I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. 
Philippians 3:10

 

 

Missionary statesman and theologian E. Stanley Jones told of browsing in a bookstore and seeing a set of books on a table with a sign reading: SECOND HAND THEOLOGY FOR SALE. Jones said that upon seeing that sign he vowed never to have a second hand theology. He longed to know God first hand.

I often think of Jones’ story, how it tells something of my own long journey from my head to my heart, a journey of not just knowing about Christ, but of knowing Christ. I long to know more of Jesus in the way I learned to sing as a boy: “And he walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.” No more second hand theology for me!

That is why I am drawn to today’s scripture in which the great apostle Paul says that he longs to know yet more of Christ and His resurrection power. I am struck that this is a man who has walked with Christ for many years, and yet says that he wants know Him. This is the same Paul who had been caught up into the third heaven and Paradise and seen things he is forbidden to tell (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). This is the Paul who wrote the largest portion of the New Testament, but still longed to know Christ more and more. 

It is from my own journey of not wanting a second hand theology that I have written THIS I KNOW…The Bible Tells Me So. I have wanted to write about some things I have come to know for sure, first hand, of God, our selves, and life. The book is not intended to be a summary of Bible doctrine, a primer on Christian theology, but hard-won lessons I have gleaned that have helped me to keep on believing, to keep on following Jesus. 

Each of the 40 devotionals in THIS I KNOW… is like a cairn, or heap of stones, marking a journey through the wilderness. Each devotional is a reflection on a scripture passage about which we can say THIS I KNOW…, for examples:

• God Brings Good From Bad
• I Am Loved More Than I Know
• Suffering Makes Something Of Me
• My Best Gift Is My Story
• God Works The Compost Pit of Redemption

As always I am grateful for the generosity of many people who enable us to provide this devotional book and other publications free to all. I hope that you will order a copy for yourself and others today. It would be a great resource for personal devotions, study groups, Sunday School classes, or one-on-one sharing. I pray that the book will help many in the wondrous journey of coming to know Christ more and more! To order, click here.

A fellow traveler,
Tim