Ehrman’s latest work on what else “all scholars” have known for a long time but not telling you about Jesus and Christianity has been released.
New Testament scholar Darrell Bock has begun an initial review of it. click here to read.
Tag Archives: historical jesus
Going to Soul School with Jesus
We need to go to school. We need to learn from Jesus. Indeed, he invites us to learn from him:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”–Matt. 11:28-30
“A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.”–Luke 6:40
But will power will not get it done. Trying harder in the spiritual life will lead to frustration and disappointment. Dallas Willard observes: “We cannot behave ‘on the spot’ as Jesus did and taught if in the rest of our time we live as everybody else does.” Amen. We need to train for the spiritual life; not just try harder.
Paul tells us to “train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
Recently, I taught an equipping seminar on this topic called Soul School: Learning From Jesus How to Live. Understanding the training vs. trying distinction has been one of the most liberating expereinces of my Christian life. Spiritual disciplines and practices are for us; not God. It isn’t about performance, legalism, or guilt–it is about transformation.
(Description) How was Jesus able to do what he did? What did he think about? What practices and priorities did he arrange his life around? What does it look like ‘to train’ for the ‘Jesus way of life’? Being a disciple means becoming like our Teacher. The fundamental question you and I have to answer each day is…does Jesus know what he is talking about? If you have ever wondered about how spiritual disciplines work (without being motivated by guilt), then this seminar is for you.
How Big Is the Gospel?
What is the Gospel? How does it relate to forgivness, mission, doing good in the world? Darrell Bock speaks to this in a 5 minute interview at preaching today; click here to give a listen. I found it helpful. What do you think?
Will the real Jesus stand up?
“Students of Jesus today are faced with a multitude of options, ranging from the traditional Jesus who was Savior, Lord, and founder of the church, to a Jesus who was considerably different—a Jesus who was a sage, a religious genius or social revolutionary. These latter three portraits though clearly drawing their energies from live wires in the Gospels, leave us with a Jesus who is not big enough to explain his crucifixion, his following, or development of the Church. If we today are going to be honest about Jesus, we have to choose a Jesus who satisfies all the evidence historians have observed and who will also explain why it is that so many people have found him to be so wonderful that they attend churches every week to worship him.”—Scot McKnight
Case for Faith by Lee Strobel DVD
This is a great resource exploring the difficult questions of how Jesus can be the only way and if there is a God, and he is good and all-powerful–then why evil?
This is a high quality, honest and engaging DVD.