Good to Great in God's Eyes - Read Great Books, Part 1

The wisdom for big decision looking for a way to tackle tough issues in your family relationships. Make your career all got good news for you there's a way you can develop insight from life's most important issues at the same time deep in your faith like never before.

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Addition of living on the head with Living on the Edge features the Bible almost daily discipleship program continues a series good to great in God's eyes by showing why we write books reading great books has the potential to change your life from the inside out now after the teaching trip will be with us in studio to talk more about how to apply your learning so it actually begins to make a difference. So be sure to stay with us for that right now. It's torture for his talk from Romans chapter 12 read great books.

The year is 1978, a young guy who has ended up on an Australian basketball team. I'm in graduate school. It took a little time off winter break had about a three week stand where I was going to join an Australian team go throughout the Orient play basketball and share Christ. I find myself in a high-rise about 22 floors up or so, and a missionaries room and in this room.

He has a small library but they're all paperback books and I do ask a few questions and we were the team and sharing some time and something happen in that room. In 1978 the change the course of my life. He put something in my hand that's something that he put in my hand. God put in my heart and the very thing that he put in my hand, and God put in my heart I put my briefcase about 30 years and what that is was a book one thin, very inexpensive little book by man who's been dead for a while.

The book is the knowledge of the holy. This is my updated copy and I can say this because it's with warm affection. My wife gave me the updated copy.

The original copy I got from Hong Kong was a little bit smaller and was in my briefcase for about 27 years and I don't know what briefcases do, but it it started to peel apart and the pictures will fall apart and so Teresa gave me want to couple years ago. AW toes knowledge of the holy is about God himself. It's a book on the attributes of God. He writes in the beginning what comes into our minds we think about God is the most important thing about us.

Think of that. The history of mankind will probably show that no peoples ever risen above its religion and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Now listen carefully to his application. For this reason, the gravest, the most important question before the church is always God himself and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he is at a given time, or what he may say or do but what in his heart and the depth of his heart.

He conceives God to be like for there is a secret law of the soul that we move toward our mental image of God. I did not grow up as a Christian, I did not open the Bible tell I was 18 and what I had in my mind is what all of you have in your mind you have this collage jigsaw puzzle of what you've heard what you seen a snippet church may be read below the Bible. I did read the Bible. Growing up, you have all these different pieces that have built a collage in your mind and when you bow your head or get on your knees and you say, dear God or Lord Jesus, you have a picture or a mental concept of who he is and if it is right and if it is accurate, dynamic things will happen in your life and if it is wrong it will impact and influence every decision, every relationship your identity in every what your life will be determined by how clear you are about who God is and you say little overstatement that this is that now you know why this is. This book along with this book has in the last 30 years as I've gotten up every morning and said, Lord, you know what, I'm just a regular guy, you know, there's a big world you created and how and I believe that you love me but I've got lots of images about what I thought you were like that are pretty erroneous and so I like to do is I know it's can be a long journey but I will let you know that every day I'm get a chip away and I'm asking you we you create will you help me as I look into your word and will you help me as I take what you shown a man of God.

What you're really like would you begin to form that in my mind and my heart so that I really pray to who you really are so that when I read a promise. I believe this is the God who gave the promise, so that when you give me a challenge and you say do this and everything in my flesh I don't want to do that that I can remember that you are a good God, that you wouldn't withhold any good or perfect gift. Can I remember that you've died for me that you love me that on the object of your affection which you help me get a right view of you that would lead to a right view of me. It would lead to a life that little by little by little by little. Over time, as the apostle Paul will pray Christ be formed in me perfect but significantly different transformed changing as a light in the world assault. That's my prayer and what I want you to know is, is that when we think about going from good to great. I think there is a practice something very tangible. You can do every great Christian that I have ever met every great Christian that I have ever read about are people who read great books that's practice number one if you want to be a great Christian and you say well is this pie-in-the-sky know if you want to be a great Christian in God's eyes. Practice number one is read great books the Scripture Romans one key text for every one of these principles and can give you one key text Romans 12 to do not be conformed literally. It's stop being conformed the grammar is in such a way that the Roman church was being conformed by this world. It was being molded even though they knew Christ even though they had a brand-new life there thinking, their speech, their lifestyle, what they did with their money, their marriages, it was being corroded, informed and molded by the world system that they lived in and so the apostle Paul. After verse one saying is offer your bodies a living sacrifice many missing out stop being conformed to this world but be literally meta-more for size method change more for sized with change. Let your mind be transformed how by the renewing of your mind with what result that your life literally, your lifestyle could prove or demonstrate what the will of God is that which is good, acceptable, and perfect outward approver test was used for. They would put acid on a metal and find out you know the quality of the metal. It's the idea of living the kind of life so that as people would you to scratch beneath the surface of singing the song reading the Bible going to church, that your life would prove it would test out that God's will is good, acceptable, it's well pleasing and how you get there you gotta renew your mind and I believe the number one way to renew our mind is to read great books and so if you open your notes. What I want to do in our time together is I want to give you maybe a few categories and a few suggestions. I'll share some great books that have changed my life and out these that these were ones that were great for me.

