Thursday, November 19, 2009

Jesus Loves Me--This I Know

Hugh Kerr writes this about the famous theologian Karl Barth: "When Barth gave his Princeton lectures in 1962. . . it was announced that he would receive questions from the audience if the questions were written out beforehand. One of my students said he wouldn't dare ask Karl Barth a question! It would be, he hinted, like tangling with Socrates. 'Why not?' I said. 'Ask him whether he thinks it makes any difference where you begin to study theology.' To my alarm, after one of the lectures, Barth read the student's question aloud and replied in words to the effect that, no, it doesn't make any difference where you start so long as Jesus Christ is at the center. It was also at this time, by the way, when someone asked Barth to distill the esseence of his magnum opus [the voluminous Church Dogmatica] in a few words, . . .he replied, 'Jesus loves me--this I know, for the Bible tells me so.'"

Yes, Jesus loves me, and He loves you, as well, with an everlasting love. This distillation of the core of Barth's teaching is perhaps the most important truth in the universe, and it comes from a children's chorus:

Little ones to Him belong: they are weak, but He is strong.
Jesus loves me, He who died
Heaven's gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.
Jesus loves me! He will stay close beside me all the way;
He's prepared a home for me, and some day His face I'll see.
Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Grace of God

Karl Barth wrote, "Grace creates liberated laughter. The grace of God in Jesus Christ is beautiful, and it radiates joy and awakens humor."

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ leads us into unspeakable joy that is full of glory. Through grace we learn that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and we experience the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, which is love, joy, peace, patience, meekness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control.

I like this description of grace: "Grace enables us to do what we could not do, be what we could not be, believe what we could not believe, and receive what we could not receive."

There are at least two Pure Gold Classics that have grace as their central subject: The Amazing Works of John Newton and All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon. I highly recommend both of these important works, and may God's grace fill you as you read them.

Spurgeon writes, "Oh, friend, God's great grace surpasses our understanding and comprehension. . . . God is able to pardon you abundantly. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. God's forgiveness is for those who are guilty."

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). Have you received this marvelous gift?

"Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,
All-sufficient grace for even me.
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame;
O magnify the precious name of Jesus,
Praise His name!"
("Wonderful Grace of Jesus" by Haldor Lillenas)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

It's a Wonderful Life

Soon the holidays will be upon us, and many people will watch the famous movie starring Jimmy Stewart: "It's a Wonderful Life." Life truly is wonderful for all who know the Lord Jesus Christ.

This afternoon I was thinking how wonderful it has been for me to have been a part of Bridge-Logos and its predecessors for so many years. It has now been forty-two years since Logos International Fellowship was founded in the back room of Bonded Jewelers in Plainfield, New Jersey. I began packing books in the shipping room of the company soon thereafter. I would work there after teaching school in nearby Scotch Plains, New Jersey.

The jewelry store was owned by Dan Malachuk, an elder of First Christian Assembly in Plainfield, and an International Director of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship. Dan had met Raphael Gasson, a former spiritualist who became a Christian. Dan learned that Mr. Gasson had a book that needed to be published and decided that he would take it upon himself to get it published. That book was The Challenging Counterfeit, which is no longer in print, but is available online.

A year or so later Dan published a blockbuster book that is still in print: Run Baby Run by Nicky Cruz with Jamie Buckingham. This book still sells well for us. In fact, we will be reprinting it in the near future. At the Full Gospel Business Men's International Convention at the Washington Hilton I met Jamie Buckingham, who was then a Southern Baptist pastor. John and Elizabeth Sherrill had suggested to Dan that Jamie would be a good writer to tell Nicky's story.

Soon thereafter Jamie was baptized in the Holy Spirit, and he has since become legendary. What a wonderful man he was. Jamie truly was a great teacher, a good person, an excellent writer, and a loving human being. He wrote many books, including the authorized biography of Kathryn Kuhlman, Daughter of Destiny, which we still carry. He went home to be with Jesus when he was a relatively young man.

So many of the people I knew in those days have gone on to glory. They are now enjoying the presence of the Lord in full measure, but I miss them. I look forward to seeing them again in Heaven: Dennis Bennett, Dan Malachuk, Harold Hill, John Wimber, Harold Bredesen, Kathryn Kuhlman, Willard Cantelon, Jamie Buckingham, and so many others. These folk were true trailblazers, who led thousands to the Lord and brought thousands into the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Willlard Cantelon, incidentally, wrote The Day the Dollar Dies, a book we recently republished. It is doing very well for us. Harold Hill wrote, How to Live Like a King's Kid, a book that's still in print and has always been one of my favorites.

Yes, its' a wonderful life, and it's made so much richer by contact with men and women like those I've mentioned above.