brian jennings

Baptism, unfortunately, is often misunderstood, or, worse yet, mis-taught. I’d encourage you to study the below Scriptures and ask, “What does the Bible teach about baptism?” Another great exercise is to read Acts and ask, “What is the normal way for people to accept Christ?” 

• Matthew 3:1-17

           From Jesus’ point of view…

1.   He didn’t need to be baptized for repentance — He had no sin for which to repent.  Yet He came to John at the Jordan for this purpose.

2.   He thought it was important enough to come, walking no less than 60 miles.

3.   It signaled the beginning of His public ministry.  It said publicly that He was serious about following God’s plan for His life.  This was a statement to both God and man.

            From God’s point of view…

According to Matthew 3:17, God was “well pleased.”

• Matthew 28:19-20  -  Jesus thought it was important enough that He made it a command, not a suggestion.

• Mark 16:16  -  Belief and baptism are given the same consideration here.  One is not elevated over the other.

 • John 3:22 (4:1,2)  -  Jesus was part of a “baptizing movement.”

 • Acts 2:32-47

1.  Three thousand were baptized as the Church was established.

2.   Peter’s response to the crowd in verses 37 &  38, literally translated says, “Be baptized IN ORDER FOR your sins to be forgiven…” This was the first sermon preached after Jesus’ assencion. It was the birth of the church, and established the norm for being saved.

• Acts 8:35-38  -  Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch both went down into the water.

• Acts 16:14, 15  -  Even though Lydia already believed and worshipped, she decided to be baptized.

• Acts 16:30-34  -  The Philippian Jailer and his entire household were baptized asap.

• Also see Acts 18:8; 19:15

• Romans 6:1-11  -  Paul describes the symbolic significance of baptism, and the life of obedience it calls us to.

• Ephesians 4:4, 5; Colossians 2:12

• 1 Peter 3:18-22

1.   Some significant words: “…in the same way, baptism also saves us…”

2.   It’s not the act or the water that saves us, it is God’s removing of sin from us, which is pictured as dirt being removed.

Notes

• The word baptism means to dunk or cover over with water. It is used in the passive tense, which means that the person getting baptized is not doing the work.

• Belief (John 3:16), Repentence (Acts 2:38), and Confession (Romans 10:9) are also clearly connected with accepting Christ. This study is not meant to exclude any of these. All of these, along with baptism, are clearly part of the salvation process, and all of this is done through grace (Ephesians 2). None of us are worthy to have our sins forgiven, but God offers a gift to us (Romans 6:23). 

I had never heard of Christopher Wright, until I saw this book at Barnes & Noble. It looked very interesting, but I didn’t buy it quickly. Instead, I researched him online and discovered that he’s somewhat of a disciple of John Stott - whom I have a lot of respect for. So I bought it & read it in about 5 days.

The best thing that I can say about this book is that Wright’s study of Scripture drove me to my Bible. I often sat with this book and my Bible open next to each other. I love this. His respect for Scripture was quite obvious. Wright begins by humbly saying that there are many things about life and God that he does not fully understand. And he mentions the numerous Bible characters who felt the same (Moses, David, Ruth, Jeremiah and Job to name a few). But he’s careful to say that there are plenty of things that he does understand (so don’t assume that he’s saying we should give up cause it’s too hard to understand). He says, “Faith seeks understanding, and faith builds understanding, but faith does not finally depend on understanding.” He then launches into several difficult questions that he has wrestled with, and that he offers some Biblical insight into.

The three most helpful sections for me were: 1. How do you explain the violence in the OT and also say that God is loving?  2. Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? (He pushes through to some deep ideas surrounding this fundamental question.)  3. What about the “end times.”

I found Wright’s study to be excellent, his thoughts to be provoking and his writing to be easy-reading. I’m not sure I agree with one or two of his interpretations but they are relatively minor (and I appreciate his view). I’d recommend this book to anyone.

Honestly, it’s kind of embarrassing to write this review , because I started reading this book a really long time ago. I think I averaged about 6 words a day. But I’m actually glad that it took me a long time. I think that it helped it to soak in.

NT Wright’s book tries to enlarge our understanding of the resurrection, and then tries to explain the implications. It’s really a huge topic that challenges traditional thinking. If you think that when Jesus comes back, he will take us away to heaven where we will dwell in a spiritual form forever, you’d better pick up this book. One reason that it took me so long was that I did a lot of Bible reading to see if what he was saying was accurate (which good books usually make me do). It also took a long time because Wright can get pretty academic & Anglican - which makes the reading difficult at times. I wouldn’t suggest this book for anyone who wouldn’t want to really dig deep into the subject. But if anything was ever worth exploring, it’s the resurrection (Jesus’ and ours). I’m pretty sure that my reading of this book, along with reading “The God I Don’t Understand,” will forever change how I view the life to come - and what that means for me today.

