Book Review: The Resurrection in Your Life by Mike McKinley

With Easter approaching, there will be more sermons about the Crucifixion than any other time in some churches. They will preach on the events that led to Jesus' death then on Easter speak on the Resurrection. However some churches with make a big deal of the Crucifixion and a lesser deal of the Resurrection. The Resurrection has become an appendix that last part of the book no one wants to read because it has no point in most cases.

Mike McKinley writes about the Resurrection and how it is helpful for the Christian life in his latest book, The Resurrection In Your Life. This book serves as a follow up to a book he wrote about on the Crucifixion called, Passion:How Christ's Final Day Changes Your Every Day. Like his previous book, McKinley writes on the Resurrection using the Word of God to serve as introduction to the chapter. He begins with the last couple of chapters in the gospel of Luke then briefly through the first two chapters of Acts.

McKinley writes on why the Resurrection gives us hope. The Crucifixion gives us hope because we have a Savior who died in our place for our sins. The Resurrection serves as a reminder that we have a living hope. All other religious leaders are dead and buried. Jesus is alive which gives us hope. He intercedes for us and he sits at the Father's right hand.

One thing that McKinley wrote about that I really appreciate is that Jesus ascended bodily. The gospels told us he was touched by people and he ate food in front of the disciples. Many times, the fact Jesus had a resurrected body seems to be pushed aside. Why is this a big deal? McKinley writes:

(In) Jesus we find a human representative who lifts us up to the throne room of heaven. Jesus is the second Adam, who did everything he did on our behalf. He lived and died and rose and even ascended into heaven for us. We have a friend "on the inside" of heaven, looking out for our interests (pg. 56).

This book serves as a simple introductory guide to the Resurrection and how it applies to all Christians. I have always enjoyed McKinley's writings and this book is no exception. This would be good for one on one discipleship.

Thanks Good Book Company for letting me review this book.

The Worst Thing Your Could Say To A Preacher

Preaching Through Tough Parts of the Bible

When I started my current position, one of the first things I did was to teach through a book of the Bible. I started with Galatians. I wanted to do as if I was preaching to the church so I studied with the assistance of commentaries and study Bibles. There were some tough parts in there as there are in a lot of books of the Bible.

So the question is, how do you preach through a passage that is not so easy to preach from as other places in scripture. Mike McKinley, Bryan Chappell, and J.D. Greear talks about it in this video.

Do Christians Have to Join a Church?

This is becoming more of a common question in our culture. Mike McKinley answers it in this short video:



Books by Mike McKinley:

Church Planting Is For Wimps

Am I Really A Christian?

Passion

Did The Devil Make Me Do It?

Is God A Moral Monster?

Matt Smethurst:

Book Review: Did The Devil Make Me Do It? by Mike McKinley

Mike McKinley's latest book, Did The Devil Make Me Do It?, is from a series of books called Questions Christians Ask which is published by The Good Book Company. This book serves as an introduction to those who are unfamiliar with the works and person of the devil and his demons. The book begins McKinley's conversations with friends who have worked in other countries where they have been real demonic forces at work. What is sad is that many Christians in America, 60% to be exact, do not believe the devil is real, but a lot more Christians outside the U.S. do believe he is real.

The first chapter is about who is Satan and where does he come from. McKinley does a great job addressing Genesis 3 as Satan came in the form of a serpent and even addressed that Satan was not a self-sufficient being as God the Father. Satan was created by God an angel who worshiped God until one day he decided to be God, started a war with God, and was cast out of heaven. Satan is a also a real person and not a personification of evil as many people, including some Christians believe.

The second chapter addresses Satan's activities. The Bible tells us how God works, so does it tell us how Satan works. He is a liar, he promotes false worship, and even tries to prevent salvation. McKinley makes it clear that Satan is not like God. God does not need anyone's permission to do whatever He wants. Satan on the other hand is a limited creature that needs God permission to do what he needs to do such as the case in the book of Job.

Chapter 3 addresses a tough subject that many try to answer and that is on demon possession, which McKinley did a great job looking through the Bible and help the reader understand it. He even answered the question, can Christians be possessed by demons, which the answer is no. Once we are in Christ, we cannot be possessed by demons though they may tempted to cause to disobey God.

Chapter 4 deals with how Jesus defeated Satan which for most Christians, sad to say, know that answer. Jesus defeated Satan through His finished work on the cross taking our place for our sin to suffer the wrath of God. In this chapter, McKinley addressed that the ransom Jesus paid for, as mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:5-6 and Mark 10:45, was not a ransom from Satan, but from God Himself. All of us owe a debt to God that we could not pay for unless we lived a perfect life which none of us could.

Chapter 5 is about how Christians need to fight to Satan. The Bible says the devil roams like a lion (1 Peter 5:8), therefore Christians need to be ready and alert when he tries to come against us. McKinley tells us there are three things Satan cannot do: take away our salvation, make us do anything, nor read our minds. Remember Satan is not powerful as God though some Christians have made him look that way. McKinley even took the time to address if the devil makes us sin because there is that famous expression, "The devil made me do it" that people have used to excuse what they have done. McKinley says while Satan can tempt us to do evil, we are the ones who do the act.

This is a great little book that all Christians must have. This will be a great resource in using when talking about the devil and his demons. McKinley does his usual stuff with adding humor in teaching theology truth.

Thanks Good Book Company for allowing me to review this book.