I think these are great books, but other books in these categories will be just as helpful or more helpful for you, but first I'd like to suggest you need to read great books that broaden your world right in the word broaden. You need to seek your world in my world wheat we think just like this and you read a book to find out what happened in China and you read a book and you find out what happened 3000 years ago. Seek great books broaden your world and as a believer I think biographies are so important.

I not only did not open the Bible. Growing up, but I mean I didn't have any Christian heroes in early my Christian life than the first, probably five years, three books came across my hands. The first one was a book called Dawes and you might think what what's Dawes. It's the story of Dawson Trotman. He was a founder of the navigators and it's a great book on its I'm not saying it's great literature, I'm just saying something happen when I read that book because what I realized was, wow, this guy's a regular guy. Dawes was a guy that went to high school never went to college. Dawes was a guy that was an unbeliever.

He and I could sort identify with him.

He found it real cute little girl and he was interested in her and she went to some kind of church meeting and so to get to know the girl went to the church meeting which illegally dilute youth group and they challenge the youth group. If you memorize his 10 verses come back and reside in WordPerfect next week. Here's the price a sort of the competitive ego guy and he's gonna show this girl how smart he is. So he memorizes all 10 verses and he goes back to the youth group and like many youth groups. Here he's an unbeliever.

He's the only one who did it, but all 10 verses were in his mind, and whoever was the head of that youth group was pretty sharp as a verses were like for all of sin and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 323 in the next verse was for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 623 and but God demonstrates his own love toward us that in that we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 58 and then call upon the Lord. Those who call upon the Lord will be saved in Ephesians 289 10 basic versus on the gospel and Dawes tells a story of just going through life and you know you sort of little bit of a rebel had a motorcycle black leather jacket and in a sort of ahead of the rebellious streak in him and he says he was walking by the hardware store and these verses were popping into his mind, and the gospel clicked and he realized it was about being religious. It wasn't about activities was about going to church.

It was about a personal relationship with Christ that comes when you understand Christ died for you personally and that you need to personally turn away and repent of your sin and that the spirit of God would come at your life and you could be a new creature and have a brand-new life.

All your sin can be forgiven for ever and ever and ever. In the spirit of God would take up residence in the God of the universe would be your friend and he would lead you and he would guide you and you would care for you and because he did have a lot of religious upbringing. He didn't know any better, so we just believed it and begin to grow very rapidly, and as I read through the book it on a brand-new Christian maybe year two. By this time in now. Just I've never read them first year read to the New Testament read through it again and read through it again and I didn't understand a lot of it but the thirst and the change in then Dawson took his motorcycle and he drove up into the California heels and he would pray for everything that he could see and then that he built little fire up there and he kept going up there every morning 5 AM. Many begin to get out a map of California pray for every county.

Many kind of expanded me prayed for every major city United States. Many prayed, eventually, for every single country in the world and he said God I'm asking you to please give me a spiritual descendent a spiritual descendent someone is come to Christ is come to Christ to come to Christ through my lineage and every single country in the world and it was so more than a few decades ago, and everywhere I go in the world you know who I meet navigators and the two thinking about navigators. Dawson had two guns that he shot a Dick Tillis became a good friend and he was a disciple in the early days with Dawson I said in a Dick what what was it like can. Dick said Dawes had two guns one Scripture memory.

The other was personal discipleship, one-on-one, and when you met Dawson Trotman. He didn't even say hi, he would walk up and say hi.

What you verse four and aft for enactment yet to say that title first cite the verse and give the Scripture and then Hoosier man Hoosier woman and Dick said you know what he was just one focus guy from that book I thought while I'm like real ordinary and there been Bible school. I do grow up as a Christian.

