Simply Christian - Inspirational Christian Gifts & Home Decor for Faithful Living | Perfect for Church, Bible Study & Daily Devotion

I VERY often struggle with this thing:I know that Christianity does not make sense to many people in this day and culture and I would love to help with that. AT THE SAME TIME, it makes perfect, intuitive sense to me. I know in my bones that Jesus is real, that He loves me and that I am giddy at the prospect of following Him. What this means is that I don't know how to explain that to someone for whom Christianity is a mystery--or worse, an empty ritualized religion. That's why I couldn't wait to read "Simply Christian".NT Wright tells the reader in his introduction what he was hoping to accomplish in this book:My aim has been to describe what Christianity is all about, both to commend it to those outside the faith and to explain it to those inside.I loved this book. The theology in it was so delectable. It presents truth in a way that makes me want to read sections of it over and over again. Wright paints a picture for the reader of the "echoes" of God that are all around us, especially these four:* Justice* Spirituality* Relationships* BeautyWright makes a case that EVERY human being longs for these four things (I agree-do you?) and that that very fact proves the existence of the one true God portrayed in the Bible, made flesh in Jesus Christ. He does a masterful job of describing the salvation history of the Bible in a chapter or two. I found His take on prayer and worship to be beautiful as well. Wright covers the "basics" of the Christian faith in a way that beckons the reader to engage, rather than lecturing the reader who isn't. I took many notes that will be useful in teaching Bible studies in the future.Of course, in me, Wright had a reader who was already on board. My posture was one of cheerleader--with every lovely truth I was saying "AMEN, brother PREACH IT" and turning the words over on my tongue and in my heart like they were a gourmet meal. I would love to have a skeptic read this--someone who really isn't so sure about Christianity and get their take on it. If you are reading this and you fall into this category, I would purchase the book for you so I could hear what you think. Leave me a comment below...Wright's closing words are written in my journal and pondered regularly. Maybe you will like them, too:Christian holiness is not (as people often imagine) a matter of denying something good. It is about growing up and grasping something even better. Made for spirituality, we wallow in introspection. Made for joy, we settle for pleasure. Made for justice, we clamor for vengeance. Made for relationship, we insist on our own way. Made for beauty, we are satisfied with sentiment. But new creation has already begun. The sun has begun to rise. Christians are called to leave behind, the the tomb of Jesus Christ, all that belongs to the brokenness and incompleteness of the present world. It is time, in the power of the Spirit, to take up our proper role, our fully human role, as agents, heralds and stewards of the new day that is dawning. That, quite simply is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new world, which he has thrown open before us.