John Piper's book Future Grace is one of the most refeshing I have read in a very long time. I have been reading and thinking a lot lately about God's grace, its depth and breadth, and exactly what it's supposed to look like in action. This book is the best I've found so far to answer my questions. But in doing so it also challenges my very concept of who God is, how he operates, and how I ought to be living my life.
Piper emphasizes the future-oriented aspect of grace, and challenges the reader to find anywhere in the bible where gratitude toward God is supposed to be our motivation for living a good life. The emphasis on grace and the challenge to live by faith is always future-oriented, and God gets much glory when we look forward to a future full of his grace and mercies. On the other hand, if we believe it is out of gratitude for something God has done for us, then we succumb to a debtor's ethic, which states that I owe God something for saving me, thus I will do everything I can to pay him back. But that robs grace of its quality as a gift - something we simply cannot earn.
Piper's credo is "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him." This is emphasized what feels like hundreds of times in the book, but it is true, and it is consistent with a comment Don Miller makes in his book Searching For God Knows What: "The most selfless thing a perfect being who is perfectly loving could do would be to create other beings to enjoy himself."
The link shown does not specifically discuss John Piper's book Future Grace, but the content is similar. The book was published in 1995 (Multnomah Publishers) and the synopsis on the web site shown was copyrighted in 1999, so I'm thinking he sumamrized the book on the web site.
Highly recommended.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Donald Miller's Latest
Don Miller's first book Blue Like Jazz was great. Heard him speak at the Cornerstone Festival in 2004 and had to go get the book ASAP. It fits neatly into a long list of books about postmodernism and Christianity's (and all of modern culture's) shift into the next era of humankind.
The main idea of Blue Like Jazz is that Christian faith ought to be more like art and music than science and math. Modern Christianity has gained the reputation of being staunchly self-righteous, knowing all the answers and demanding that if you don't agree with all our answers, then you can't come inside the fold. Miller in Blue Like Jazz admits that he doesn't have all the answers, and it's okay to let non-Christians know that. They will respect us more if they realize we are mere humans like they are.
Searching For God Knows What continues the development of these ideas, but in my opinion delves deeper and becomes more meaningful on many levels.
The book slowly but surely develops the case for a God who loves and cares for his created ones. By the middle of the book I was being challenged to my core on some fundamental issues of my own personality and defense mechanisms during his discussion of the Lifeboat. The crescendo makes as convincing a case for Christ as (in my opinion) Chesterton's Orthodoxy or C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity.
Excessive accolades? I don't think so. I love Chesterton and Lewis, but for today's audience, Don Miller's books are just as convincing and perhaps more accessible and meaningful to seekers entering the third millenium.
The main idea of Blue Like Jazz is that Christian faith ought to be more like art and music than science and math. Modern Christianity has gained the reputation of being staunchly self-righteous, knowing all the answers and demanding that if you don't agree with all our answers, then you can't come inside the fold. Miller in Blue Like Jazz admits that he doesn't have all the answers, and it's okay to let non-Christians know that. They will respect us more if they realize we are mere humans like they are.
Searching For God Knows What continues the development of these ideas, but in my opinion delves deeper and becomes more meaningful on many levels.
The book slowly but surely develops the case for a God who loves and cares for his created ones. By the middle of the book I was being challenged to my core on some fundamental issues of my own personality and defense mechanisms during his discussion of the Lifeboat. The crescendo makes as convincing a case for Christ as (in my opinion) Chesterton's Orthodoxy or C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity.
Excessive accolades? I don't think so. I love Chesterton and Lewis, but for today's audience, Don Miller's books are just as convincing and perhaps more accessible and meaningful to seekers entering the third millenium.
Code Name God
For a long time I have wondered - even considered writing a book about - where the interface between the physical and spiritual resides. A simple move of a finger turns a thought (something immaterial) into a physical act (something with "material" consequences, whatever that means), which in turn can have significant spiritual consequences. Full circle. Kind of cool.
Mani Bhaumik turns a scientific eye toward the spirituality underlying all of physical reality in a very good book entitled "Code Name God" (Crossroad Publishing, NY, 2005). Bhaumik has earned untold riches (including mansions in Beverly Hills and elsewhere) with his mind, primarily for developing the excimer laser, which is used for Lasik eye surgery. Born and raised in India in abject poverty, Bhaumik begins by retelling the story of his childhood which, although unimaginably poor, was rich with a real spirituality that fed and nourished his curiosity of the natural world.
Half the book is autoiographical, which is worthwhile background when he finally delves into the spiritual aspects of physics. It's no coincidence that many books on physics tend toward the spiritual and metaphysical (just go check out the bookstore). Bhaumik does a great job discussing the possibilities that spiritual forces underlie all of material reality, to such an extent that what we think of as solid material governed by familiar Newtonian physics is not really all that solid. Not only that, but it may not be all "real" either.
Although Hindu, the author is deeply spiritual, speaking of God virtually as naturally as any Christian I know. Almost sounds like he's talking about the same person. It'll make you wonder...
Highly recommended.
Mani Bhaumik turns a scientific eye toward the spirituality underlying all of physical reality in a very good book entitled "Code Name God" (Crossroad Publishing, NY, 2005). Bhaumik has earned untold riches (including mansions in Beverly Hills and elsewhere) with his mind, primarily for developing the excimer laser, which is used for Lasik eye surgery. Born and raised in India in abject poverty, Bhaumik begins by retelling the story of his childhood which, although unimaginably poor, was rich with a real spirituality that fed and nourished his curiosity of the natural world.
Half the book is autoiographical, which is worthwhile background when he finally delves into the spiritual aspects of physics. It's no coincidence that many books on physics tend toward the spiritual and metaphysical (just go check out the bookstore). Bhaumik does a great job discussing the possibilities that spiritual forces underlie all of material reality, to such an extent that what we think of as solid material governed by familiar Newtonian physics is not really all that solid. Not only that, but it may not be all "real" either.
Although Hindu, the author is deeply spiritual, speaking of God virtually as naturally as any Christian I know. Almost sounds like he's talking about the same person. It'll make you wonder...
Highly recommended.
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