I've only been to the New Testament a couple times but kinda seems like Dawson is a lot like some of these other blue-collar workers here you know and seems like God uses regular people when someone put uncle Kim story of the founder of Wycliffe and here's a guy that you know you read in a pretty honest in the biographies he doesn't bring a lot by outward standards to the table is not necessarily an overly attractive person physically is not necessary. Someone with a lot of great social skills, and ends up a missionary and as you open the book you find.

He's on a street corner in Mexico and he says to the sky trying to share his faith.

Do you know Jesus guy looks at him. Jesus see you live down here take two box lives over there and and Karen realized all man no no no, Jesus, Jesus, please note you and and the guy just looked at Emily, but what you talk about have a clue. One man one man is the story of a man who had a lot of adversity. It's a story of a man that didn't have a lot of outward stuff that a lot of people think through important is the story of a man who had a dream and a focus to translate the Bible and every single language for every people group in the world and the SIL Institute now Christian or non-Christian is is probably the best linguistic school in the world and it's been translated in tens of thousands of languages because of another ordinary guy. The third book for me was one you're probably familiar Hudson Taylor spiritual secrets and but remember it never Hudson Taylor, father of missionary movement.

I may not guy say that now, I'm when I was a young Christian missionary movement but another was missionary movement but is another radical is another rebel is another outcast. These guys as I think I want to reach people in India, and everyone said if God wants to reach people in India got a reach of these sovereign he'll do it all himself and Hudson said will you know what I got a lot of verses that say he wants us to be a part of this thing, and he couldn't anybody supporting hand full of businessmen said Hudson unit will get behind you and he went did radical things like dress like the Chinese is one of the very first people to contextualize the gospel and Hudson Taylor one ordinary man became part of transforming the world, why read great books.

It broadens your world.

I got one message in those first 3 to 5 years of the early Christian. Here's the message I got. God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things you get that by reading print box is not made up stories your fairytales and ask yourself how much of the media is going into your heart and into your mind over and over and over whether to in your car talk radio whether to this program or that program are the DVDs of the rented movies and all the junk it's constantly bombarding you and you're trying to be as a spiritual fish swimming upstream to be holy and godly and then ask yourself how much of great books are going to my see would change her lifestyle and not only biographies but if you broaden your world.

You put a list just a few things and I like to read about history.

I like to read about geography. I came back from China and I met a guy and got talk on the plane and it wasn't a Christian but but I got a book about how the Chinese culture works in it broaden my world and I like to read books about philosophy and then have to all be heavier. This or that are world religions. You just get a little thin one so you can save yourself Nazi Muslims. Hinduism's the Sikhs. This what's going on out there so much of our world too much for thinking is so narrow read great books 1st books that broaden the broaden your world. Second, read great books that sharpen your mind is another book on attributes of God. The became knowledge of the holy and then I went to JI Packer, the classic book knowing God, but those two books just shaped my view of who God was and I met a fellow is on another basketball team, you can talk. I like basketball if you like basketball stories can be a great morning. If you don't I have other stories for later, but I was on a basketball team with a premed student from Minnesota and we were traveling throughout South America and and I came to Christ, but I didn't have any background and so I was going to grad school and grad school to secular places. Not like a a warm loving non-hostile environment for believers and his people were challenging my thinking.

I knew what God had done in me, but I did not have good intellectual answers for the very strong intellectual questions and so never forget this premed student. He introduced me to Francis Schaeffer and anybody here familiar with Francis Schaeffer and his work. Yeah and so recent read his trilogy.

First of his work. He has a three books I put in there. You know you have the he is there and he's not silent escape from reason and the God was there and they are fairly philosophical and he has his own kind of lingo and he makes up a few words at the very first book I read he is there and is not silent, you know epistemological issues in the metaphysical issues behind the faith. I'm going I literally read the book with the dictionary epistemology.

I look it up. How to know that you know that you really know that you know in the metaphysics.

