169. THESE BOOKS ARE MORE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAN THIS BLOG

The following books are recommended:

Pure Grace:  The Life Changing Power of Uncontaminated Grace.  Clark Whitten

We have been freed from sin so that we can be transformed into the image of God, Jesus Christ.  We cannot be transformed by trying to manage sin by human effort.  We have been totally forgiven of ourselves and assigned the righteousness of Christ.

 The Rest of the Gospel:  When the Partial Gospel Has Worn You Out.  Dan Stone and David Gregory

We are called to be saints, not sinners.   We live "above the line," setting our thoughts on things above in the unseen realm, where we have been declared perfect, by the grace of God through Christ.  We do not live "below the line," setting our thoughts on things below in the seen realm, where we are in the natural -- "confessing" (i.e., declaring) ourselves to be sinners.  Let us confess the grace and promises of God of our declared perfection through Christ rather than a "pious" display of our fleshly inadequacies.

Transformation:  The Heart of Paul's Gospel.  David A. DeSilva and Michael F. Bird 

Paul's gospel (good news) is one of transformation into Christ and not a gospel of continued justification, in which we continually look for something to do so we might keep (maintain) our justification by our own works.

The Good and Beautiful Community: Following the Spirit, Extending Grace, Demonstrating Love.  James Bryan Smith

The church is made up of Christians in unity, serving and following Christ, and not individuals in isolation or small groups who can interpretatively agree with one another (for now).

Creation: The Apple of God's Eye. Justo L. Gonzalez

This relatively short book touches on the "Who" and "Why" of creation, which are the questions that the Bible addresses.  God's love is shown in the creation. Fretting about "how" God did the creation is way down on the list of questions with eternal significance.

Grace Rules: Living in the Kingdom of God Where... Steve McVey

and

The Secret of Grace: Stop Following the Rules and Start Living.  Steve McVey.

Also, books by Andrew Farley:

Relaxing With God: The Neglected Spiritual Discipline.

The Naked Gospel: Truth You May Never Hear in Church.

God Without Religion: Can It Really Be This Simple?

Heaven is Now: Awakening Your Five Spiritual Senses to the Wonders of Grace.

These (and other) books by Andrew Farley and his radio program (The Grace Message) focus on the grace and forgiveness from God and on how we nevertheless continue to try and earn our forgiveness from "the Law," while all the time denying we do that.

 Books by John Lynch 

...including The Cure, The Cure & Parents, Bo’s Café, The Ascent of a Leader, Behind the Mask, On My Worst Day, and Lay It Down.  He also has a Facebook page and YouTube videos.

John has the gift for communication that he can present the truth of grace in such an interesting, even entertaining, way that people can be changed by the love of God even while they are unaware it's happening.

Books, videos, lessons, lectures and other material by Dr. Michael S. Heiser including books available on Amazon.

Dr. Heiser considers the spiritual dimensions behind some difficult-to-understand scriptures that are often glossed over because we don't know how to interpret them or what to do with the content.

The authors of these publications -- books, blogs, A/V presentations, etc. -- explain spiritual concepts more clearly using a less confrontational-sounding approach. 


Some blogs are also recommended:

Some of these URL's refer to an individual post, but one can go back to the home page or index from there.

https://sixdayscience.com/2017/01/11/creatio-ex-logos/

https://musingsonscience.wordpress.com/

http://www.reasonablefaith.org/creation-out-of-nothing

http://biologos.org and https://discourse.biologos.org