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Now is the time to worship!
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What do I think of N.T. Wright's book published by Eedrmans? Let's plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
What is worship? What does it really mean to worship? This is something I have been wondering about lately. We talk about going to worship services, but worship services are more concerts meant to make us feel good. Is that really the point of worship? Is it possible that worship is meant for more to make us feel good?
N.T. Wright wrote a book on this and when I saw it on sale on Kindle, I swiped it up immediately since, well, it's N.T. Wright. Wright's writings to me are always deep and even if I don't agree with something, it still leaves me thinking. Once again, Wright has not disappointed.
Wright in this one brings his natural blend of theology and history together. This is one of his great gifts. For Wright, there's no such thing as disinterested history. History is always connected to theology and all of it is meant to draw us into the wonder of God. Wright delivers this as masterfully as He always does.
Wright speaks about the purpose of the church and Christ in the church. The church is meant to be wounded healers. We are to help one another with our lives. We are to be going to bring about the work of the Kingdom. This is to impact all of our lives including politically.
Wright goes into Biblical stories where he will show that the life of certain people in the Bible were touched by Jesus. There's a wonderful chapter on the calling of Matthew, for example. There is a chapter where the Sermon on the Mount is talked about and even then Wright shows that what Jesus said was exceptionally jarring and challenging to the people of the day.
Wright's book again challenged me to be a better Christian and to think deeply. One such chapter was a chapter on beauty where Wright asked us to contemplate the most beautiful sight that we could see and then ask what that does to us. Since I could immediately remember what that sight was, it was quite easy for me to think about what it does to me.
There is also a chapter on the God we want. If we had the God we want, I am convinced that this God would not challenge us. If God was the God that I wanted, He would be a god that would worship me instead of a God that I would worship. I would not be His servant. He would be mine. There's a reason why our experience and feelings aren't the best areas to go to to determine who He is.
If there's anything that I would like to see more, it would be really a definition of worship. Wright doesn't give one that I recall. I ultimately think that worship is really meant to draw us into the wonder and splendor of God and make us into the Christians we are meant to be. I hope Wright's book will help more of us do that.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
Link
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What do I think of N.T. Wright's book published by Eedrmans? Let's plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
What is worship? What does it really mean to worship? This is something I have been wondering about lately. We talk about going to worship services, but worship services are more concerts meant to make us feel good. Is that really the point of worship? Is it possible that worship is meant for more to make us feel good?
N.T. Wright wrote a book on this and when I saw it on sale on Kindle, I swiped it up immediately since, well, it's N.T. Wright. Wright's writings to me are always deep and even if I don't agree with something, it still leaves me thinking. Once again, Wright has not disappointed.
Wright in this one brings his natural blend of theology and history together. This is one of his great gifts. For Wright, there's no such thing as disinterested history. History is always connected to theology and all of it is meant to draw us into the wonder of God. Wright delivers this as masterfully as He always does.
Wright speaks about the purpose of the church and Christ in the church. The church is meant to be wounded healers. We are to help one another with our lives. We are to be going to bring about the work of the Kingdom. This is to impact all of our lives including politically.
Wright goes into Biblical stories where he will show that the life of certain people in the Bible were touched by Jesus. There's a wonderful chapter on the calling of Matthew, for example. There is a chapter where the Sermon on the Mount is talked about and even then Wright shows that what Jesus said was exceptionally jarring and challenging to the people of the day.
Wright's book again challenged me to be a better Christian and to think deeply. One such chapter was a chapter on beauty where Wright asked us to contemplate the most beautiful sight that we could see and then ask what that does to us. Since I could immediately remember what that sight was, it was quite easy for me to think about what it does to me.
There is also a chapter on the God we want. If we had the God we want, I am convinced that this God would not challenge us. If God was the God that I wanted, He would be a god that would worship me instead of a God that I would worship. I would not be His servant. He would be mine. There's a reason why our experience and feelings aren't the best areas to go to to determine who He is.
If there's anything that I would like to see more, it would be really a definition of worship. Wright doesn't give one that I recall. I ultimately think that worship is really meant to draw us into the wonder and splendor of God and make us into the Christians we are meant to be. I hope Wright's book will help more of us do that.
In Christ,
Nick Peters