Fresh Power by Jim Cymbala

It's written by Jim Cymbala, the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. I read it because I was at a point of desperation, and realized what I needed was the Holy Spirit. Reading this book reminded me of a lot of truth, and is definitely affecting my outlook even now. I long for the Word of God even more, but realize that is not enough. I also need the moving Spirit of God, the same one that inspired the Word, to be at work. We don't need to fix ourselves before we can follow God and walk in power; rather, we need to confess to God and ask for his power, and then let his Spirit work in us.

"Where the Holy Spirit is not honored as the one through whom the whole life and power of gospel salvation is to be effected, it is no wonder that Christians have no more of the reality of the gospel than the Jews had of the purity of the Law. . . . For the New Testament without the coming of the Holy Spirit in power over self, sin, and the devil is no better a help to heaven than the Old Testament without the coming of the Messiah.

The Pharisee rested so thoroughly in the law, that he rejected the Saviour to whom the law directed him. The sound evangelical thinks that when he has mastered the letter of the gospel, he thereby knows its truth and power. And thus, while claiming allegiance to Paul's doctrine, he knows little of Paul's spiritual experience which caused him to say, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.'" John Wesley, 25

"This is truly amazing. It is the opposite of what we hear in our day. 'Just get a good theological education, and then go out to preach the message you've learned in the classroom.' But we are finding in churches all across the country that preaching alone does not cause conversions, does not result in baptisms, and does not expand the kingdom of God. Most churches are making no dent in the masses of unbelievers all around them.

We can blame tough neighborhoods, New Age thinking, and immoral entertainment all we want. But when has the environment not been difficult for the gospel? Think of what the early church faced in hostile Jerusalem and the pagan Roman Empire. yet the received power from on high and did exploits for God instead of just talking to themselves. Their preaching and witnessing had a dimension of supernatural ability that we are sadly lacking today.

Now a lot of us type A personalities don't want to hear the instruction 'Wait.' We are eager to get going. But we will accomplish far more if we spend time waiting for the power of the Spirit." (31)

He talks about how he studied a basketball drill book and practiced standard moves thousands of times, and then about how when he later played in college, he moved fluidly and was able to just react as the game unfolded. "God intended his work--everything from teaching a Sunday school class to pioneering a brand-new missionary effort--to be marked by a similar flow of a spiritual kind. The Bible calls it being 'led by the Spirit' (Romand 8:14; Galatians 5:18). Yes, there are important doctrinal principles to learn and biblical facts to nail down, but at the same time, only God and the Holy Spirit can weave them all together in a seamless, almost unconscious way so we can touch people with God's message of love. What we need is that unique merger of divine truth, human personality, and Holy Spirit gifting that produces effective ministry for Christ." (140)

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give drink without cost from the spring of the water of life." (Revelation 21:5-6

"I am aware that some people shy away from the Holy Spirit because they have grown up in churches where his name is almost politically incorrect. Instead, the focus has been solely upon the Word of God--studying it, dissecting it, memorizing it, comparing one version against another, analyzing the Hebrew and Greek texts, making promises to obey the Bible in all things... Yes, we all must honor and love the Word of God, but there is no getting around the fact that the Bible makes tremendous statements about the Spirit of God! In fact, not only did the Holy Spirit inspire the Scriptures, but he is also ready, willing, and able to fulfill those promises concerning himself." (193)

The titles of the chapters give good reminders of what the Spirit wants to give us, something from heaven, Spirit-filled preaching, a house united, use of the unqualified, getting people out of their prisons, a different "strategy," joy and a whole lot more through hardships.

The New Friars by Scott Bessenecker

"The amassing of treasure isn't bad, just the type of treasure and where it's located. One of the things I love about Francis is that he never disparaged the rich. They were precious to God and therefore precious to Francis. I have met many poor people who are more materialistic than rich people I know. And while many of the new friars have managed to free themselves from the pursuit of wealth, they struggle with many other less idols, such as the worship of Christ's mission, spiritual pride or humanistic idealism.
Ditrich Bonhoeffer said, 'When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.' Jesus is the only worthy obsession." (170)

Practical Justice

I as pleasantly surprised with how this book lived up to is title, helping bring into focus this abstract kingdom-concept of justice while making it surprisingly practical. Blue discussed the importance of different arenas for this kind of ministry, using the "teach a man to fish" analogy. The work set before us includes direct relief (giving fish), distributing skills (teaching to fish), and dealing with entire broken systems (fixing the pond).

