by Michael Hare. You know how a math nerd likes a book of intricate math problems or a chess enthusiast likes a book of chess strategies, or a word nerd loves solving cross-word puzzles? This book is kind of like that, or all of those. In addition to great principles and strategies for solving church problems, this book is full of real life examples, or problems that need to be solved. It's like a ministry puzzle book for ministry nerds. Some of the problems, I smile, because I remember going through them, and solving them in similar ways. Other problems remind me that the playing field is huge, as intricate as the people involved. Unlike math, each problem is unique, based on history, culture, personalities, intergroup fighting, intragroup fighting, intrapersonal, etc, and there are multiple solutions.
 
Here's a small exerpt:
The board recommended a congregational meeting for resolving a controversial issue. It started out okay, but then several people started talking at the same time, then it came to yelling at each other. Others joined in, and it got pretty ugly. Within a month, the church split and about a third of the congregation went down the street and started a new church.
 
Sadly, this example is all too common, so there are actually many books that address church conflict. This book, in my opinion is the best one. It has great principles for solving any church conflict, including a workbook section to work on your specific issues at church. I recommend this book for anyone in fulltime church ministry. A necessary book for any senior pastor or executive pastor.

I would like to thank Moody Publishers for an advance copy of the book.

5 Points of the Gospel
 
Sometimes people ask me:
          What’s the best way to share the Gospel?
                   I mean, where do you start?
 
Of course I have to talk about Jesus, but do I talk about sin first?
I should start with God, right?
          Do I talk about the Trinity?
          What about Noah’s Ark? Abraham? David?
          What do I include and what can I skip?
                   Is there a certain order?
 
I’ve shared the gospel many many times,
          and almost every time, I do have a outline or a checklist in the back of my head
 
and that’s the purpose of this video.
          I’m sure many of you know the gospel,
                   but it becomes a challenge – how do I share the whole gospel
-what if you only have 5 minutes.
 
So I’ve been teaching The 5 Points of the Gospel
-so you could share the gospel in 5 minutes, or 2 hours
depending on how much time you have, and what point you need to focus on.
          but yes, there’s a specific order.
                   you can’t talk about Jesus unless you first talk about sin.
              and you can’t talk about sin unless you first talk about God.
          and you don’t have to spend 10 minutes talking about sin if he already agrees he’s a sinner.
 
          and yes, you can share the whole gospel in a 5 minute Uber ride.
 
I’ve been teaching this for 17 years as a pastor,
          but I didn’t come up with this.
          I actually got it from John MacArthur,
                   but I can’t find it in any of his works
          If any of you can find the source, let me know in the comments below.
 
OK, these are the 5 points:
God – Man (or People) – Sin – Jesus – Personal Acceptance
 
So let’s begin.
 
#1: God
Obviously, this is where you start.
Who is God?
Describe who God is. You can describe his attributes [attributes] If you don’t know, you can look it up yourself
Are you on the same page with the person you’re talking to?
          The Christian God is different from Allah or the Mormon God.
Tell him that God is perfect, righteous, holy, and loving.
Tell her that he is wise and good.
In China, I had to make it a point that God is a person.
          yeah, as Americans, we take that as a given,
          But in China, God or a higher power, is commonly seen as a force. – it’s impersonal.
 
But God is a person, with a personality.
          God has feelings, of happiness, anger, compassion, love.
          He forgives. A force can’t do that.
You might just spend a minute on this point, or if you’re talking to an atheist, you may have to talk about his existence, and the proof for that.
But even if he doesn’t agree with you, or you don’t convince him,
          you have to move on to the next point.
It’s not about agreement, but can he understand what you believe?
 
#2: Man (or People)
God created people to have a relationship with him.
We were not made to be robots, but we have a free will to love him, or not.
We were created for a purpose, not the result of chance.
Yes, you can spend a longer time on this, but the point is –
God wants to have fellowship with us, as a father to his children.
God cares about people.
 
#3: Sin
But sin came into this world.
Now, you could talk about how Adam and Eve fell in the Garden,
or you could just talk about yesterday’s news.
There’s sin everywhere.
I’ve rarely met anyone who doesn’t believe in sin.
Everyone knows there’s a difference between good and evil.
          But I have to help define it by saying that sin is anything that’s against God’s will. or say that it’s anything that displeases God.
          use your own language,
                   but the point is that this causes a huge problem:
Going back to the 1st point, God is perfectly holy.
          God is so righteous he has to punish evil.
          God is not the innocent bystander who just watches a thief take a woman’s purse.
          No, God steps in. He punishes evil.
 
