Louisiana

Jena, Louisiana was in the news last September for the civil rights protests regarding the "Jena Six," black students whom many said were unfairly prosecuted for their role in beating up a white student. News reports of whites not allowing blacks to sit under their tree at Jena High School and reports of hangman's nooses hung as a threat, raised tensions to a feverish pitch.
Now a new spirit is reigning in Jena. Make that "Spirit" with a capital "S," for the Holy Spirit is sweeping through the town with revival, according to reports in Baptist Press.
When the predominantly white Midway Baptist Church began a "normal" spring revival, it broke out into a time of repentance, racial reconciliation and forgiveness. Jimmy Young, the pastor of the African-American congregation, L and A Baptist Church, attended and was asked to preach. Crowds grew from 200 to 300. So the revival continued, and the crowds grew to 400. Every night, people were accepting Christ, and 22 were baptized in one service. As the crowds grew to 700, they moved the revival to East Jena Baptist Church. Now as the revival is entering its fourth week, the services are moving to the 1,100-seat gymnasium at Jena High School, the very school where all the racial tension began.
Reports are that the invitations last an hour long, and nobody wants to go home, as the Holy Spirit is sweeping through the town.
Of course, the national news media is not reporting on Jena now. But Somebody more important is watching it all with joy.

Barack Obama quotes the Bible (sort of)

Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) quoted the Bible in Ohio yesterday. Unfortunately, his references were sloppy, slippery-slope distortions of God's Word.
According to CNSNews.com, Sen. Obama was at Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio, when he was asked about homosexual marriage. His reply: "I don't think it [a same-sex union] should be called marriage, but I think that it is a legal right that they should have that is recognized by the state," said Obama. "If people find that controversial then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount, which I think is, in my mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans."
Say what?
It is not clear what he meant by the reference to the Sermon on the Mount, since Jesus' sermon, recorded in Matthew 5-7, never mentions homosexuality. Perhaps Obama was referring to not judging others (Matthew 7:1) or the Golden Rule, doing to others as we would have them do to us (Matthew 7:12). The only thing that is clear is that there are no clear references to homosexual marriage in the Sermon on the Mount, although Jesus does teach faithfulness in heterosexual marriage (Matthew 5:27-32).
As for the "obscure passage in Romans," the Illinois Senator was obviously referring to Romans 1:24-27. Hardly an obscure passage, the apostle Paul begins his greatest theological treatise by stating that men are "without excuse" in their sin, and illustrates this with the sin of homosexuality, which the apostle describes as degraded, unnatural, shameless and a perversion.
Thus Senator Obama dismisses a clear passage of scripture as "obscure", and then makes his own obscure reference to another passage. If anything is "obscure," it is Senator Obama's ability to interpret God's Word.