Weekly Recommendation: "Jesus: The Greatest Life of All"

As we continue to walk through the final week of Christ, I would like to point everyone to another excellent book on the life and ministry of Christ. This one is more simple and straightforward than the previous. Charles Swindoll has written an excellent book looking at our Lord full of great illustrations, insight, and application.

The book, "Jesus: The Greatest Life of All" is another addition to his successful and wonderfully written "Greatest Lives" series. In this series, Swindoll covers the lives of Joseph, Elijah (my personal favorite), Moses, Job, and others. Each volume is full of needed explanation that isn't too deep or too difficult with plenty of application. They all serve as a great introduction to each major character of the Bible.

The books downfall, at least for me, is that Swindoll does not go into much detail into the life and ministry of Christ. The book is more of a survey than a detailed look into Christ. Therefore, those with much experience and some expertise into the life and ministry of Christ who want to know more about the Gospels, their harmony, their composition, their theology, etc. would not enjoy this book as much.

However, those who do not have much experience or knowledge about the Gospels or Jesus specifically will love and enjoy Swindoll's book as it serves not just as a book of theology or biography, but also as a book about how we can live as greater Christians straight from the mouth of our Savior.

Weekly Recommendation: Jesus the Messiah

We are beginning a new series. The title of the series is "The Last Week of Jesus: From Triumphant Entry to Triumphant Grave." For the next 15 weeks, we will be exploring the final week of Jesus' earthly ministry beginning with the Triumphant Entry and ending with the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

In preparation for this series, I have been reading a number of books on the life, ministry, and theology of Christ. Perhaps my favorite is by Dr. Robert Stein who is an expert on the Gospels and the Book of Acts. He has written a survey of the ministry and life of Christ in his book, "Jesus the Messiah: A Survey of the Life of Christ."

I have written a full review of the book. I would recommend it to anyone who has consider experience in the life and ministry of Christ. It would not be the easiest read for those who are just beginning in their study of Christ because of his in-depth look, and constant return, to difficult, though understandable, issues of source, form, and textual criticism.

One must realize that discussing these issues are imperative to understanding the Gospels and Jesus. But they can be at times difficult, but interesting nonetheless. So I recommend this book as a good introduction, by no means an exhaustive biography, to Jesus.