Redeeming God

Liberating you from bad ideas about God

Learn the MOST ESSENTIAL truths for following Jesus.

Get FREE articles and audio teachings in my discipleship emails!


You are here: Home / Archives

QuickVerse

15 Comments

Just as a note to my readers… Don’t buy QuickVerse software. Stay away. This company is greedy and rigs their software so it eventually stops working, and you have to pay for an upgrade.

About seven years ago, I bought one of their Deluxe software packages. I didn’t really care about the “searching” capability or anything like that, I just wanted a great deal on lots of books.

Well guess what? Now I can’t use any of those books unless I buy the new upgrade. I called and complained and they said that if I wanted to access those old books that I purchased, I have to buy the new software. I argued that if I bought a paper book, I could read it as long as I wanted, and wouldn’t have to buy the new edition when it came out. They woman on the phone rudely informed me that they don’t sell books, they sell software, and when the software expires, I have to buy new software if I want to keep reading the books that came with the software.

…Are you kidding me?!

So…Don’t Buy QuickVerse unless you want to keep buying the same books over and over for the rest of your life.  If you want Bible Study Software, go with Logos, BibleWorks, or E-Sword. It appears that none of these excellent companies recharge you for books you already bought. The E-Sword software package is always free, so once you buy a book, you should never have to pay to upgrade it.

4000 Books

47 Comments

I’m sure it’s just me…but I sometimes panic when I realize how few books I will read during my life. There’s so much to read and so little time! Is there a phobia for this…The fear of not being able to read?

Look at it this way: The average reader reads only four books per year. Over the course of a lifetime of 80 years (with reading taking place between the ages 15 and 95), this would be only 320 books!

But let’s say you read more. Let’s say you are an avid reader, and read one book a week, or about 50 books per year. Over the 80 years of reading, that is still only 4000 books! That’s about how many books I already have in my personal library! So even if I never buy another book, I will not be able to read all the books I already own.

That is so depressing…

Best Christian Books

So I guess the lesson for me is that I must carefully select the books I read.

Every time I pick up a book, I ask myself, is this a book that I want as one of my 4000? It makes me sad to think of some of the pointless books I’ve read.

Books I have Read

So I decided to keep track of the books I read. Since I don’t know how many I have read up to this point, I went through my library and counted all the books I remember reading, and then doubled it. I remember reading many hundreds of books in my teenage and college years that I no longer own, so I figure this was a good starting place. This process brought me to 1500 books. Down below, I list some of the best books I have read during these years.

Then, I am going to keep track of the books I read from year to  year, and update the count here.

Here is my count so far:

My goal is to average one book per week, or about 52 books per year, so that by the time I reach 80, I will have read 4000 books.

Best Books I Have Read

Below are some books I am glad I have read, and may even read again, thereby taking up not just one, but two spots on my list of 4000 books. These books have shaped my thinking in amazing ways. In the future, if I read some list-worthy books, I will include them in the comments.

For more of my favorite books, see my  Burning Books List…books that set my mind on fire.

That’s all I can think of right now off the top of my head. By including these books on this list, I am not saying I agree with everything written in them. All I am saying is that these books stretched my mind, and brought about paradigm shifts in my life and thinking. A few of them caused earthquakes.

Oh, and novels are good to read as well. Novels can sometimes shape your life and theology more than a book on theology. One of the novels I am glad I have read is Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. I’m not really into Sci-fi novels, but it was so good, I read it twice.

Hidden in the Wings

4 Comments

Do you know any Christians who talk incessantly about the Holy Spirit? Every time you talk to them, it’s the Spirit this, and the Spirit that… Why is this, do you think? It certainly does not seem to be the way the Scriptures approach the Holy Spirit. He, it seems, tends not to prefer the spotlight, but to stay hidden in the wings.

Take Luke 3:21-22 as an example. This is one of those passages in Scripture where it’s easy to go off the deep end in speculations about the Holy Spirit.

Much ink has been spilled about what Luke means when he writes that the Spirit descended in bodily form, and whether or not He came he came in the appearance of a dove, or just in the same manner as a dove. I read one person who wrote that the Spirit descended as light in the form of a man, and floated down from heaven in the manner of a dove, and when He reached Jesus, it appeared that Jesus absorbed this man of light into His own body.

