Book Review: Preparing for Jesus' Return (2012)

Preparing for Jesus' Return. A.W. Tozer, James Snyder, ed. 2012. Regal. 211 pages.

No biblical truth drew closer to the heart of A.W. Tozer than the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ. This focus on our Blessed Hope dictated much of his passion to encourage believers to rise above the times and fix their gaze on Jesus, our soon-coming King. He taught that for those who are ready for Jesus' return, there is no calamity raging around them that can shake the quiet assurance and confidence that Jesus Christ will return. 

Last year, I read the book of Revelation fifty-one times. My love for the book is relatively new having spent most of my life merely reading it out of duty, not realizing just how wonderful it is to live with what Tozer calls "the Blessed Hope" day by day. 2012 was also the year I discovered A.W. Tozer, so this book was a perfect way to start the new year for me.

Here are the chapter titles:

• The Season of the Blessed Hope
• The Blessed Hope and the Curse of Curiosity
• The Blessed Hope Clearly Defines Christianity
• The Shining Light of the Blessed Hope
• The Divine Imperative of the Blessed Hope
• The Glorious Sign of the Blessed Hope
• The Mystic Shroud of the Blessed Hope
• The True Hope of the Blessed Hope
• The Nature Behind the Blessed Hope
• The Sound of the Blessed Hope
• The Triumph of the Blessed Hope
• The Eternal Blessedness of the Blessed Hope
• The Manifestation of the Blessed Hope
• The Warning of the Blessed Hope 
• The Little Book of the Blessed Hope
• The Holy City and the Blessed Hope
• Daily Live the Blessed Hope

How Tozer approaches Bible prophecy:

Right up front, Tozer points out the difference between the evangelical mystic and the evangelical rationalist when it comes to the book of Revelation. Here is where some will probably find occasion to pause and wonder which side they are going to be on. Tozer explains, "The evangelical mystic, like John, stands in the presence of the awesome God and cries 'holy, holy, holy' and falls down at His feet as dead. But the evangelical rationalist figures it all out and says, 'We can understand it, we know how it is,' then writes a long book about it, telling exactly what it is like." As you might well know, Tozer aligned himself with the evangelical mystic. This is how he approached Bible prophecy--not to fit in every little piece and person, but rather to focus on the Lord Jesus Christ as coming again. (6)

This book isn't about solving mysteries and giving answers to every curiosity. It is a book focused on Christ: on loving, adoring, worshiping Christ. Every chapter zealously urges believers to LOVE Jesus and to live life with HOPE knowing that Jesus IS coming again. It's a passionate, zealous book about loving a holy God, a majestic God, a victorious God, it is about KNOWING the happy ending is on the way.

It is a thought-provoking book as well. Tozer asks some tough questions of his readers:

The iniquity I am referring to here is more than just the world; it has everything to do with the Church. In this generation, we are facing a backslidden Church. I am talking about individuals in the Church, and I want to press two very important questions. The first question is, How would you describe your passion for the person of Christ? The Scriptures teach that one of the evidences of the last days is this: "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold" (Matthew 24:12). So, how ardent is your love for the Lord Jesus Christ?
The second question is simply, What has your Christianity cost you? We have become a bunch of well-groomed showpiece Christians behind glass. Our Christianity has cost us nothing. (18)

He goes on to note,

We come to church when it is convenient. We serve the Lord at our convenience. The center of our entire life is convenience. (19)

Here's more of what he has to say about the church:

I do not wonder that churches back-slide; my wonder is that they do not all backslide. I do not wonder that churches do not hold together; the wonder is that they hold together at all. If it were not for the invisible presence of our Lord in their midst--a Priest to stand before God for us, and a King to rule and exercise authority--there could be no church. (47)

Other favorite quotes:

We must get on our knees before our open Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to break our hearts and create a passion for Christ as we've never had before. We must ask for a passion of such a nature that the things of this world will begin to diminish in their attraction for us. A passion for Christ will enable us to rise above our culture and look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. (21)

When He returns is not as important as the fact that we are ready for Him when He does return. The crucial question is, When He returns, will He find us waiting? (23)

Where the Bible is clear, we need to be clear and dogmatic. Where the Bible is not as clear, we need to be careful that we are not adding or taking away from the Scriptures. The Bible is not to divide us but enable us to focus on Jesus Christ, the Man of Prophecy (25)

