Heaven is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters to God
Michael E. Wittmer
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (May 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310253071
ISBN-13: 978-0310253075
Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
Buy Here: amazon.com

We have looked at the first three parts of Heaven is a Place on Earth, which explain “where we are,” “who we are,” “why are we here,” and “what’s wrong with the world?” This brings us to the fourth and final section of the book, “What is God’s Plan for This World?”
Read the rest of this entry

Heaven is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters to God
Michael E. Wittmer
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (May 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310253071
ISBN-13: 978-0310253075
Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
Buy Here: amazon.com

So far, we have looked over the first two parts of Heaven is a Place on Earth. In doing so, we have covered two questions that pertain to worldviews, and saw how Christianity answers them: The first is “What is this Place?” which looks at what the Bible says about creation; the second is “Why are We Here?” and looks at what our purpose in life is in regard to relationships between people and God, other people, and creation. These sections are much shorter at two chapters each. We now move on to part III, “What is Wrong with Me and My World? The Fall in Genesis 3-11
Read the rest of this entry

Heaven is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters to God
Michael E. Wittmer
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (May 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310253071
ISBN-13: 978-0310253075
Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
Buy Here: amazon.com

In the last post, I surveyed the first four chapters of Michael Wittmer’s book, Heaven is a Place on Earth. These chapters make up the introduction and the first of four parts, focusing on “What is this Place?” which is a look at what the Bible says about creation. He ended the section with a piece on being made “in the image of God” with a really helpful chart on the “three-fold” image (see last post for the chart). The chapters in Part Two, “Why are We Here?” focus on those relationships between people and God, other people, and creation. This section will be the focus of this post.
Read the rest of this entry

Heaven is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters to God
Michael E. Wittmer
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (May 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310253071
ISBN-13: 978-0310253075
Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
Buy Here: amazon.com

One of the verses I have struggled with comes at the end of 1 Corinthians 15:

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” (v. 58)

Why the confusion? Because this is how Paul ends his argument for the reality of the resurrection. The reason our work is not useless is because Christ has risen. What does the resurrection have to do with how we go about our day-to-day lives? Our vocations, our leisure, mowing the grass- it all matters, according to Paul, but why? My two favorite books from last year spoke to this- “Surprised by Hope,” by N.T. Wright, talks of the new heavens and new earth as the Christian hope. He focuses on the eschatological realities. “Culture Making,” by Andy Crouch, talks about the reality of our creative calling to produce culture, not just critique it and ignore it, but that we should actively engage it.

Michael Wittmer’s book “Heaven is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters to God” takes the best of these two books and puts it into one- and oddly enough it was written 4 years previous to the other two. Wittmer argues for the “tremendous dignity and value of everyday life” by “taking you from Creation to the Fall, to Redemption, and to glimpses from the book of Revelation” (book description on the back). Wittmer’s goal is to get us to view all of life through the Christian worldview. That is, to view everything through the lens of Biblical Christianity. The result is one of the best books on “the Christian life” that I have read to date. Wittmer gets it.
Read the rest of this entry

Immanuel in our Place: Seeing Christ in Israel’s Worship
Tremper Longman III
Paperback: 228 pages
Publisher: P & R Publishing (August 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0875526519
ISBN-13: 978-0875526515
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
amazon.com

After Jesus had risen from the dead, he met two of his disciples as they were walking on the Emmaus Road. He told them that all of the Scriptures, the Old Testament, pointed to Him as their fulfillment. Since then, Christians have debated exactly to what extent the Old Testament points to Jesus- is it every word? Every part? Certain parts? And in what way? In the book, “Immanuel in our Place: Seeing Christ in Israel’s Worship,” Tremper Longman III seeks to give us an answer to that question– at least in regards to the Israelites’ practices of worship.

The book is part of the “The Gospel According to the Old Testament” series, and is an excellent addition, both to the series and to the Christian’s library. Longman’s writing is theologically penetrating, yet very clear and accessible, and often doxological. He handles the text with great insight, all while keeping a broad audience in view. The book is broken into four units:
Part One: Sacred Space
Part Two: Sacred Acts
Part Three: Sacred People
Part Four: Sacred Time
This review will look at the book according to these units, and not necessarily by chapter.
Read the rest of this entry

We Become What We Worship
G.K. Beale
Paperback: 341 pages
Publisher: IVP Academic (November 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 083082877X
ISBN-13: 978-0830828777
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
Amazon.com
Read the rest of this entry

Finally got around to checking my mail today (I had been out of town for a week) and saw that I had received a copy of James in the Life Application Bible Studies series put out by Tyndale House Publishers (with thanks to Laura Bartlett for the copy!). It contains the entire text of James in the New Living Translation, plus study and application notes, and 13 lessons. I will be writing a review on this as soon as finals are over.

And speaking of finals, I have a Hebrew final tomorrow at 7am and an Old Testament I final at 11:30. As much studying as I’ve done, I still feel under-prepared, so I will be taking the rest of tonight to study. Prayers are appreciated!

The NLT Study Bible @ Amazon.com

Well, the NLT has certainly been making its way around the blogs lately. A good portion of this sudden notice being given is due, I’m sure, to the release of the NLT Study Bible in September. I have been looking forward to it ever since I heard the announcement, and was able to get my hands on a review copy thanks to Laura Bartlett and the folks at Tyndale House Publishing.
Sean Harrison, general editor for the NLT Study Bible, recently answered the question “what makes the NLTSB different from other Study Bibles?” with this:

“Some study Bibles focus on helping people to accept a particular doctrinal system, while others focus on “personal application.” Others simply provide interesting details about the context, language, grammar, etc., without asking how that information will impact people’s understanding of the text. Still others focus on a particular type of study methodology—topical study, word study, etc. Our goal, by contrast, was to provide everything we could that would help the readers understand the Scripture text more fully as the original human authors and readers themselves would have understood it.”
-Sean Harrison, How is the NLT Study Bible Different?”

Read the rest of this entry