My first thought was, “Oookaaay….I suppose it could be, but how does he know, and why does it matter?”

Then there are all the arguments about whether the Spirit came into Jesus, or just onto Jesus, and whether Jesus was filled with the Spirit before this event or not.

And somewhere along the way, tempers start to rise, blood begins to boil, and in the process, the Spirit is grieved. It’s ironic that passages about the Spirit (Who is supposed to encourage unity) are some of the most divisive passages in Scripture. And in reality, most of these passages are not really about the Spirit! Oh sure, He is mentioned, but He is not the focus.

Again, take Luke 3:21-22. Are these verses really about the Spirit? I don’t think so. The passage is about Jesus. Luke’s point is not to describe a supernatural event involving a strange manifestation of the Spirit, but simply to show that Jesus was empowered by the Spirit.

All this raises the questions: Why are we so enamored by the Spirit? Why do we treat him like a magical power? Why do we want to place Him so much in the spotlight, and give him so much glory, when really, His goal is to glorify Jesus? (John 16:14)

I’m not saying we should ignore Him. I’m not saying we should treat Him like the estranged uncle that nobody talks about during holidays. In the Seminary I graduated from, this is the way He was often treated. In my class on “Trinitarianism” which was supposed to cover God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, over the sixteen weeks of the course (3 hours in class per week), we spent 12 weeks (36 hours) on God the Father, and of the final 4 weeks (12 hours), we spent 11 hours on God the Son, and only 1 hour on God the Holy Spirit. This clearly is not giving enough attention to the Holy Spirit.

But we must not go the other way either, and spend all our time talking about the Spirit, speculating about the Spirit, preaching about the Spirit, singing about the Spirit, and praying to the Spirit. Such behavior grieves Him, because His job is to glorify Jesus (John 16:14). Balance is the key.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 3:15-22.

Say it LOUD

1 Comment

Did you ever notice that when it comes to preaching, the less a person has to say, the louder they say it?

It seems that when people lack meat in their message, they try to hide it with shouting and pulpit pounding.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics:

When Helping Hurts

Leave a Comment

(#AmazonAdLink) I recently finished reading a book called (#AmazonAdLink) When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. In it they write about the great damage that churches and missionaries can do at home and overseas when we try to “meet the needs of others” in our mission activity and outreach endeavors. It was a real eye-opener for me, to see that there might be a better way to do “missions.”

For example, they have a whole chapter on rethinking Short Term Missions.  In one part of the chapter, they write that in many “Majority World” countries (aka “Third World”), we could fund a full time national evangelist there for $1540 per year. The average Short Term Mission (STM) from the US to those same countries runs between $20,000 and $40,000 for ten people to go for two weeks. “The money spent on a single  STM team for a one- to two- week experience would be sufficient to support more than a dozen far more effective indigenous workers for an entire year. And we complain about wasteful government spending!” (p. 173).

This doesn’t mean there aren’t benefits to Short Term Missions, but they can and should be done in a much different way. Consider also that in 2006, US churches spent $1,600,000,000 on Short Term Missions (p. 161). Do you think this was a good use of that much money?

As another example, consider the following quote from a ministry leader in a Latin America:

The indigenous staff in my organization lead weekly Bible studies with children in low-income communities. These Bible studies are just one aspect of my organization’s overall attempts to bring long-lasting development to these broken communities. After a short-term team conducts a Bible study in one of these communities, the children stop attending the Bible studies of my organization. Our indigenous staff tell me that the children stop coming because we do not have all the fancy materials and crafts that short-term teams have, and we do not give away things like these teams do. The children have also come to believe that our staff are not as interesting or as creative as teh Americans that come on these teams (p. 169).

Sad, huh? But imagine the report that this team brought back to their home church about all the children they ministered to!

The book abounds with such information and ideas, so please, if you are involved in the mission board of your church, are helping plan a mission, have teenagers going on a mission, or are thinking of going on a mission trip yourself (even if it is just to the local homeless shelter), (#AmazonAdLink) you must read this book.

Kings and the Kingdom

5 Comments

Some people aren’t very happy with where the government is going. But that has always been the case, no matter who was in power. In such situations, what should be done, if anything?

In Luke 3:19-20, John preached against King Herod for how he married his brother’s wife (She was also his niece). We can imagine John and his audience thinking (and maybe even saying among themselves) that if the Messiah was going to rule and reign from Jerusalem, then King Herod would have to be deposed.

John had been preaching about fire coming to destroy those who rebelled against God, and many probably looked at King Herod as the epitome of wickedness in Israel. Surely, if judgment was coming, it would begin with King Herod.

But shockingly, it is John himself who ends up in prison. This was not the way the promised Kingdom was supposed to begin! He is confused, as are his disciples. Later, from prison, John sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus to explain Himself (Luke 7:19). Why is Jesus partying while John sits in jail? Herod should be in jail, not John.  We can almost hear John’s thoughts: “I preached about a coming judgment, but it wasn’t supposed to fall on me!”

Jesus basically replies that John needs a new paradigm for how the Kingdom will look (7:22). The Kingdom, says Jesus, is not about conquest and the destruction of our enemies, but about healing, grace, and forgiveness. It is about restoration and redemption. If we do overthrow our enemies, it will be through love and kindness. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “We destroy our enemies when we make them our friends.”

So, like John, are you experiencing a fiery trial (cf. 1 Pet 4:12)? Don’t be surprised at such things, for judgment begins with the house of God (cf. 1 Pet 4:17), and the promise of Jesus is that in this world we will have trouble (John 16:33). Realize that the trial you are experiencing is to refine and purify you for God’s purposes. And currently, His purpose is not to overthrow leaders and governments. Rather, His purposes are for you to bless the world and do for for the world what leaders and governments never can.

God’s justice is displayed, not in riches and royalty, but through service and sacrifice. Do you have criticisms of the way the world is going? Fine. But rather than look to leaders to change direction, start doing in your own community what needs to be done to restore justice and right all wrongs.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 3:15-22.

The First 30 Years of Jesus' Ministry

16 Comments

If Jesus came to be the savior of the world, why did he spend the first 30 years of his life doing nothing? There were people to heal! Scriptures to teach! Miracles to perform!

Imagine all the people who probably died, right there in the region of Galilee, during those 30 years, without ever hearing the Gospel! Without ever knowing that the Savior of the world was there, living just a few miles away! Why would Jesus “waste” 30 years of His life when so much ministry could have been done?

All of us who are called to preach, teach, and serve others feel the same way from time to time. “I can’t wait another five years! I have so much to teach! So many ideas! There are so many people all around me who need to hear the Gospel. I’ve got books to write, minds to change, people to serve! If I don’t do it now, I never will!”

For some people, that may be true. Maybe God does want you to get out there and get to work right away. But I think that for most of us, including Jesus (and Joseph, Moses, David, Paul, etc), there is something God does in our lives during the “back burner” years that cannot be accomplished any other way.

I love how William Barclay explains all this (Luke 1975:39f). The quote is long, but it’s worth reading (Let me tell you…it hit me HARD today).

This passage begins with the most suggestive statement. It tells us that when Jesus began his ministry he was not less than about thirty years of age. Why did he spend thirty years in Nazareth when he had come to be the savior of the world? It is commonly said that Joseph died fairly young and that Jesus had to take upon himself the support of Mary and of his younger brothers and sisters, and that not until they were old enough to take the business on their own shoulders, did he feel free to leave Nazareth and go into the wider world. Whether that be so or not, three things are true.

(1) It was essential that Jesus should carry out with the utmost fidelity the more limited tasks of family duty before he could take up the universal task of saving the world. It was by his conscientiousness in the performance of the narrow duties of home that Jesus fitted himself for the great task he had to do. …It was because Jesus faithfully performed the smallest duties that the greatest task in all the world was given him.

(2) It gave him the opportunity to live out his own teaching. Had he always been a homeless, wandering teacher with no human ties or obligations, men might have said to him, “What right have you to talk about human duties and human relationships, you, who never fulfilled them?” But Jesus was able to say, not, “Do as I say,” but, “Do as I have done.”

Tolstoi was a man who always talked about living the way of love; but his wife wrote poignantly of him, “There is so little genuine warmth about him; his kindness does not come from the heart, but merely from his principles. His biographies will tell of how he helped the laborers to carry buckets of water, but no one will ever know that he never gave his wife a rest and never—in all these thirty-two years—gave his child a drink of water or spent five minutes by his bedside to give me a chance to rest a little from all my labors.” No one could ever speak like that of Jesus. He lived at home what he preached abroad.

