July, 2010:

I’d like to thank Zondervan once again for providing a copy of one of Chuck Swindoll’s new New Testament Insights series. This book is a commentary called Insights on John. As with all Swindoll’s writings, this book is well organized and includes dependable, practical biblical commentary.

The book begins with a helpful introduction to the world surrounding John’s gospel. Swindoll gives an outline of the contents of John’s message and how it differs from the other gospel writers. Throughout the commentary Swindoll places sections titled From My Journal that tell of his personal life experiences. At the end of each section, Swindoll reflects on practical application. Perhaps, the best way to review a commentary like this is to demonstrate its value with an example.

I recently finished research on the subject of worship and decided to look up how Swindoll approached John 4:24. One of the components I discovered through my research is that the place in which worship of God is engaged is treated as a sanctuary in Hebrew. A place becomes a sanctuary by the act of true worship; not worship in the manner of our choosing, but pure and intimate worship. Of particular interest to the topic here is Genesis 12:6-7 when Abram worshiped the Lord after he appeared to him and promised the land he was in to Abram’s offspring. After this incident it is referred to as the place at Shechem. 

Abram’s grandson, Jacob, camped just before the city of Shechem, he bought the land his tent was pitched on, and erected an altar to the Lord (Gen 33:18-20). Jacob gave this inheritance to his son Joseph (Gen 48:21-22). There is more detail to follow in regards to this location, but this will suffice for our subject. John tells us that Jesus was near this very field at Jacob’s well during this scene with the Samaritan woman.

The Samaritan woman argues in John 4:20 that her people have always worshiped on the mountain while the Jews say the temple in Jerusalem is the proper place to worship. The tension here is between the historical record I just mentioned and the later building of the temple. Jesus responds to the Samaritan woman by telling her that worship is not dependant on location, but is done in Spirit and in truth. As if this didn’t say enough, Jesus point blank told the woman she did not know what she was worshiping. Wherever God’s name is remembered is the right place to worship (Exo 20:24). She didn’t truly know God. How could she worship him? Yet, the Lord also has chosen a place to put his name for offerings and sacrifices: the temple (Deu 12:5-6). Both are proper places to worship.

It wasn’t about location for Abram or Jacob, to which she tried to lay claim. It was about knowing the Lord intimately – to top it off he was standing right before her! Swindoll contributes some amazing elements to the discussion. Swindoll said that Jesus treated the woman with a dignitiy Samaritans were not used to receiving from Jews. I agree with Swindoll as he continues, “I wish I cold think on my feet as quickly as Jesus.” Amen! Jesus brought the conversation around to the real issue. Swindoll pointed to three main challenges Jesus made: the earthly location of worship is of secondary concern, the object of worship is heavenly, and quality of worship is the true measure of devotion.

In the application section at the conclusion of this chapter in Swindoll’s commentary he lists three insightful foci. Like the woman, we are put off by prejudice and bigotry like that demonstrated by the disciples when they questioned why Jesus would be talking with her (Joh 4:27). Many of us have experienced this in some manner. Second, we are too consumed with mundane details. Jesus had shown his disciples what really fuels life: thirsting and hungering after righteousness. Finally, Swindoll points out that we are often lulled into inaction by the promise of tomorrow. The woman ran to tell the townspeople when she should have embraced Christ.

Faith is believing God for now. Believing God for some obscure time in the future isn’t faith at all. It leads to procrastination. If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart (Heb 3:5). Swindoll’s commentary takes a practical and ministerial approach to the gospel of John. His perspective is built upon solid scholarship and wisdom that comes through his years in minsitry. This commentary will serve you well with Swindoll’s simple presentation yet thorough understanding of the mission of Christ in our lives. I have been enriched and can recommend this quality resource.

