Soulprint by Mark Batterson

I was recently asked by Multnomah Press to review Mark Batterson’s latest book, Soulprint. Here is my review:

This was the fourth book by Mark Batterson that I have read. Like the others, I found it a worthwhile read, filled with thought-provoking ideas and worthwhile illustrations. He speaks to the reader's heart and soul and helps you understand your walk with God.

I appreciated how Batterson grounded the material of his book on the life of a Biblical character, in this case King David. As an expository preacher, I have a strong sense that we need to ground Christian teaching in the words of Scripture and in an understanding of the people that we find in Scripture.

For this reviewer, however, I found that the grounding of Batterson's book in Scripture is also its weakness. Except in a couple of places, Batterson does not adequately "exegete" the life of David. His look at David's life mostly has the sense of illustrating his thesis, instead of guiding his thesis.

I did find Batterson's transparency about his own life and ministry were helpful tools in illustrating and clarifying his ideas. He does not, in my view, let his life get in the way of what he is "teaching," but does show how he has wrestled with his concepts in his own life before preaching and writing the ideas.

In the end, I think there are some things that could strengthen the book, but overall found it to be helpful and thought-provoking.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Joseph–Living With Integrity and Forgiveness

I spoke at Christian Workers’ Meeting at Southside Church of Christ in Milwaukee, WI on 2/15/2011 about Joseph. The following outline is an outline of my series of message on Joseph for those who attended the meeting.

If you would like Word documents of the sermons from the series, you can download the zip file that this link will take you to: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10269289/Joseph%20Sermons%20-%20Henes.zip.

LIVING WITH INTEGRITY AND FORGIVENESS

Genesis 37-50

A review of Joseph's life shows us how to live when when we face a variety of issues and circumstances in life.

I. LIVING WHEN YOU ARE HATED - Genesis 37

II. LIVING WHEN YOU ARE TEMPTED - Genesis 39:1-20

III. LIVING WHEN YOU ARE FORGOTTEN - Genesis 39:20-40:23

IV. LIVING WHEN YOU ARE REMEMBERED AND REWARDED - Genesis 41:1-57

V. LIVING WITH YOUR CONSCIENCE - Genesis 42:1-34

VI. LIVING WITH DIFFICULT DECISIONS - Genesis 42:35-43:15

VII. LIVING WITH GUILT -- AND EXPERIENCING GRACE - Genesis 43:15-34

VIII. LIVING A LIFE OF GRACE - Genesis 44:1-45:15

IX. LIVING AS A FAMILY - Genesis 45:16-46:30

X. WORKING WITH INTEGRITY - Genesis 46:31-47:31

XI. LIVING WITH INTEGRITY AND FORGIVENESS - Genesis 48:1-50:26

INTRODUCING PEOPLE TO THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Karl Vallentin, a Munich comedian, did a skit in which he walked on a stage where everything was dark except for a small area under a street lamp. He began to look for something on the ground. As he looked, a person playing a policeman came on stage and asked what he was doing. He told the policeman that he was trying to find a key, whereupon both of them continued the search. Finally the officer asked, "Are you sure you lost it here?" "Oh, no," said Vallentin as he pointed to a dark corner, "It was over there, but here is where the light is!"

That is the tragedy of many people’s lives. They are looking in the wrong place for help with their lives, and sometimes even in the church we have people who look for the light in the wrong place. For instance, we have a lot of teaching to do when Christians mix faith in Jesus with beliefs from other religions or when they distort the truth of the Gospel with claims that all religions are equal.

Then there are those who make no claims to follow Christ and are living in moral blindness. Certainly some of them have never heard of Christ in the way the Bible presents him to us. They have heard of the distortions of Christ that are talked about in our culture. Others reject Christ for any number of reasons.

With any of these people, we have to ask whether we are introducing people to the light of the world. Are we bringing people who wear the name Christian to an understanding of Jesus as the only light that brings hope to their lives? Are we sharing Christ with others as the only one that can answer the longings of their hearts?

I had these questions refocused for me recently as I studied John 9 which tells the story of Jesus healing a man born blind. The setting for the story actually begins in John 7 when Jesus goes to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish feasts. While at the feast, he makes the pronouncement in John 8:12 -- “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” He declares that the answer to the darkness in our lives, the only place to find those answers, is in him. Then he demonstrates the reality of this truth in John 9 by healing a man born blind.

The blind man has something of the same experience as Helen Keller who said once, “Gradually I got used to the silence and darkness that surrounded me and forgot that it had ever been different until she came—my teacher (Annie Sullivan)—who set my spirit free."

Jesus put mud on the eyes of the man, sent him to the Pool of Siloam, and told him to wash. When the man did so, he was able to see for the first time. Up until then, he had no doubt gotten used to the darkness. When people asked him how he could now see, all he could do was tell them what had happened to him. If we will point people to Jesus, they will have the same experience.

Just seeing the light, though, does not always end the matter when the light of the world – Jesus – enters a person’s life and changes him or her. There will be those who misunderstand. The Jewish leaders misunderstood this healing, carefully questioning the man twice about what had happened and questioning his parents in between. They sought to discredit Jesus, but all the man could say to them was, “I was blind but now I see…. If this man were not from God he could no nothing.” Then Jesus came to him again and offered him a choice – would he believe in Jesus, the light of the world, or not, and he chose to believe.

This is the clear choice we must present to people There will be plenty of people who will try to discredit a person whose life has been changed. There are plenty of people who will do whatever they can to discredit Jesus. We know the truth of the matter: people find light when they choose Christ. He makes all the difference in their lives. Our responsibility is to introduce them to the light of the world.

Following Jesus

Among those people who had an encounter with Jesus in the Gospels were those we call the Twelve Apostles or just the Twelve. We have met some of those individuals in my current sermon series “You Can Meet Jesus.” However, it is worth paying attention to them as a group and how their individual encounters with Jesus affected them as a group and drove them to carry out the mission of Jesus.

A post this week on his Internet site by Mel Lawrenz, minister-at-large of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, WI, set me to thinking about this. He posted a column titled “Leadership — So What?” as an introduction to a year-long series of discussions by himself and others regarding spiritual leadership today. One comment about Lawrenz’s post and one sentence in the post itself particularly caught my attention in regard to how the Twelve encountered Christ.

First the comment: The comment said, “Spiritual leadership begins and ends with our ‘followership’. As leaders, we must first, and always, follow our Savior and Lord.” That is certainly what the Twelve did. They followed Christ first and sought to model him in how they served. In fact, the essence of Jesus’ “recruiting” them was to call them to follow him.

The term first appears in John 1:43 when Jesus said to Philip, “Follow me.” It appears again in Mark 1:16 when he encounters Simon and Andrew as they were fishing, and he said “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” The phrase appears again in Matthew 9:9 when he called Matthew to follow him. In each case, when called, the Twelve followed Jesus.

We cannot avoid this call if we are going to be known as Christians. Jesus calls us to follow him before we lead or serve. We are to emulate his character and service by how we live.

If we are to follow Jesus, we should understand this comment by Lawrenz: “When we look at the first generation of Christian leaders, they definitely pursued the mission Jesus left them with power, authority, and truth.” That is, the first followers of Christ made it their priority to carry out the mission of Jesus. So, as their story progresses, the Gospels tell us how Jesus sent them out in pairs to minister as he did, and later he would send them out again as part of a group of seventy. Eventually, they would be the early leaders of the church.

Meeting Jesus, encountering Jesus as his early followers did, means we are to carry out his mission. As we continue meeting people in the Gospels for the next few weeks, but more importantly as you live your life, consider what you are doing to contribute to the mission of Jesus. Are you making it your priority to introduce people to Jesus? When you do that is when you really meet him.