I've mentioned various cross-centered books before, but I received a book for free that is frankly one of the best books I've read on the Christian life. It's entitled The Bookends of the Christian Life by Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington.
The book explains practically how the righteousness of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit need to be the two bookends of our Christian life--in other words everything in our lives must be channeled through these two aspects of the Christian walk and rely on them.
The book helps us answer the following questions (taken from their material):
* How can I overcome persistent guilt?
* How can I deal with the pressure to measure up?
* Where can I find the motivation it takes to grow?
* How can I live the Christian life with both my head and my heart?
* How can I be sure God loves me?
* How can I change in an authentic and lasting way?
I'm not done with the book yet, but I've already been encouraged and challenged by a number of points in the book, especially when the authors talk about the gospel enemy of persistent guilt. For each topic they ask a series of practical questions to see how you're doing. The section on persistent guilt spoke to my heart as I tend to beat myself over the head with my failures and shortcomings.
The authors also have a website that includes study guides. I would recommend this book for every Christian, for small groups, for church-wide reading, etc.
My only question is, "When is it coming out in Spanish?"
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(Photos of Santa Marta from vcardenas' on flickr.com)
Well, it looks like Operation Cali has been put on hold. I talked to José two days ago, and his family will not be able to accompany us to Cali for various reasons. I told him not to worry about it because God is sovereign and we have other options.
We are not committed to a Plan B yet, but right now our most likely option would be to join the Carters and the Medinas on the Colombian coast. In fact, Alfredo called me today to encourage me and talk a little about the possibility of working on the coast. I've gone with Alfredo and Scott on three investigative trips around Colombia and have always had a blast with them, not to mention been spiritually encouraged and challenged.
Our most likely starting point for working on the coast would be Santa Marta. If that's the case, I'm sure we'll have more "work teams" that want to come down to help us.
Note: I'm blogging from a Mac... We bought the kids a used iMac G5. It's nice.