Now, this is not where you talk about the age-old debate – the Problem of Evil or the Problem of Pain
          - If God is so loving, why is there pain or evil in the world?
I do have a video that answers that question – but this is not the point where you get into that debate. Stick to the 5 points.
          and try not to get involved in long tangents.
          Once when I was sharing the gospel, this woman asked me to explain to her the Trinity!
          this could’ve been a 10 minute tangent, so I gave a very brief answer and said we could talk about it more later, but let’s get back on topic.
 
In any gospel presentation – you don’t want to get into long tangents – you don’t want to get sidetracked into an academic discussion.
When you’re sharing the gospel, you’re trying to get personal.
          and that makes people uncomfortable.
          so they want to make it an intellectual discussion – an impersonal topic
But in any gospel presentation – you never want to make it a debate:
me vs. you
my ideas vs your statements
don’t let them get you in a debate of whether homosexuality or transgender is wrong.
don’t let them lead you into politics – Obama or Trump or the Wall
 
no, no. move along the 5 points.
 
The main point of the 3rd point is that God loves man – the 2nd point, but God can’t have fellowship with man because he’s too holy and righteous – the 1st point.
This is a great place to quote Rom 3:23 – For all have sinned...
and rom 6:23 – the wages of sin is death...
and the death the Bible speaks of is hell.
So this is a problem – We can’t be with God because of sin.
God must punish the people he loves.
 
But God always had a solution – Point #4: Jesus Christ
This usually takes up the longest time,
          and I’m not going to cover every possible thing you can say about Jesus here in this video.
          You don’t have to talk about the Virgin Birth or his miracles,
but here’s a few essentials you have to cover:
          Jesus is God – you have to say that.
                   he’s not some prophet or holy man.
          He is God.
                   and that’s why he has the power to forgive sins
                   since sin is ultimately a sin against God, only God has the right to forgive sins
          and Jesus was also 100% man. He was born in the flesh.
          This is important, so he could represent us and take our place.
 
In the OT, God set in place a spiritual law of representation.
          Sin must be punished, and the person who sins must die
-because God is holy and righteous.
But God allowed that an animal can take your place.

• that’s why there was an animal sacrifice.

This animal without blemish represented you.
 
You stood before the priest and the altar, and you would confess your sin before God.
you deserve judgment.
          But instead of you, the animal would take your place and die for your sin on the altar.
For thousands of years, this was just a symbol of the Ultimate Sacrifice that was to come.
 
God would send his own Son to die on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice.
and he rose again to prove that he was God.
 
So all those who believe Jesus as Lord shall be saved, for their sins will be forgiven, because of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
 
Now, the sin problem is solved, and man can have fellowship with God once again.
 
But the Gospel doesn’t stop here – there’s a 5th Point.
Up until the 5th point, this is all still intellectual fact.
          It’s what happened in history.
 
but knowing history doesn’t make you a Christian.
 
Even the devil can say, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross and rose again”
Even Satan can say, “I believe that Jesus died on the cross as the final sacrifice to forgive sins”
-but that doesn’t mean he’s a Christian.
 
Just because someone says that Jesus is God doesn’t mean he’s saved.
          - that’s just a fact.
 
Even Satan believes that Jesus is God, died on the cross, and rose again for the sins of mankind.
and one day, he will even be forced to get on his knees and bow before Jesus.
          and he will even have to say “Jesus is the Lord.”
          and yet there is one thing he cannot say “Jesus is my Lord”
- personal acceptance
Jesus is not just God. But he is my God.
                                                my Savior.
                                                my Lord.
 
Becoming a Christian is not just believing in factual statements.
          It’s about putting your faith and trust in a person. – Jesus.
 
There’s a famous story of a tightrope walker.
With tremendous skill, he was able to walk across the expanse between 2 tall buildings – just on a rope! and then he asked the crowd below him – “Who believes that I could walk across, this time, carrying a man on my shoulders?”
With confidence, many hands went up – “Yes, we believe!”
          and then he said, “If you really believe, Any volunteers?”
                                                                   hmm.
                             big difference between saying you believe
                                      and actually putting your trust in someone.
- that’s faith
 
It’s one thing to say “I believe this man can walk across”
                               “I believe this Jesus can forgive my sins”
But can you actually put your faith in Jesus?
       can you put your life in his hands?
          “Jesus, I believe in you, I believe that you died for my sins and rose again. I believe you are God who forgives me of my sins.
          Be my Lord and be my God. I will follow you. I put my life in your hands”
 
and that’s what makes you a Christian.
 
