Book: "The Truth Wars" by John MacArthur

MacArthur begins his Introduction with..."Who would have thought that people claiming to be Christians - even pastors - would attack the very notion of truth?"

He ends with... "As vital as it is for us to enlist in the Truth War and do battle for our faith, it is even more important to remember why we are fighting - not merely for the thrill of vanquishing some foe or winning some argument, but out of a genuine love for Christ, who is the living, breathing embodiment of all that we hold true and worth fighting for."

MacArthur doctrinally expects this battle, this war, to be fought and to ignore and not fight it is not what Jesus wants of His soldiers. He fully expects there to be false teachings taught by men and women who refuse to accept a real truth and MacArthur expects the believer to fight the good fight.

Where MacArthur differs from many, even most, is his desire and willingness to fight the war on truth....The Truth War.

My first encounter with Dr. MacArthur was with his book The Gospel According to Jesus where he was willing to take on some well established institutions in that Truth War. When MacArthur sees the truth being attacked, he brings the battle home to the offender, and he names names. He'll bring it into their backyard and will unashamedly go toe-to-toe.

I don't know if MacArthur battles first in a more private arena before bringing it out in such a public venue, but I would think so, I hope so. In any event, MacArthur engages again and the war is on again in Truth War's 200 plus pages.

The book is rich with history, stories, and scripture. I'll be writing excerpts from the book while also looking on the internet for any counters and rebuttles to his assertations. Any comments from me will be in italics.

Page ix - x: A recent issue of Christianity Today featured a cover article about the "Emerging Church.".......One dominant theme pervades the whole article: in the Emerging Church movement, truth (to whatever degree such a concept is even recognized) is assumed to be inherently hazy, indistinct, and uncertain - perhaps even ultimately unknowable.

Page x: McLaren is quoted in the Christianity Today article, saying at one point: "I don't think we've got the gospel right yet...I don't thing the liberals have it right. but I don't think we have it right either. None of us has arrived at orthodoxy. Elsewhere, McLaren likens the conventional notion of orthodoxy to claim that we "have the truth captured, stuffed, and mounted on the wall." He likewise caricatures systematic theology as an unconscious attempt to "have final orthodoxy nailed down, freeze-dried, and shrink-wrapped forever."

Page xi: The idea that the Christian message should be kept pliable and ambiguous seems especially attractive to young people who are in tune with the culture and in love with the spirit of the age and can't stand to have authoritative biblical truth applied with preceision as a corrective to workldy lifestyles, unholy minds and ungodly behavior. And the poison of this perspective is being increasingly injected into the ebangelical church body.

Page xi: But that is not authentic Christianity. Not knowing what you believe is by definition a kind of unbelief.......Refusing to achknowledge and defend the revealed truth of God....Advocating ambiguity......or otherwise diliberately clouding the truth is a sinful way of nurturing unbelief.

Page xi: Every true Christian should know and love the truth.....The clear implication is that a genuine love for the truth is built into saving faith. It is therefore one of the distinguishing qualities of every true believer.

5/17/09 - most everything about "Truth Wars" on the internet is about the war in Iraq or the war on drugs. One blog with this name had some good stuff, but the author is extremely stealth, which causes me to wonder what he's hiding. Googling "Truth Wars" brings up some 28 million hits.

5/22/09 - http://books.google.com/books?id=T6nt7lLz1gsC&dq=truth+war&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0


to be continued....

Book: "The Top Ten Mistakes Salespeople Make and How to Avoid Them" by Tod Duncan

4/19/2009: I met Tod Duncan in 1993 at a seminar. Tod was a mortgage loan officer turned mortgage trainer, now aurthor, speaker, and coach and had a great impact on my life. I used his mastery program with a number of loan officers back in the mid and late '90s. Tod's testimony as practicing Christian has been inspiring.

Being a good sales organization is important to the restructuring of our business and vital to making a difference and making a profit.

It is with great anticipation that I begin this read.

To that end.........

Book: "Under God" by Toby Mac and Michael Tait

As I said in postings about a few other books, I've been reading American history biographies for a few years. This is an excellent addition to that list.

From the Introduction...

While our forefathers set forth the ideal of what this natin could become, it was immensley more difficult to carry out and ensure this ideal for all men and women. It is a profound task that continues to this very day.

When studying the founding of the United States, one thing that you can't help but encounter is the faith of our forefathers. Time and time again our forefathers recognized God's hand in the shaping of this nation. You will find Him mentioned repeatedly in their words and documents.

When we decided to embark upon creating this book, we decided to use King David from the Bible as our model. He as a man afer God's own heart, but he was also a murderer and adulterer. And though David repented of his errors, they haunted him the rest of his life. In the same way, our forefathers left wome things undone, and along the way our nation plunged into some dark traditions.

This book is a collection of short stories about our heritage. Each short story could have - and has had - entire books written about its subject. .......It is our hope that you enjoy reading these stories as much as we did discovering them.

Read Well..............

Book: "Facing Your Giants" by Max Lucado

I've not read any of Max Lucado's writings in 4 or 5 years and it was refreshing.

Lucado does an excellent job of telling about David, how he faced not just Goliath, but giants throughout his life, and he kept relying on God. This biography of David is woven in with stories of people like you and I and how we also can rely on God to nurture, guide, and shield us when we are facing our own giants.

Bravo Mr. Lucado.

Well done.

To that end....

Book: "Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude"

5/17/2009: I'm some 15 weeks into my study on 1 Peter and reading these "old guys" during their time (100-800 or so) continues to be enjoyable. Their fresh perspective helps to keep me balanced as I read and listen through more recent sermons and commentaries about Peter and his letter.

4/11/2009: This slow read, coupled with numerous other readings and sermons on 1 Peter, has been by far the best study I've ever done on any book of the bible. What these old guys, these sages, have to say is incredible. And how fresh the letter was when they were commenting.


2/15/2009: For my original comments on these "Ancient Christian Commentaries on Scripture:" go to...Proberbs/Ecclesiastes/Solomon.

This read on 1 Peter is part of the study I'm doing with my church life group as we follow our Pastor, Brad Thomas, through his 16 weeks of sermons on the same - 1 Peter.

Reading what these old sages have to say about this letter is remarkable. It gives me an entirely new perspective on the words. Seriously, think about it...Ignatuis of Antioch was alive during the time Peter penned this letter and wrote several letters of his own while being taken to Rome to be martyred. And here are some of what he had to say about the scripture itself.

Or Justin Martyr and Polycarp who were born soon after the letters were written.

Over 90 of these sages.... words so fresh.

To that end...read well.