Marketing Fraud!

I love this book!

Anyone who has been at Christ Covenant for more than a few weeks knows how I love the Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones.  I love it for myself and am glad to share it with everyone – including the intended audience: children.  You can see it on your left here.

But look at the book on the right.  Look similar?  Indeed?  Is it at all similar?  Absolutely NOT!  Think that is a mistake?  Don’t bet on it!

The book to the right - A Jesus Storybook You’ve Never

I wouldn't even put this book in an outhouse!

Heard About: 20 Extra-Biblical Tales From the Untold Story of Jesus’ Childhood – is a marketing fraud of the first order.

It is a “child’s edition” of stories from Gospel of Thomas.  The Gospel of Thomas has been known and been around for centuries.  Most scholars would place it centuries AFTER the life of Jesus and the four Gospels in the New Testament.  It is widely reputed as of no historical reliability.  It was rejected by the early church and the people closest to Jesus not because it was different, but because it was untrue and unreliable.  That happens with other stories to this day!

Reading With Gospel Eyes: The Spirit Speaking Through The Word

The Holy Spirit speaking in the Bible is the supreme judge of all religious controversies. - Westminster Confession of Faith – 1:10

Written in 1646, The Westminster Confession of Faith has been the recognized doctrinal standard for orthodox Presbyterians ever since.  As a pastor in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, I have affirmed that I “sincerely receive and adopt it as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures.”  So what does it meant to listen for the Holy Spirit speaking in the Bible?

Reading With Gospel Eyes: Kathy Keller's Review of "A Year of Biblical Womanhood"

Let me highly recommend the review by Kathy Keller (yes, Tim’s wife) of a book called “A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband ‘Master.’”  Click Here for Kathy's review.

Kathy’s review is outstanding and insightful.  The book she reviews, less so.  

Jesus never had anything to say about . . . .

I hear it quite often these days.  An increasing number of people attempt to demonstrate that their support of gay marriage, homosexuality or some other hot social topic is somehow consistent with the teaching of Jesus. “Jesus never had anything to say about __________.”  Just fill in the blank and you now have God on your side.  It's called an argument from silence.