So there you have it:
God – Man – Sin – Jesus – Personal Acceptance
          - The 5 Points of the Gospel

would be better without all those stories.
 
I don't agree that all 9 are common beliefs. For example, although I know some Christians who cannot forgive themselves, I don't think it's common that many Christians believe that God cannot forgive them. Here's a few points that were presented in the book.
 
1: God won't give me more than I can handle
All of life is more than we can handle; we need God's help to handle it.
Yes, God gives you more than you can handle. It's actually, God won't give you more than He can handle.
 
3: God just wants me to be happy.
This is a weak chapter. He pretty much says God wants us to have joy, there's a difference. OK then, is it "God just wants me to have joy?" That's also a lie. There's a greater purpose than just having joy. Life isn't about me. I was hoping he would approach the lie in this way, but he doesn't.
 
5: Follow your heart
Don't follow your heart. Follow God.
 
9: Believe in Yourself
Yes, I admit it's a common lie, even among Christians. But I think every true disciple can defeat this lie of the self-esteem movement.
 
 Moderately recommended.

​I would like to thank Multnomah Publishers for an advance copy of this book:

the work of John Piper and the greatness of Apostle Paul. Without an appreciation of both, this book will fall flat. On the other hand, you will see how deeply indebted Piper is to Paul’s life and writings, how they shaped his theology and the greatest theological discoveries of his life. We wouldn’t have “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him” without Apostle Paul.
 
Piper gets really personal in this book. It’s not about teaching people something new. It’s about sharing his personal journey in relation to how the teachings in Paul’s writings helped him, including his personal struggles with his cancer, habitual sins, or racism.
 
This book is definitely not his best, in structure or eloquence, but still Piper-esque.
 
Moderately recommended.

​I would like to thank Crossway Books for an advance copy of this book:

Have you been to the mall, with that giant Christmas tree in the middle? It puts to shame the tree you have at home. With all the lights, trimmings, and decorations, it beckons the whole world to come.

Imagine if God had a Christmas tree. How grand would it be? Would its branches tower over the heavens, its ornaments more beautiful than the angels? It would be the most spectacular thing the world has ever seen!

But God did have a Christmas tree. And it wasn’t that big. It had no lights, no candy canes, no ornaments. God’s Christmas tree wasn’t green; it was brown, made of two pieces of wood.

Instead of a star on top, there was a crown of thorns. There were only stains of blood at the bottom of the tree. And the only thing that hung on the tree
              was his only begotten Son.
 
“What kind of Christmas tree is this?”
“It doesn’t make sense.”
 
God’s Christmas tree is the cross, and it also has gifts at the bottom.
     At the foot of the cross, there is forgiveness of sins.
     At the foot of the cross, there is eternal life.
     At the foot of the cross, you can actually come to know God!
 
Unto us a child is born! To us a son is given! And they shall call him Immanuel, which means God with us. (Isa 7:14, 9:6) This is the gift – God with us! because if God be for us, who can stand against us?! Satan can’t take us to hell. Death can’t take away our eternal life in Christ. Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift!
​
God’s Christmas tree beckons the whole world to come! Take the gift of salvation that Christ offers at the tree!

So after lots of prep, I finally did it. and the result was unexpected...This is my write up.

I've been hitting the clubs every weekend to share the Gospel, and no they're not people who are farthest from God. Plus, I pick up all kinds of people from the clubs. and it's actually easier than talking to snowflakes of Beverly Hills. (They may actually be farthest from God.)

Maybe it's the liquor. Maybe it's the nightclub atmosphere. But when I pull up in my highly modded Subaru, with the orange lights and the TV screens, almost everyone is in the mood to talk.

But I have to work it to move from the "fun" atmosphere to something more serious, like religion.

And how do I do it without being offensive? There's a fine line here, because I believe the Gospel is already offensive to those who don't believe. Also, if they are not offended, I perhaps didn't give them the full gospel, or they haven't understood it, because if they truly understood that Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven (meaning all other religions are false), and their good works are never good enough for heaven (which means they're going to hell), they have to be offended. Yet, I need to be careful that they are not offended because I have a Bible-bashing attitude or hell-fire demeanor. I sometimes go out of my way to be overly respectful of even the most foolish beliefs, even when they contradict themselves in their subjectivism. I want to make sure that even with my most respectful attitude towards their religion, they will feel offended by Jesus and the true gospel. I want their initial offense to turn into insecurity, because they realize they have nothing solid to stand on. Then their despair will turn to joy as they see the reality of Christ's salvation by faith.

True, only 3 people have come to Christ through Uber Evangelism. Though sad, the low percentage is not the point. It's about getting the gospel out. It's not my job to save people - that's the Holy Spirit's job. My job is to get people to understand the gospel and what Jesus stands for - and it's not all love and peace. and before I can tell them that "Jesus saves" I have to give them the bad news that they're in trouble. They need saving. and they're in a desperate situation. And it's hard to do all that in a 15 minute Uber ride (the average ride is more like 12 minutes).

Then Halloween comes along. I know it's the biggest party night of the year - bigger than New Years. Uber/Lyft drivers make more on Halloween night than any other night of the year. 

But I decided to give free rides for anyone in costume (which was EVERYBODY) and who could answer the question, "Do you believe in ghosts?" It's a fun question and appropriate for Halloween. It would be weird to start with that tactic any other night. As an evangelism tactic, you never want to start preaching. You want them to ask you a question, like, "What about you?"

When they asked me, "What about you? Do you believe in ghosts?" that's my green light to tell them I believe in demons. This opens the conversation to talk about God without talking about religion. Plus, the more I get them to talk, the more they'll listen to me when it's my turn.

I started off at the clubs in West Hollywood and kept going back to that area after each dropoff. I was busy til about 4 am, and it was nonstop action. Everybody had something to say about ghosts, and I got to share the gospel to about 70% of them.

Out of the hundreds I've shared the gospel with on Lyft/Uber, including Halloween night, everyone left in a good mood. Either they were hiding their offended feelings, or they just didn't get the gospel and I have to try harder. Maybe I should be more direct and tell them to repent. Even when I have done that, I said it with a smile, to be polite. Maybe that was confusing or misleading. You got any advice for me?

Oh, and how did you like my costume? Any good ideas for next year?

The most interesting rides:
- A muslim girl who usually covers her head in a hijab was out in a cat costume, saying "please don't put my name in the video because I'm not supposed to be dressed like this"
- A girl kept asking for my number, an obvious ploy of Satan to distract me
- An atheist woman (self-proclaimed) admitted she saw a ghost
- A guy bought me a taco

SUBSCRIBE to the channel so you could see my next video: Communion Elements Taste Test @ Biola University, where I get students to taste test grape juice and communion breads - it was fun!!!!!

Here's a few videos from Uber Evangelism:

​Luke 2:43 glossed over it so fast, but…WHAT?! are you freaking kidding me?! Mary and Joseph lost Jesus! For 3 days! Can you imagine a picture of 12-year-old Jesus on a milk carton? How can they lose Jesus?! He’s only the most important person in the world!
 
As a parent myself, with my attention constantly divided, I can empathize. When I can’t find my toddler for 30 seconds, sheer panic sets in. But can you imagine Joseph praying, “Uh God? You know that Messiah you sent us? uhm, do you have another one? what? Only-begotten? crap!”
 
Just imagine the arguments between Mary and Joseph on the camel-ride back to the temple. “I thought he was with you!” You think you messed up? You think you dropped the ball in the final seconds of the game? The salvation of the world was on the line and Mary&Joe blew it. Whatever mistake you’ve made in life can’t possibly be worse.
 
But was it the end of the world? Did tragedy bring even God to despair? However horrible the situation, it’s never beyond the sovereignty of God. He has a plan for us that can’t be thwarted by even the most foolish mistakes. God is in control.
 
Did something good come out of it? That’s the wrong question. There was nothing good about losing Jesus, no matter how you look at it. But even in the worst circumstance, when you want to scream at the world, or at yourself, know that God is already at work to make his plans come true, whether in saving the world, or helping you in…finding Jesus

want to give this book a chance because of its purpose - get people to read the Bible.