Okay this is that I literally and I wrote down the definition every time I read the word and I educate myself. What I found out there was a very smart theological intellectual thinker that had dealt with the basic issues issues of reality and issues of why my here and is there a God and what's the intellectual basis for our reasoning in our thinking and I took those three books and I made that the foundation for writing my thesis at Western University wanted to grad work there. I found a Christian professor that let me take that and some empirical research in sociology and psychology and smash those things together and get myself in a situation where I had to defend my thesis with four doctors and I didn't this table with his low glass of water and basically my thesis was on his truth, relative or absolute, and if it's absolute is intellectually feasible that the absolute truth could be Jesus Christ what the Bible has to say and I got one Christian guy who let me write it is I'd get permission and three people who thought I was an absolute idiot and for three hours. We had fun. I just mean I wrote has different personality. I love that time it was so fun going back and forth with them and remember one doctor was a guy that you know was really pushing me hard and know what Schaeffer would teach you as you bring people back to their presuppositions and so he would make comments about the is not relative truth that I would just keep pushing them back to what he said versus how he lived what he said versus how he lived what he said versus how we live. We got to the end and a member the other Dr. she was a female turn to him and he would you be quiet you're digging a bigger and bigger and bigger hole. Let's just give it up. We not may not believe in is God.

But there's gotta be absolute truth, I got a this application today, but if you're just joining us, you're listening to living on the truth Chip Ingram. In today's talk, read great books is from trip series.

Good to great in God's eyes.

He created the series to help Christians mature in ways that God thinks are important so the idea of becoming great, rather than a prideful thing becomes a personal passion to delight the heart of God. To learn more. Let me encourage you to check out. Good to great on our website@livingontheedge.org or just give us a call at 1-888-333-6003 will trip you know you often sure about the amazing influence that Living on the Edge has internationally but could you tell us what you're planning in 2024, the US a lot of us are concerned about what's happening right here. Well, I am too and I have to tell you that our focus here in United States is paramount. We are broadening our broadcast ministry like never before.

Whether it's on YouTube weathered social media. I have a brand-new series coming out around identity. We have a new online course. It's coming out next year. That's really going to talk to families to help families develop relationships with their adult children. We are really committed to creating new broadcasting new teaching next year so we believe that at the heart of everything God called us to do is right here in the good old United States and I don't know about you but the girl United States may need Christians lived like Christians right now like never before. And so we are pressing full steam ahead on that and it's going to require prayers like never before. People to respond to this match, and so we are committed and were just asking you.

Would you join us. I am not discouraged.

I'm deeply concerned but I'm not discouraged. I think this happens in cultures all the time and you know God is looking just like you promised the eyes of the Lord, going to and fro throughout the whole earth, that he might strongly support those whose hearts are fully his.

Here's the question we you join us if you're already praying and supporting the ministry of Living on the Edge.

Thank you. We couldn't do what we do without you. And if you're ready to step up and join us or increase your monthly commitment today would be a great way to do it. Thanks to a small group of friends of the ministry. Every gift we received between now and December 31 will be doubled if you been looking for a way to make a difference. This is your opportunity to send a donation. Give us a call at 1-888-333-6003. That's 1-888-333-6003, or if you prefer, donate online at http://livingontheedge.org will trip. I love that story you told that they have your teaching today.

Most of us don't feel equipped to talk with our family or friends, let alone a panel of professionals how do we begin to prepare ourselves will first and foremost let me go back to that moment when I was before those professors and just tell people that I read those books by Francis Schaeffer because another person recommended them and when I read those books I didn't know what half of a minute okay can I just tell you some books that you read are hard. The most profound book I've ever read was AW toasters book the knowledge of the holy. My head hurt when I read three or four pages of that. I didn't understand.

Probably half of it.

But you know I kept reading it and thinking and reading and thinking, and God did something, you know, we grow the most important book by far is the Bible and enemy just give you a game plan. Find a place and have a plan. In other words, it's you know it's this chair right after you get up or it's this little corner right every lunch time or before you go to bed there's morning people, night people, but I mean you've gotta say I'm going to read the Bible you know whether to read to the Bible in a year, read to the New Testament a go to the you version and there's all kind of plans if you don't read the Bible you will not have the energy or the strength or the power to become the person that God wants you to be with that you want to be in our next broadcasting to talk about very specific books and where you can begin you don't want to miss it. But let me encourage you read great books just before we close. I want to thank those of you who faithfully pray for our team and support the ongoing ministry of Living on the Edge. Amazing things are happening in your part of it. If you want to join us and get in on supporting the ministry there's never been a better time between now and December 31. Every gift you send will be matched because a small group of ministry partners have committed to doubling everything we received the Sunday gift.

Just go to LivingontheEdge.org or give us a call at 1-888-333-6003. We'd love to have you all tomorrow. I'm Living on the Edge triple continuous series rate in God's eyes. Tell them this is really saying thanks for joining us this Edition of Living on the Edge