Free time

In an effort to make better choices on how to use my free time, we recently decided to get rid of our cable. We really only want to watch network stations, which we found out we could get for about 35$ less each month. It's amazing what you can get from companies when you're trying to stop giving them money! Anyway, this means that when I come home from work there are not 15 stations full of junk for me to waste time vegging in front of (i.e. HGTV, lifetime, TLC, etc.). So, I got some great book suggestions and bought 4 new books! I started with John Stott's the Incomparable Christ and thought I'd share a thought about it to help me digest what I'm reading.

Stott has this great section right at the start where he summarizes the focus of each Gospel author. He states that while, yes, the Gospel authors were concientious historians, they were also evangelists and theologians. So, each Gospel has a different focus as it deals with the earthly ministry of Christ.

Matthews focuses on Christ as the fullfillment of prophecy, the law, and Israel. As Stott develops this point and brings up different Scripture references it's fascinating to see how correct that is. And it makes sense in light of Matthew's strong Jewish heritage.

Mark's gospel focuses on Christ the suffering servant. As a Mark manuscript junky I could not agree more. The Cross is the center of Mark's Gospel as he answers the key questions: Who was Jesus, what did he come to do, and what does He ask of us?

That's as far as I've gotten. I got all excited about that and wanted to get it down before I kept reading. I enjoy reading these kinds of books in short, frequent intervals so that I can consider and absorb everything presented.


In conclusion, one thought that has occurred to me recently over and over again comes to me again now after starting Stott's book and it is this:

That I love Scripture. I love that I can say with certainty that it is REAL and it is TRUTH. It has become nearly impossible for me to understand how anyone who has taken a sincere, open-minded, honest look at Jesus and how every word of Scripture points to Him could possibly think otherwise.