If you want to know about something, go back to it's beginning.
"After this, Jesus began ... " (Matt. 4:17).This book focuses on the first eight verses of Jesus' public life (Matt. 4:17-24).
"Change your thinking / Repent" are the first words Jesus preached. These words of Jesus are also found at the beginning, in Matt. 4:17. Changed thinking leads to different conclusions and actions.Focusing on these eight verses lead me to discover that Christianity is different than what I thought it was. Among the discoveries ....
What if... Christianity is primarily about advancing Christianity, instead of making our circumstances better? What if... Jesus does love the world and has a simple plan to reach the world in a generation, if only we would follow His plan? What if... being like Jesus means doing what He did:
+ Advancing God's kingdom at great personal cost,
+ Making multiplying disciple-makers
(instead of making attenders) and + Healing and setting people free ---- what Jesus did in Matt. 4:17-24 ----Instead of doing what we like to do?Our world needs to see Jesus in and through us like never before. Surely, this is the time for a "Jesus Reset!"
I, Brad Marple, met Jesus while attending Cornell University in 1979. I attended Gordon-Conwell Seminary and graduated from Asbury Seminary in 1986. Then, I pastored three churches for 30 years in northeastern Pennsylvania. I have ministered in mainline settings, as well as in evangelical and charismatic settings. I retired in 2016 and currently live in Florida, though I escape to upstate New York in the summer. And Jesus continues to take me on this Journey of Discovery. Oh, to be more like Christ!