Encouragement For Widows • Surrendering To The Text • From Death To Life Wrap-Up

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR WIDOWS
Erika is a fairly young widow that I believe can be an encouragement to other young widows and mothers going through a similar trial in their lives.
Please check out her blog.  This Thorny Rose

SURRENDERING TO THE TEXT
Do we look for loopholes to what Scripture says or do we dig deep into it and surrender to what it says?
The following article explains what that means.
Do Your Hermeneutics Hold to Sola Scriptura?
 by Abner Chou

WRAP-UP
A quick wrap-up of my review of  the book From Death To Life: How Salvation Works by Allen Nelson IV.
Chapters 9 &10  in the book encourage evangelism, and the conclusion of the book also deals with baptism and being careful about pronouncing people saved.
The final parts of the book deal with problems with the Sinner's Prayer, the necessity for church discipline, etc.
One of the things that gave me pause is the church covenant section.
I'm very cautious about making promises while being supportive of spiritual growth and a desire for holiness.
Holiness can't be manufactured by the making of promises.
It is good to have doctrines you can affirm and to encourage people to grow.
On the whole, the rest of the book is pretty good, and I am thankful for the opportunity to read and review it honestly.

From Death To Life - A Book Review - Part 3

Today I'm continuing my chapter by chapter review (or summary) of Allen Nelson IV's book, From Death To Life: How Salvation Works.
I'm not giving away everything that is in the book.
This book would be good for a group of people new to a church, for professing believers not yet grounded in Biblical doctrine, or as a reminder for Christians who need to get back to foundational teaching.
Part 1
Part 2

Chapter 6 -  This was a solid chapter on justification.  Justification is by faith alone.  Christians are accepted by God in Christ and clothed in His righteousness.

"The worst that I am isn't beyond the blood of Jesus.  The best that I am isn't beyond the blood of Jesus."  - Allen Nelson IV

Chapter 7 - This chapter dealt with sanctification.   True Christians will grow.  They will desire Christ.  There will be spiritual fruit, and we should see a pattern of repentance.  Those who have no fruit should not be assured they are saved, but those who are believers will endure to the end.

Chapter 8  - This chapter talks about how God opens the eyes of the blind and they are awakened from a  bed of "counterfeit comfort".

"Little do sinners realize that their slumber is not a place of solace but a cell in which they are imprisoned." - Allen Nelson IV

Sinners do not desire Christ on their own.

This chapter also discusses that deeds are a fruit of salvation and not the root.

"When repentance is real, reformation follows: Reformation in thought, reformation in desires, and reformation in life."  - Allen Nelson IV

From Death to Life - A Book Review - Part 2 + Bonus James Phillipps Music Video

This is my second installment of reviewing From Death to Life: How Salvation Works written by Allen Nelson IV.

I will try to continue with brief comments by chapter for now.

Chapter 3 talks about ways to proclaim the Gospel, and it gives an excellent description of what the bad news and the good news is.
I think it is a good reference to review (possibly to bookmark) what it is that Christians should actually be sharing with unbelievers.

My only discomfort with the chapter, that I recall, was trying to use Old Testament situations as Gospel examples (which I didn't quite see as what the particular OT situations were about).
However, knowing someone else who loves to use life situations to springboard to the Gospel, I find it interesting (though I would not see it as an actual exposition of the texts).  I do wholeheartedly agree with the author that the ways others sometimes misuse the texts are not helpful.

Chapter 4 discusses God's work in salvation.

Chapter 5 in the book moves from God's regenerating work into a detailed explanation of what faith and repentance are.
It also touches on baptism.
After having recently responded online to a Roman Catholic, and remembering some other discussions with people who have veered off one way or another, I thought the details in this chapter were good reminders for Christians.
We can't argue people into believing what is true, but it's good to understand what Scripture teaches for ourselves.
There are dangers of getting the Gospel wrong one way or another.  People try to add works (baptism and/or good deeds) to faith (like Catholics, the Judaizers, etc.), or people may claim to be believers yet do not have any signs of a living faith that others can see.
Then there are people who want to wrongfully take at least partial credit for what God alone does.
This chapter is corrective of those wrong views.


MUSIC FOR YOUR DAY
I love to hear James Phillipps sing (having watched him via Grace Community Church live-streaming), and I have discovered a video from 7 years ago that has a song from Psalm 23.
Please pray for James.
He's been going through difficult times.

James Phillipps - Psalm 23 from Poemas de Barro on Vimeo.

From Death To Life - A Book Review - Part 1

Allen Nelson IV is a pastor at Perryville Second Baptist in Arkansas.
He recently had a book published entitled
From Death to Life; How Salvation Works.
Though not mentioned specifically in the book, my nephew Josh was one of the people who critiqued the book before it was complete.
I have been gifted a version of the book, but the review (which I plan to do in parts since I'm generally not a fast reader) is my own.

I'm going to try to give my thoughts as I read the book.

From Death to Life is corrective of a wrong understanding that many people have of salvation.  The wrong view is a decision based view that doesn't produce a transformation.
The author uses a bit of imagination of a Biblical event in Chapter 1 (which I tend to be very nervous about), but he rightfully puts an emphasis on Scriptural authority in the rest of the chapter.

As I read chapter 2, he points out how churches attempt to get people into the church by something other than the Gospel.  I've seen some of the kinds of things he's talking about firsthand.
I love some of the colorful choice of words he uses.

"The beautiful diamond of the gospel has been wrapped in toilet paper in the ridiculous attempt to make it more enticing." - Allen Nelson IV

He further continues on in chapter 2 about people being lulled into false assurance and professions.
Yes, I've made it through 2 chapters today.

I hope to continue the book and add more parts to my review, but I may do other posts between segments.
You can find the book and see other reviews HERE.