​The target audience of the book is for people who've grown up in church but doesn't really care about the Bible. Why should I read it? How should I read it? What is the Bible really? After too many pages, Meghan Good starts off by saying that the "Bible tells the story of a series of encounters between God and humanity." It's a "story of real life - raw and complicated" of what happened, and what can happen when God shows up.
 
I like the casual tone of the book. It contains no theological jargon, but theological topics like Inspiration, Inscription, Authority, or Canon are described in non-academic terms, so any average Joe can understand. There is no lesson on hermeneutics. The purpose of this book is to show the purpose of the Bible, and how to approach it, even before opening its pages.
 
What's annoying about this book is that after every few chapters, there's a "Story time" section. It's a mini-sermon based on a passage of Scripture. I think its purpose is to show the reader that the Bible is interesting and relevant! Its assumption is that the reader has never heard a good sermon at church, so here's a snippet for you so you can see that the Bible actually has a message for you. Yeah, completely unnecessary in the flow of this book.
 
Although I started reading this book with prejudice (because of the heretic writing the foreword), I'm happy to report that this book is legit and theologically sound. The only hint of liberalism is found in the last few chapters where she indicates that orthodoxy is a long process and we can "never" be sure of any theological conclusion that we have today. Her main intent is found here: "Our general level of rightness is far less important than our responsiveness to correction." She even implies that God changes based on his relationship with us, at least in our perspective, but that practically changes our theology, declaring, "An idol is not necessarily a false image of God...[but] also a true idea that is frozen, absolutized." That's liberal theology right there.
 
My biggest concern or regret is that the target audience for this book doesn't really read Christian books, much less the Bible. But maybe people like me can help them by walking through this book with them. But come on - someone willing to read a couple hundred pages of a Christian book is usually someone already reading the Bible, at least a little.

​​I would like to thank Herald Press for an advance copy of this book:

of Sardis. This criticism is only valid if the book was indeed meant only to be a theological commentary. Instead, this is more of a sermon.
 
It is not MacArthur's intention to "turn this country back to God." Rather, it's to turn the church back to God. He is definitely not a post-millennialist, although there used to be a strong tendency for such in his dispensational theology. In essence, he's saying, "Stop trying to change the world and make it a better place. Instead, be the church." He unpacks God's message to the 7 churches in the book of Revelation to show what it means to be the church.
 
I expected a moral tirade and a desperate call to repentance. Instead, he just presents the Word as it is, and let the message convict the reader, or not. He doesn't slap the reader to attention. Almost unemotionally, he explains, like a commentary, what Jesus demands from his church and the consequences of disobedience. The subtitle of the book is Christ's Call to Reform the Church, not "John MacArthur's Call." He doesn't go off on his own criticism of what the church is now and all the things that need to change. He rarely says, "The church has to..." Actually, he rarely addresses the Church at all. He lets Christ speak for Himself, as he soundly exposits the passages in Revelation like a commentator. I wished he would speak out more, because he has clout, and people would listen to him, and he does so behind the pulpit and other venues, but in this book MacArthur is just a messenger. It's not his personal call to the church based on his convictions and observations.
 
However, it is in the final chapter that we actually get what we were looking for when we picked up this book - John MacArthur's assessment, criticism, and call to reform the church. I wished that he started off with this chapter, because that's what we really want to read, not a commentary on Revelation. But then, it would be seen as a just a personal message, from a mere man, albeit a respected and proven pastor. By putting this chapter at the end, it serves as a culminating warning that summarizes and puts into today's context the rebukes of Jesus from Revelation. It's hard to disagree with the man, when he's simply mimicking the words of our Lord (although I do disagree with a few of his generalizations).
 
It's a must-read for anyone who even vaguely recognizes that there's something terribly wrong with the Church today. At least, read the last chapter.

​I would like to thank Moody Publishers for an advance copy of this book:

​Not his best work, but Max Lucado's newest book Unshakable Hope is classic Max Lucado (comes out next month Aug 7). Unlike his other works, there's more exposition and less poetry. But you won't be disappointed; his writing style is still superb.
 
He starts off each chapter with a specific promise from Scripture. As expected, each chapter can stand on its own, but the overarching theme is that God keeps his promises, and that gives us hope. He unsuccessfully keeps trying to push the "we are people of the Promise" theme, as if to inspire us, but I don't think it works. Nice try, though. It may have worked if he devoted a poetic chapter to it first, a tear-jerker.

All in all, Max Lucado does it again. Good work, but nothing that really stands out from his other works.
​