(3) If Jesus was to help men he had to know how men lived. And because he spent these thirty years in Nazareth, he knew the problems of making a living, the haunting insecurity of the life of the working man, the ill-natured customer, the man who would not pay his debts. It is the glory of the incarnation that we face no problem of life and living which Jesus did not also face.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 3:23-38.

Finding Your John

1 Comment

Who do we look to for solutions to life’s problems? Who do we look to for answers to life’s questions and issues? Politicians? Religious leaders? Fox news correspondents? Radio show hosts? Hollywood? Sports starts? Pop singers? Oprah? Glen Beck?

And if your answer is “God” or “the Bible,” whose understanding of God and the Bible do you go by?

Maybe the real question we should be asking ourselves is, “Who does God gives the answers and solutions to?”

For that question, Luke 3:1-14 provides an interesting answer. In these verses, Luke reveals that God’s solutions to life’s questions and problems did not come from rulers or religious leaders or those with power, prominence, money, and authority. Instead, the word of God came through a poor and relatively unknown man living in the wilderness: John.

It is John who showed the people how to live under the rule of a corrupt government and religious system. It is John who explained to the people how to live lives of generosity, honesty, and integrity.  He was a nobody, but God used Him to call the people back to God’s way of living.

Do you know a “John” today? I know some people who might fit the bill, but you don’t know them, and that’s the whole point. It is partly due to their lack of fame and power that qualifies them. They don’t live in mansions, ride in limousines, or appear on TV. But God uses them to bring wisdom into my life. A few of them aren’t even Christians (*Gasp*)!

Who do you have tha that God uses to speak to you? If you don’t have somebody, don’t look to TV or D.C. Instead, find someone who is weak, despised, and foolish (1 Cor 1:27-28), and hang out with them. You never know…maybe you’ll find your John.

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 3:1-6 and Luke 3:7-14.

Even Jesus had to Learn

1 Comment

It constantly amazes me how many Christians think that serious study of Scripture is “optional.”

When challenged to read and study, many will answer, “Oh, that’s for pastors and professors. I just want to love God. And besides, the Bible says that ‘knowledge puffs up.'”

There is no other area in life where such logic would be accepted.

Can you imagine telling your wife, “I don’t really care to read the notes you have written to me, or really get to know who you are, what you like, and how you think. I just want to love you, and all the knowledge about you will just get in the way”? Since when does knowledge about your loved ones hinder your love for them?

How long would you last at your job if you told you boss, “I don’t really care about knowing how to do my job. Right now I love my job, and think that if I learn how to do it better, I might not love it any more”? You’d be out on the street before the end of the day.

Even with something like sports. Have you ever heard a sports fanatic say, “I love watching sports. I don’t know much about the teams, the players, or even the rules, but I sure do love sports! If I had to spend time reading and learning about the games and the players, it would ruin my enjoyment! So don’t bother me with all those stats and numbers”?

All this is crazy talk…except in some Christian circles. In some churches, it is considered “spiritual” to ignore serious study of Scripture. Oh sure, they may talk a lot about the Bible, and may even memorize large portions of it, but attempting actually learning what those passages mean is frowned upon.

Of course, what many don’t realize is that even Jesus studied. Even Jesus had to learn the Scriptures. In Luke 2:41-52, there are several references to the fact that Jesus learned (from His parents and from the Jewish priests, scribes, and Pharisees) what the Scriptures meant and how to live them.   

And if that’s true, how much more do we!

This post is based on the Grace Commentary for Luke 2:41-52.

Haiti and Patrick

Leave a Comment

Please pray for a friend of mine named Patrick. He is Haitian, and so far, has over 40 family members who were killed this week by the earthquake in Haiti.

Some of them actually lived here in the states, but were down there for a mission trip. The hotel they were staying in collapsed, and all of them died. Both he and his wife lost their parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins…pretty much everybody.

One thing to be thankful for is that his wife and three children did not go on the mission trip, and so they are safe.

Advertise or Donate

Search (and you Shall Find)

Get Books by Jeremy Myers

Books by Jeremy Myers

Schedule Jeremy for an interview

Click here to Contact Me!