Holiness, as taught in the Scriptures, is not based upon knowledge on our part. Rather, it is based upon the resurrected Christ in-dwelling us and changing us into His likeness. (28)

Holiness has nothing to do with what we know and understand, but it has everything to do with the person of Christ and our relationship with Him. (28)

The tendency is to try to stretch the sayings of the Lord to cover everybody so that His sayings become an umbrella for the entire human race. The simple fact is, these words of His benediction apply only to those who are within the fold, and exclude everybody else. Each of us must decide whether we come under this benediction or are excluded from it. (35) 

If we were to place less emphasis upon scholastic education and more upon the illumination of the Holy Spirit, we would be a wiser, holier, more powerful Church than we are now. (36)

The only cross in all of history that was turned into an altar was the cross on which Jesus Christ died. It was a Roman cross. They nailed Him on it, and God, in His majesty and mystery, turned it into an altar. The Lamb who was dying in the mystery and wonder of God was turned into the Priest who offered Himself. No one else was a worthy offering. (37)

"Grace and peace be unto you" is for you and me. What do we need more than grace? What more do we need for our wretched sinfulness than the grace of God? And what more do we need for our poor, uprooted, alienated, distraught souls than peace? (39)

Christianity is not about just sweating out our lives day by day; rather, it is about walking in the authority of heaven and looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus Christ is about to return, and our life lived here below is in accordance with that great and mighty expectation. (41)

The most important thing about the Church is the one who is in the midst. He is here to see and to judge. He is here to keep us and represent us to God, and represent God to us. (52)

When you were saved, you got a new nature, and that nature belongs with God; but you were not taken to God, because you were not ready. He is getting you ready now. You are being prepared as a Bride, as a purified people; you are getting ready. Do not let anybody talk you out of that. (52)

When Jesus Christ came into the world, He had the infinite compassion of God, for He is God. All the infinite compassion of God was in His heart, and He never looked at a blind man without grief and sorrow in His heart. He never looked at a deaf man who was unable to hear the sweet sounds of nature without grief in His heart. He never looked at a man with a withered hand or a crippled leg, or a dead girl being carried out on a bier, without sorrow in His heart. He loved people, not populations; He loved people. He loved the look of them and the sound of them and the warmth of them and the eyes of them. Jesus loved people and loved them so much that He gave everything He had for them. He had the heart to do it. (63)

David would settle for nothing short of the face of God. Our problem today is that we usually settle for anything and everything but that shining face of God. The cost and inconvenience of pressing deep into His presence are too much for the kind of life we are living. (82)

If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus' fist, but by His nail-pierced hands; not by muscle but by love; not by vengeance but by forgiveness; not by force but by sacrifice. Jesus Christ our Lord surrendered in order that He might win; He destroyed His enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer Him. (111)

If we serve God in man's way, we will make a mess of it, which is the condition of many Christians today. We are trying to serve God in man's way instead of serving God in God's way. (114)

I would not hesitate to say that on any given Sunday, in any church across our country, the average Christian reciting the Lord's Prayer has no idea what that prayer means. (127)

Some books claiming to be exhaustive are only exhausting to read. (191)

It is essential that we learn how to read the Scriptures, to meditate upon the Scriptures and discipline ourselves in memorizing Scripture. It is absolutely essential that the Bible have top priority in our thought life. Nothing else should surpass the Scriptures. Everything we do should have roots in the Scripture. Our morning sessions with God over the Scriptures should set forth the pattern and temperament of our daily walk that day. We truly have not read the Bible until we have seen Jesus Christ. (197)

Prayer is both the easiest thing to do and the hardest thing we will ever do. There is so much against our prayer life. For one, the enemy of man's soul despises the power of prayer and so, with everything he can muster, he will discourage our prayer life. (198)

I really LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this one.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Week in Review: January 6-12

This week I read in the RSV:

• Genesis 6-14
• Joshua 7-19
• Psalms 42-72
• Isaiah 14-33
• Joel
• Mark
• Luke 1-10
• 2 Corinthians
• Galatians
• Titus
• Philemon

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Peace

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3)

O LORD, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works. (Isaiah 26:12)

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (Psalms 4:8)

Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble. (Psalm 119:165)

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." (Isaiah 52:7)

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:13; Ephesians 2:14-22 ESV)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-6; Philippians 4:7-9 ESV)

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:19; Colossians 1:20 ESV)

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. (2 Thessalonians 3:16)

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Love Comes Softly (1979)

Love Comes Softly. Janette Oke. 1979. 240 pages.

The morning sun shone brightly on the canvas of the covered wagon, promising an unseasonably warm day for mid-October. Marty fought for wakefulness, coming out of a troubled and fitful sleep. Why did she feel so heavy and ill at ease--she who usually woke with enthusiasm and readiness for each new day's adventure? Then it all came flooding back, and she fell in a heap on the quilt from which she had just emerged. Sobs shook her body, and she pressed the covering to her face to muffle the sound.

Love Comes Softly is one of my comfort reads; it has been for decades. It is about a marriage of convenience or necessity. Clark, the hero, is a widower with a two-year-old daughter, Missy. Mary, the heroine, is a pregnant widow who is forced to bury her first husband and marry her second on the same day. (The preacher only comes around about two or at most three times a year.) She's young; she's grieving; she has no experience in the home. But Clark--who's grief is only a few months older than Marty's own--is patient, kind, understanding. He has a way of knowing when to speak, when to act, and when to be silent and appear not to notice whatever would bring her pain or embarrassment. But even though Clark is such a dear, pioneering life can be exhausting. AS she is preparing for the birth of her first child, the Lord is preparing her heart to love again...

I absolutely love and adore Love Comes Softly. There are plenty of memorable scenes in this one. I love the chapters leading up to Christmas. The chapter on Christmas day itself--and how they choose to celebrate it despite initial disappointments is sweet. There's also a great Easter chapter. There's so much to love about this one. It can be sweet and romantic (especially towards the end), but it can be funny as well, like when Marty makes her first batch of biscuits!

Do you have a favorite scene from Love Comes Softly?

“The truth of God's love is not that He allows bad things to happen, it's his promise that he will be there with us--when they do.”   

“Sometimes love isn't fireworks, sometimes love just comes softly.”

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Spring for Susannah (2011)

Spring for Susannah. Catherine Richmond. 2011. Thomas Nelson. 352 pages.

After her parents deaths, Susannah feels she has no choice but to become a mail-order bride. She begins corresponding with her pastor's brother, Jesse. After a proxy marriage ceremony, she travels to Dakota territory to meet her husband. He is thrilled to meet his wife. But. If he could change just one thing about his new wife, he would make her more talkative. He likes--or loves--so many things about her, but, she's so very, very shy and hesitant and reserved. Like she's afraid to talk to anyone. Still, the two try their best to make their marriage real and loving.

Spring for Susannah reveals just how hard it was to be a pioneer, to live so far away from civilization, to be at the mercy of nature. (Fires, storms, grasshoppers, locusts, etc. The list of potential devastators is long.) One truly has to rely on God and God alone.

Spring for Susannah had a few surprises for me. I wasn't expecting it to go the way it did. I was expecting it to be a bit more predictable. Still, it was an interesting historical romance.

While some historical romances are safe to give younger readers (middle grade on up), this is NOT one of them. (For example, all of Janette Oke's historical novels are good and safe reads for 8+) Spring for Susannah definitely has more mature content. It is more mature in content and presentation than most of the christian fiction I typically read, perhaps with the exception of Julie Lessman's novels. I think some readers will like this openness about intimacy. Others perhaps not as much.

I didn't love Spring for Susannah. Instead I just liked it.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Becky's Cloud of Witnesses 2013 List

Host: Operation Actually Read Bible
Name: Clouds of Witnesses Reading Challenge
Dates: Jan-Dec
# of Books: +6

What I read:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

What I hope to read:

• Preparing for Jesus' Return by A.W. Tozer
• God's Power For Your Life: How The Holy Spirit Transforms You Through God's Word by A.W. Tozer (NOT RELEASED YET)
• The Holy Spirit by R.A. Torrey
• The Attributes of God, vol. 1 by A.W. Tozer
• The Attributes of God, vol. 2 by A.W. Tozer
• The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon
• Discovering the Power of Christ's Prayer Life by Charles Spurgeon
• Sermons of Jonathan Edwards
• The Sermons of George Whitfield
• Our Accountability to God by A.W. Pink
• The Ability of God by A.W. Pink
• Life in Christ by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• Assurance of Salvation by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
• Tozer Speaks, vol 1. by A.W. Tozer
• Tozer Speaks, vol. 2. by A.W. Tozer
• Old Paths by J.C. Ryle
• The Gospel of Matthew by J.C. Ryle
• The Gospel of Mark by J.C. Ryle
• The Gospel of Luke by J.C. Ryle
• The Gospel of John by J.C. Ryle

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

My Year With Spurgeon, Week 1

These are the Spurgeon quotes I'm sharing this week:

He who does not long to know more of Christ, knows nothing of Him yet. ~ Charles Spurgeon, Morning, January 4

Absence from Christ is hell; but the presence of Jesus is heaven. Rest not then content without an increasing acquaintance with Jesus. Seek to know more of Him in His divine nature, in His human relationship, in His finished work, in His death, in His resurrection, in His present glorious intercession, and in His future royal advent. ~ Charles Spurgeon, Morning, January 4

O Lord, since light is so good, give us more of it, and more of Thyself, the true light. ~ Charles Spurgeon, Morning, January 5

We do not doubt the loving union of all in the work of deliverance. We reverence the Father, without whom we had not been chosen or adopted: the Father who hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We love and reverence the Son by whose most precious blood we have been redeemed, and with whom we are one in a mystic and everlasting union: and we adore and love the divine Spirit, for it is by him that we have been regenerated, illuminated, quickened, preserved, and sanctified; and it is through him that we receive the seal and witness within our hearts by which we are assured that we are indeed the sons of God. ~ Charles Spurgeon, Adoption--The Spirit and the Cry

We have a sonship which does not come to us by nature, for we are "born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Our sonship comes by promise, by the operation of God as a special gift to a peculiar seed, set apart unto the Lord by his own sovereign grace, as Isaac was. This honour and privilege come to us, according to the connection of our text, by faith. ~ Charles Spurgeon, Adoption--The Spirit and the Cry

I never know which is the more wonderful, the incarnation of Christ or the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Jesus dwelt here for awhile in human flesh untainted by sin, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners; but the Holy Ghost dwells continually in the hearts of all believers, though as yet they are imperfect and prone to evil. Year after year, century after century, he still abideth in the saints, and will do so till the elect are all in glory. While we adore the incarnate Son, let us adore also the indwelling Spirit whom the Father hath sent. ~ Charles Spurgeon, Adoption--The Spirit and The Cry

"Well," says one, "but I cannot be perfect." No, but you cannot find peace till you desire to be. Wherever you harbour a sin, there you harbour misery. One sin wilfully indulged in, and not forsaken by true repentance, will destroy the soul. Sins given up are like goods cast out at sea by the mariners in days of storm; they lighten the ship, and the ship will never float till you have thrown all your sins overboard. ~ Charles Spurgeon, The Sweet Uses of Adversity

The grace of God can keep the least and weakest of us; but apart from that heavenly power how dare any man hope to be preserved to the end? ~ Charles Spurgeon, Fallen Angels a Lesson to Fallen Men

To think that men should stand where angels fall! We are by sovereign grace called to be as near to God as the angels ever were, and in some respects we are nearer still. We are the body-guard of Christ, his chosen ones with whom he communes. We are the table companions of our Lord—we eat of his bread, and drink of his cup, and are made partakers with him. We are lifted up to be one with him, and are made to be "members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones;" yet God's eternal unbounded power keeps us in the day of temptation, and leads us so that if we go through the rivers we are not drowned, and when we pass through the fires we are not burned. O, the splendor of triumphant grace! Neither the glory of our calling, nor the unworthiness of our original, shall cause us to be traitors; we shall neither perish through pride nor lust; but the new nature within us shall overcome all sin, and abide faithful to the end. "Now, unto him that is able to keep us from falling, unto him be honor and glory, and dominion and power for ever and ever." ~ Charles Spurgeon, Fallen Angels a Lesson to Fallen Men

Grace shall reign unto eternal life. Redeemed men shall stand where angels fall, for God shall keep them. He is able to hold them up, and he will do it even to the end. ~ Charles Spurgeon, Fallen Angels A Lesson to Fallen Men

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible