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Book Review: Jesus Manifesto

A few months ago, I was sent a copy of Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet’s “Jesus Manifesto” to review….

“Jesus Manifesto” by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola was an alright book. The authors wrote a book with the sole purpose pointing readers to Jesus. They did a good job of teaching Jesus out of scriptures in the Old Testament and the New Testament. They also did a good job teaching on Jesus’ role in the trinity. However, the authors failed to really point to the whole reason Jesus came down to Earth.

This book seems to only be about living like Christ. Being imitators of Jesus is great and biblical, but is not what the entire Christian life is all about. The authors would disagree, but Biblically, the Christian life is about knowing God. The Christian life is not about moralism, as it is more about worship.

No where in this book does it speak of sin. The authors do not speak of how sin left us separated from God, and how God sent Jesus to redeem his lost people. To put it more simply, there is no gospel in this book. Yes, this books presents the supremacy of Christ in a way that is biblical, to a point, but Christ’s supremacy, according to this book, does not lead to salvation, but a great way to live.

Also, with the rise of the new Christian Liberalism, and Red-Letter Christianity, it is very dangerous to write a book only about Jesus. There are two other important people in the trinity that need to be lifted up just as much as Jesus. The trinity exists to lift up and find fulfillment in each other. Jonathan Edwards has great material on this. According to the authors, the trinity only exists to lift high Jesus. I completely disagree. Bruce Ware and Wayne Grudem, two fantastic scholars, have great material on mutual submission in the trinity. I suggest you read some material from them.

HE is our portion, and He is our prize.

O Christians! God is an all-sufficient portion!
His power is all-sufficient to protect you;
His wisdom is all-sufficient to direct you;
His mercy is all-sufficient to pardon you;
His goodness is all-sufficient to provide for you;
His word is all-sufficient to support you and strengthen you;
His grace is all-sufficient to adorn you and enrich you;
His Spirit is all-sufficient to lead you and comfort you!
What more can you desire?

- Thomas Brooks

A God Of Purposes

There is a collection of lectures Charles Spurgeon gave at his Pastor’s College called “An All Round Ministry”. You can buy this book over at Wtsbooks.com. Here are some quotes from the chapter on faith. Here, Spurgeon teaches on how and why we have faith in God.

“We do not believe in the powers of nature operating of themselves absent from constant emanations of power from the Great and Mighty One, who is the Sustainer and Creator of all things. Far be it for us to banish God from His own universe.”

“We believe in a God of purposes and plans, who has not left a blind fate to tyrannize over the world, much less and aimless chance to rock it to and fro.”

“We, by faith, perceive that hand of the Lord giving to every blade of grass it’s morning dew, and to every young raven its meat. We see the present power of God in the flight of every sparrow, and hear His goodness in the song of a lark.”

I’m really enjoying reading this book. You should get $10 and buy a copy. This growing my understanding of my dependance on God to keep my head afloat while I continue to plant Crossway Church

-Jimmy

Jesus Is The Good Shepherd

I’m going through the M’Cheyne Bible Plan. I love it! Seriously, it has disciplined me intro reading God’s word thoroughly. Here is a link to the plan: M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

I took a few minutes and studied John 10. I realized most people tie John 10 and Psalm 23 together. Now, thats not exactly wrong, but I don’t think thats exactly right either. D.A. Carson in his book “For The Love Of God”, points out that John 10 is actually a fulfillment of prophesy .

Jesus comes in John 10 and denounces the other shepherds before him, he calls them robbers and thieves (John 10:8). In Ezekiel 34, God calls them thieves and murderers (v2-3)

In Ezekiel 34, God says he will place only one shepherd over his flock. Here, its talking about David. God placed David to be the shepherd while Jesus was soon to arrive. We know that Jesus is the truer and better David. Jesus is the true Shepherd, not David. That is what John 10 is all about.

To see this more clearly, hear how these verses are worded together.

Ezekiel 34:11-12,
“‘For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness…’”.

John 10: 14-15,
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Looking for a great photographer?

Head on over to www.erinpurchase.com! My lovely wife, Erin, just launched her photography business. I may be biased, but in my opinion, her pictures are flawless. You have got to check them out! Here is one she took of me:

Just because of all the T4G videos….

Together For The Gospel is posting tours of Al Mohlers, C.J. Mahaney, Mark Dever, and Ligon Duncan’s libraries on their vimeo. They are the COOLEST ever. Mine isn’t nearly as cool, or am I nearly as popular….. but I feel the urge to show people where I gather thoughts and play music and keep my cigars and pipes. I’ve waited a long time to have a place that keeps my books, guitar gear, and smoking gear all in one room. I’m happy to have this space until a child comes our way!

Its been too long!

Its been a while! The church plant I lead worship for, Crossway Church, launched earlier this month. I’m really excited to see what God is going to do. We are currently at 70 people, and growing! Go to our website and check us out! www.crosswaychurch.net

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This month I grew my library by 80 books. All thanks goes to my brother Eddie. Eddie is on staff over at Coral Ridge Presbyterian (www.crpc.org), and he called me last friday to let me know that their bookstore is selling almost all their books for $1 each! So needless to say, I cleaned them out! Here’s a picture!

Tragedy 1 – Jimmy 0 ?

When you look back and really wonder about how on earth you are where you are. The answer is always God is mercifully guiding you.  In my case, Hosea 6:1-2 is the story of my life.

2009 was a solid year……

1) I found out I was going to lose my job about 3 weeks after I got married.

2) I had jobs lined up and 3 weeks before my last paycheck, both jobs called me letting me know they couldn’t hire me due to lack of tithing.

3) The ONLY offer that stood was for a church plant. Which if you  are used to working for established churches, doesn’t seem like a great job to agree to 4 months into your marriage.

Seriously, what was I to do.

All Erin and I could do was pray. Our God is a big God. He gracefully saves his people,  and will gracefully provide. (By the way, if you think praying during this time is an easy task, contact me so I can tell you first hand how hard praying actually is)

Let me tell you about how big my God is….

Over the past 7 months, besides my leading for the usual camps and events through the summer, I’ve been helping churches out. Some friends of mine, and in most cases, friends of friends, have been calling me needing a worship leader or a service or for a couple weeks. I’ve led worship for 12 churches I’ve never played at before, and some never even heard of. Their stipends have been the only thing keeping Erin and I afloat.

Doesn’t end there…..

God hasn’t just been providing us with money to pay our bills, God has also given me something else I desperately needed. Through the past months, God has blessed me with new friendships with many pastors in South Florida. Honestly, I don’t know where I would be right now without their guidance.

God also gave us a great church home. Coral Ridge Presbyterian has been our church home now for the past 7 months. I can’t  begin to tell you what I’ve learned, not only practically and theologically, but what I’ve learned about the gospel and how the gospel applies in life. Its great to read books about it, but to hear it first hand from my friend Tullian has been a great joy and privilege. Brandon, their Director of Worship, has been a great friend and mentor. Without the both of them, I don’t even know where Erin and I would be.

God also opened the door for the church I grew up in, FBC Pompano Beach, to ordain me. They have been really gracious with me and put together an ordination council consisting of a couple deacons, the pastors at FBC, and a few dear friends of mine. I passed the exam and my service will be January 10th 2010 @ FBC Pompano.

On top of all those things. One day back in October, my wife sat me down and said, “Jimmy, I think God is mercifully guiding us to plant that church”. I started to think through all the events that started in January. I lost my job, no jobs opened up, the only offer that stood was a church plant that was launching in 2010. Through prayer, Erin and I decided, planting Crossway Church is what God wants us to do. Moreover, its what God caused us to do. If only you knew the joy I have now in my ministry with Jon, the senior pastor of Crossway.

Here is how the gospel applies in this…

God’s “bigness” has nothing to do with his capability to provide me with worldly possessions that I claim I need, but has everything to do with his grace.

God has the right to tear me down as much as he pleases. I have sinned against him! He is a rightesous God, one who must punish sin. Here is the best part: I have no right to being built back up. Because of my sin against God, my only right is death and Hell. For I bear the indignation of the Lord, until he pleads my cause (Micah 7). But our God is a loving God. One who shows grace to his people. He, by his own sovereign grace, decided he was going to built me back up. Why? What did I do? My actions just drive me more and more away from God, but his grace brings me near to him. That is election, and I humbly worship God everyday for it.

I am humbled.

I am currently living in Hosea 6:1-2.

“Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.”

-Jimmy

The Blogging Starts Now!

I apologize for not blogging for a while!

A lot has happened….

I’m planting a church! We launch in January 2010 in the Plantation/Davie area. Go check it out! www.crosswaychurch.net

We’ve had 2 preview services so far and both have had about 60-70 people.  Thats not church planter lingo for 30-40 people, but we really had 60-70 people. Please pray for us as we serve this city with the gospel.

www.crosswaychurch.net

Go to it!

A new adventure….

I am the worship pastor for a new church plant in South Florida. Check it out! www.crosswaychurch.net

God has been mercifully guiding me all through this past year and helping me realize this is where he wants me to be.

Pray for us please!

“More Relevant Than Thou…”

“…the church and its members must not seek the world’s approval by providing programs that pander to people’s need to feel popular and appreciated. The “more relevant than thou” approach to ministry may fill churches, but often at the expense of the cross and all its glorious foolishness and shame.”

An extremely relevant quote (pardon the pun) from Jason J. Stellman’s Dual Citizens. You can read an expanded quotation at Ligonier Ministries or purchase his book.

(via Nathan Bingham)