I don’t agree with every conclusion Wright arrives at, but I agree with most, and I’m deeply grateful that I read it. P.S. We named our daughter, Hope. When I saw this book, I thought, “We definitely were surprised by Hope.  

In Gary Hamel’s book The Future of Management, he suggests that we have pretty much perfected the management model that Henry Ford and others founded – a top-down management structure. Hamel questions whether that management model is the best model for us now. It served its purpose for a while, but its weakness is that it usually doesn’t unleash passion, ownership and creativity from the workforce. It also assumes that the collective wisdom of a few “really smart people” is greater than the collective wisdom of ten, a hundred or ten thousand “normal people.” Hamel shows that this thinking is flawed by citing research and case studies. He holds up Gore (makers of Gore-Tex), Whole Foods, Google, GM, Toyota, and others as management innovators who have bucked the traditional model - and have done exceedingly well. These companies have flattened the leadership structure. They believe that anyone in their company could have the next big idea, and that you don’t have to have a big title to be heard.

In this model, teams hold each other accountable from within (something that the HP team is experimenting with right now), fringe thought is encouraged, and employees are rewarded for breakthrough performances and contributions to the organization. While Ford said, “The problem is that every set of hands comes with a brain,” Toyota received 500,000 ideas from their employees last year. Ford has floundered for years. Toyota has remained on top.

Hamel tells the stories of innovative companies, and I thought this was the strongest part of the whole book. Those chapters are full of thought-provoking questions that I’ve been asking our team, and practical advice that helps me understand how it all plays out. If you look around, you’ll notice that in spite of this model’s success, most companies have not adapted new management models. This isn’t surprising. Those with positions of authority risk losing their place of prominence with this model, it feels risky, and it costs some resources upfront.

Fortunately, Hamel offers some advice on how to impact your organization (whether you are currently on the top or bottom of the food chain). If you think that those only wanting to survive will ultimately not survive, or that the management model of your organization might be based on false assumptions, or that the people in your organization need to be released to contribute more than they ever thought possible, this book is for you. I highly recommend it.

Bob Muzikowski often jogged past the kids of Cabrini Green - kids who were usually neglected, abused or ignored by the outside world. But one day he had an idea. Or maybe he just heard God’s idea, “What if he transformed a field, that had become an urban wasteland, into a baseball diamond for kids?” That idea led to a string of events that would drastically change the lives of kids in need of care, professionals in need of service, entire communities, and his own family.

“Safe at Home” tells Muzikowski’s lifelong journey. The first half of the book tells of his remarkable childhood (he had more experiences, both good and bad, than most of us have in a lifetime). By looking at the front cover of the book, and knowing a bit about it, I knew things in his life were going to get better, but it seemed impossible as I was reading it. He was far from being a Godly young man. His turn-around is very inspiring, and he gives credit to the right source.

If you have interest in Godly life transformation, finding purpose in life, leading volunteers, baseball, addiction recovery, stewardship issues, or urban, racial & socio-economic issues, I highly recommend this read. It’s really fun to read, it’s very well written, and it will challenge you to the core.

Two additional notes: 1. As an added note, our friends at By the Hand Club for Kids know Bob and he is the real deal. 2. Keanau Reeves and a number of people behind the movie “Hardball” punked Bob, the coaches & the community in the making of that film. They were horrendous. I might think about boycotting his movies, but he’s never had one worth watching, so it’s not an issue. ha ha.

“As We Forgive: Stories of Reconciliation from Rwanda” is one of the most intense, emotional & challenging books that I’ve ever read. Imagine living in a village with a man who murdered your family in a genocide. Then, imagine having your relationship reconciled. How does that happen? How can a country be salvaged through individual reconciliation? In a word - Jesus.

The path has not been easy. It’s difficult, excruciating work. But without it, Rwanda, and every other country, community and family be led to neglect, abuse and violence. This book is fascinating for anyone with interests in global events, relational problems, ethnic tensions, punitive systems, or Bible study.

HP has some copies available for check-out. Also, in the Fall of 2010 we’ll be sharing some of these stories & encouraging you to read the book, as we focus on reconciliation from the book of II Corinthians.