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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Lion of Judah, September 23, 2009
This review is from: The Jesus You Can't Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Christ (Hardcover)
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If you read all of the Bible, chapter by chapter, it becomes very clear that Jesus is not the ever gentle, tolerant "He loves you just the way you are" Jesus so often taught by pastors who pick and chose through Scripture to fit their sermons, and as so often is depicted in art. He is a dispenser of tough love when needed, and a scathing critic of hypocrisy and religion used for self-glorification, as most Pharisees did in His time, and as we can find within our own churches today. Yes, He is ALL love, tender and merciful to the broken, repentant sinner, and loves us in spite of our failings, but will tell us shape up in no uncertain terms, if we are willing to listen.
Author John MacArthur has written a timely book with "The Jesus You Can't Ignore," with so many denominations seeming to be scattered in their direction, and many of them with a weak message to their flock. We need the bold Jesus, to guide us and teach us. As MacArthur writes, "Nothing is more thoroughly evil than false religion, and the more false teachers try to cloak themselves in the robes of biblical truth, the more truly Satanic they are."
Chapter 6, "Hard Preaching," surmises how Jesus would be received today, were He preaching in a stadium of "typical twenty-first century evangelicals," and is right on target, and every chapter contains nuggets of truth well worth highlighting and remembering. On page 191, MacArthur writes, "The tenor of His words reminds us that spiritual warfare is just that: a battle. It is a fierce conflict against spiritual lies, damnable erroneous doctrine, and destructive false religion."
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31 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent easy read! Full of scripture!, August 14, 2009
This review is from: The Jesus You Can't Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Christ (Hardcover)
This is my second MacArthur book. I found his Truth War book a much harder read. This book has a great feel is very easy to follow along. It is full of scripture as only a master expositor like MacArthur could achieve. I read this book in 3 sittings and wanted more!
The Jesus You Can't Ignore flies in the face of the Emerging/Emergent Church. It reveals how Jesus was not mild in any situation. MacArthur parallels the passionate confrontations Jesus conquered with modern day situational protocol. The amount of scripture in the book, both referenced and printed, keeps your mind focused on the true Word of God and not some mundane pastoral belief or spin. This is what MacArthur does best and why I am intrigued and inspired with his writings and sermons.
Get this book! It is too informative to pass up.
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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jesus De-Wussified, August 24, 2009
This review is from: The Jesus You Can't Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Christ (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This is one of the most enlightening and refreshing books on Jesus that I've read in a very long time (other than the Bible, of course). There seems to be an almost overbearing trend within the Christian community that has been steadfastly working to create a new Jesus - one who is always politically correct, is the epitome of pacifism, avoids conflict at all costs, and is just plain "nice." In other words, the milquetoastifcation of Jesus by many evangelicals who appear to be working tirelessly to avoid confronting the subject of evil (because, that simply wouldn't be "nice"). At the same time, these evangelicals have been promoting a Christianity whereby now-taboo topics such as Satan, Hell, sin, conflict, and evil have been stricken from the pulpit out of fear that these might offend potential "customers" (i.e., "new believers") and ruffle the feathers of the latest politically correct special interest groups. Hmmm . . . for some reason, the Purpose-Drivel © Life marketed by Rick Warren of Saddleback Church seems to come to mind . . .
I digress though; the author of this book grabs the current trend to whitewash Jesus' ministry by the horns and takes readers through a wonderful journey of what the Bible really tells us. As shocking as this may be to many Christians, MacArthur cogently elucidates the fact that Jesus was not a pacifist wuss who bent over backwards to avoid confronting evil, rather the author provides indisputable examples from the Bible that demonstrate Jesus went out of his way to stir the pot - and did so in order to let those who were willing to hear His truth. Jesus did not hold "love-ins" or speak gently to those who spoke or promoted evil, rather he initiated direct confrontations with them in order to expose hypocrisy, false prophets, and corruption. Jesus did what was right, not what was politically correct, in order to win souls for the Lord.
MacArthur boldly asserts what is already obvious to those that have really read the Bible (without rose colored glasses) - that Jesus created tensions, conflict, and discord because it was the right thing to do, not because it made anyone "happy." In other words, Jesus was an activist for righteousness.
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