"The Gospels show the Lord ministering to those in need as he taught about the kingdom of God. Ministering to those in need is not the whole gospel. Talking about the kingdom alone is equally pathetic. Scripture itself offers that the kingdom of God is not about mere talk (see 1 Corinthians 4:20). At the same time, social concern alone is an emaciated representation of what the healthy body of Christ should look like in action." (13)

"Work is part of the created order of things and God's intent for us. We were meant to work; work is not a result of the Fall. So we should be interested in promoting the dignity and full spirituality that people gain through work." (28)

"The discussion of the sabbath leads to an interesting reflection. Some of our economies and cultures actually are put together in such a way that the poor either struggle to get enough work or have no time to rest. A job that is fair allows the worker to rest a day a week. Rest would also imply sleep, since the way God initially structured life provided time for sleep and human beings were created to need to be refreshed in this way." (38)

"The practice of double-talk in regard to immigration must cease. We cannot prosecute and persecute illegal immigrants and still build an economy on their cheap labor." (83)

"There are plenty of issues, plenty of opportunities to work for justice, plenty of work to go around. We can't all do everything. The concerns are many, but we need not be overwhelmed by them. Rather, we should simply recognize that everyone cannot do everything but we should all be involved in addressing injustice. We should pray and partner with those around us as we work to build a more just nation and neighborhood. Until the kingdom of God comes in fullness, we will always have the opportunity. The poor will always be among us." (84)

"The most persistent temptation for those who seek to live a Christian life is simply to quit, because a real life of faith is difficult. It is painful. It is uncomfortable. There is real joy, peace and provision in following Jesus--these and many other blessings are part of the journey. But the real Christian life encompasses sorrow. It is a life of losing life, of giving it away in sacrificial service like the Master. And in so doing, we find the life of God strengthening us, giving us peace, joy, provision and purpose we long for." (137)

Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

"That is what I like; that is what a young man ought to be. Whatever be his pursuits, his eagerness in them should know no moderation, and leave him no sense of fatigue." (42)

"A man who has nothing to do with his own time has no conscience in his intrusion on that of others." (180)

"Elinor agreed to it all, for she did not think he deserved the compliment of rational opposition." (222)

"Elinor could not be cheerful. Her joy was of a different kind, and led to anything other than gaity. Marianne, restored to life, health, friends, and to her doting mother, was an idea to fill her heart with sensations of exquisite comfort, and expand it in fervent gratitude; but it led to no outward demonstrations of joy, no words, no smiles. All within Elinor's breast was satisfaction, silent and strong." (278)

"'The whole of his behavior,' replied Elinor, 'from the beginning to the end of the affair, has been grounded on selfishness. It was selfishness which first made him sport with your affections; which afterward, when his own were engaged, made him delay the confession of it, and which finally carried him to Barton. His own enjoyment, or his own ease, was, in every particular, his ruling principle." (310)

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

"The note struck in Hebrews 10 is that of provoking one another and of keeping together-- both of which require initiative, the initiative of Christ realization, not self-realization. To live a remote, retired, secluded life is the antipodes of spirituality as Jesus taught it... The danger of spiritual sluggishness is that we do not wish to be stirred up, all we want to hear about is spiritual retirement." (July 10)

"'My goal is God himself, not joy or peace, nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.'
Am I measuring my life by this standard or by anything less?" (July 12)

When Rain Clouds Gather

"Makhaya laughed. 'Well-educated men often come to the crossroads of life,' he said. 'One road might lead to fame and importance, and another might lead to peace of mind. It's the road of peace of mind that I'm seeking." (20)

"You just could not see through tradition and its safety to the amazing truth you were starving-- and that tough little plants existed that were easy to grow and well able to stand up to rigorous conditions that could provide you with food." (43)

"He was a little repelled at first by the generosity of the strange old woman. It was too extreme. It meant that if you loved people you had to allow a complete invasion of any kind. And yet, this isolation he was treasured had often been painful, because he too felt this eternal human need to share the best and worst of life with another." (73)

"Perhaps Paulina was not a very beautiful woman. She was tall, thin and angular, with a thin, angular face. She was also flat-chested and like all flat-chested women, this was a sore point with her." (78)

"She wasn't sure of anything morally definite. In fact, the word 'moral' was meaningless to her. She simply wanted a man who wasn't a free-for-all. No doubt, the other women longed for this too because intense bloody battles often raged between women and women over men, and yet, perversely, they always set themselves up for sale to the first bidder who already had so different materials in his shop that he was simply bored to death by the display." (112-113)

"Every protection for women was breaking down and being replaced by nothing." (120)

"It wasn't a new freedom that he silently worked toward but a putting together of the scattered fragments of his life into a coherent and disciplined whole." (123)

"'Are you religious, Mma?' he asked lightly. Mma-Millipede looked at him with an alert glance. 'If you mean, am I good, I can right away say no, no, no,' she said. 'Goodness is impossible to achieve. I am searching for a faith, without which I cannot live....[Faith] is an understanding of life,' she said gently. He looked at her for a moment and then placed one long black arm on the table and pulled up the sweater sleeve which was the same pitch black coloring as the skin on his arm. 'Do you mean this too?' he asked, quietly. 'Do you know who I am? I am Makhaya, the Black Dog, and as such I am tossed about by life. Life is only torture and torment to me and not something I care to understand.'" (129)

(after Mma-Millipede "confirmed his view that everything in life depended on generosity") "He hadn't expected anyone to tell him that generosity of mind and soul was real, and Mma-Millipede sustained this precious quality at a pitch too intense for him to endure. He could give up almost anything, and hatred might fall away from him like old scabs, but he could never stop putting people away from him. He would never let them rampage through his soul because, unlike Mma-Millipede, he had not God to clear up the rubble." (133)

"The contradictions were apparent to Makhaya, and perhaps there was no greater crime as yet than all the lies Western civilization had told in the name of Jesus Christ. It seemed quite preferable for Africa if it did without Christianity and Christian double-talk, fat priests, golden images.... People could do without religions and Gods who died for the sins of the world and thereby left men without any feelings of self-responsibility for the crimes they committed. This seemed to Makhaya the greatest irony of Christianity. It went that white man could go on slaughtering black men simply because Jesus Christ would save him from his sins. Africa could do without a religion like that." (135)

"Loving one woman had brought him to this realization: that it was only people who could bring the real rewards of living, that it was only people who give love and happiness." (163)

So, his decision to requite the love of Paulina was out of generosity, and that led him to a (somewhat flawed) understanding, or faith. "If he loved Paulina now and admitted it to himself, it was because he sensed that she might be facing tragedy, and that she could not face it alone. He swung his legs off the bed, stood up, and walked out of the farm to the home of Paulina Sebeso." (157)

"Even Solomon's wisdom took secondary place to his material possessions and dazzling raiments. Then came a God who was greater than Solomon, but he walked around with no shoes, in rough cloth, wandering up and down the dusty footpaths in the hot sun, with no bed on which to rest his head. And all that the followers of this God could do was to chronicle, in minute detail, the wonder and marvel of his wisdom." (184-185)

Keep a Quiet Heart

"The psalmist asked why. Job, a blameless man, suffering horrible torments in an ash heap, asked why. It does not seem to me to be sinful to ask the question. What is sinful is resentment against God and His dealings with us." (44-45)

"Do not be afraid to tell him exactly what you feel. (He's already read your thoughts anyway.) Don't tell the whole world. god can take it -- others can't. Then listen for his answer. Six scriptural answers to the question WHY come from: 1 Peter 4:12-13, Romans 5:3-4, 2 Corinthians 12:9, John 14:31, Romans 8:17, Colossians 1:24. There is mystery, but it is not all mystery. Here are clear reasons." (45)

"Nevertheless, we have the promises. Romans 8:28-29 is one of my most reread passages. I believe we can rest assured that we are invulnerable so long as God does not give permission for us to be hurt. If He gives that permission, He will not leave us alone. He goes with us through the valley, the deep water, the furnace. He will never, absolutely never, leave or forsake us." (56)

"'And only Heaven is better than to walk with Christ at midnight, over moonless seas.'" (Amy Charmichael quotes from a song) (57)

"He is not all we would ask for (if we were honest), but it is precisely when we do not have what we would ask for, and only then, that we can clearly perceive His all-sufficiency. It is when the sea is moonless that the Lord has become my Light." (57)