• Check out the blog tour concerning Swindoll’s work throughout this week. Greg Wilson rightly says, “Swindoll is masterful at delivering his insights from Scripture to as many people as possible” over at For Those Who Thirst.
• Joshua Simpson expresses sentiments like my own when he says, “The name Charles Swindoll is synonymous with biblical scholarship…Swindoll’s Insights on John is easy to read and understand as a novice of the Scriptures, but it is as equally engaging and stimulating for the biblical scholar” over at In Defense of Orthodoxy.
• Andrea Schultz gives a thorough review and many rich examples at Ponderings by Andrea. She rightly concludes that “This book is terrific for the student of Scripture, as well as the new Christian who wants to learn about the ‘Love Gospel.’

The book is availble at Amazon at a good discount. Enjoy the series.

The authors and the very kind folks at Zondervan sent a copy of AND for me to take a peak at. I really enjoyed this book. The focus on missional church has been an eye-opening and status quo challenging subject throughout the passed several months.

Halter and Smay, pastors of Adulllam, introduce this subject by stressing the importance of the AND component in Church structure. There are benefits to both “tradition AND innovation.” We can have a vision for a megachurch AND still find and build personal community within it.

Many people consider marriage to be old and outdated. Some think of the church in this way too. I think the authors feel that the reason for this is because churches are not reaching out to the community or providing a communal platform. God calls us to become a community, Abram’s call given as an example, as well as to gather for worship. This doesn’t place church-goers into the driver’s seat. The concept actually is intended to avoid the consumerism of our faith. The authors mean that by organizing our church structres with models for both gathering and scattering believers into the mission fields is more of a fulfillment of our destinty than concentrating on one or the other. It may drive some away, but then that is inevitable. We are not called, as leaders, to make everyone comfortable. We are called to lead the church body into maturity in Christ.

At the church I’m attending in Plymouth, MN, we spend time building community through men and women groups. These are much like small groups except not co-ed. But in time we experience intimate progress toward growth as a community. The two groups actually interact freely by sharing experiences and learnings.

One area of need in the author’s presentation of the material is in what they mean by “incarnational” church. I am assuming this has to do with Church life lived out. Larry Baxter had this same question after his reading. Peter Enns uses an incarnational paradigm to his approach to the Old Testament that he defends as helpful when facing some of the challenges in Old Testament biblical studies. I wonder if the incarnational approach in the minds of Halter and Smay is a similar way of looking at the development and changes in Church structure that Enns has in mind when he speaks of the way God’s people understand themselves differently as the historical record develops.

I believe my favorite chapter was 3 (Consumerless Church), but I particularly enjoyed Chapter 2 as well. Building intimacy with people is much like context. The authors present a comparison showing our negative view of taking things out of context is like trying to bring people to Christ without knowing the context of their lives. It takes the work of investing time and care to learn about someone in order to gain the intimacy that provides insight into their lives and builds our credibility to be able to speak into their lives. Confidence in the messenger plays a large role in our ability to lead our churches.

The authors haven’t claimed to have the market cornered regarding church building and its structure. But they provide very great ideas in forming that structure that can be fitted to shape our churches. This is very much a book for leadership: new or seasoned. It challenges us to look at our churches in a different view and consider our roles in scattering the church just as importantly as the gathered/structure church service element. My pastor asked to meet together and talk about some of these concepts and how they may contribute to our own mission of uniting the nations unto Christ.

There’s a lot of great material in AND and I recommend a copy. It will provide on going reference. The authors even touch on the issue of providing children’s programs in a way that is integrated with the overall mission of the church. Some view they should be separate, but the authors challenge us to rethink if this is the best fit for our individual churches. They have experienced maturity and other community building, like taking turns babysitting while they meet, by keeping the kids around, for example.

I was blessed by the book. I hope I’ve whet your whistle enough as I believe you’d profit from it. There’s a good outline of some of the book’s concept at Triocentric, a video at Mark Howell Live, and some quotables at Live Intentionally. Like Exponential, this book meets you right where you are. You can start your ministry or grow your church upon receipt of the book. You can lead right where you are.