Book Review of Adam Hamilton's Making Sense of the Bible
. . . but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! —Matthew 18

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 5

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; —2 Timothy 3

Full disclosure: I’m the least of these to be writing this. When I look at what Adam Hamilton has built and the list of names of giants that have endorsed and recommended this book, I’m sure that these men have each forgotten more than I know about Scripture—which makes this book even more disconcerting.

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day —Genesis 3

Who do you walk with in the cool of the evening? Your clients? People you hate?

No, we walk in the cool of the evening with those toward whom we’re in (and looking to grow in) relationship.

The first two chapters (out of the entirety of Scripture) show us a picture of how things ought to be. We see God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit—together, in community—working to build a home. In Their labor, They create a place; beautiful and perfect. It is . . .

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. —Mark 16

It has been a few months since I've shared Utmost, but we're going to set that aside for a bit and pick up a new topic.

If you haven't heard it already, click the link above or the photo to the left to hear a lesson I gave August, 2014 to Family Ties at PRUMC called Nothing but the Blood. Over the next few months, we're going to attempt to answer the questions:
"Why all the blood?" and
"How can I trust a God that requires blood to cover sin?"

If you'd like to get these sent to you via email when they come out, click here to register and make sure to click that you're a Back Porch Friend.

In 1955, Billy Graham was invited to speak at the University of Cambridge by a small group of Christians attending there. Almost immediately, letters to the editor of the Times of London began pouring in essentially saying: