Helpful Books on the Cross

Helpful Books on the Cross: Compiled by Mark Driscoll in
Death by Love.

This is a beautiful book written by Mark to members of his church regarding the crap that they are dealing with and how it relates to the Cross of Christ. It is painful to read because you relize that people are dealing with some heavy stuff, but you rejoice because you come to understand different ways that Jesus has dealt with their crap by His supreme Sacrifice on the Cross.

Compiled by Mark Driscoll

Beilby, James, and Paul R. Eddy, eds. The Nature of the Atonement: Four Views.
Boice, James Montgomery, and Philip G. Ryken. The Heart of the Cross.
Demarest, Bruce. The Cross and Salvation: The Doctrine of Salvation.
Denney, James. The Death of Christ: Its Place and Interpretation in the New Testament.
Hengel, Martin. Crucifixion in the Ancient World and the Folly of the Message of the Cross.
Hill, Charles E., and Frank A. James, eds. The Glory of the Atonement: Biblical, Theological, and Practical Perspectives.
McDonald, H. D. The New Testament Concept of Atonement: The Gospel of the Calvary Event.
McGrath, Alister E. The Enigma of the Cross.
Morris, Leon. The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross.
——. The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance.
——. The Cross in the New Testament.
Nicole, Roger. Standing Forth: Collected Writings of Roger Nicole.
Piper, John. Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die.
Smail, Tom. Windows on the Cross.
Smeaton, George. The Apostles’ Doctrine of the Atonement.
——. Christ’s Doctrine of the Atonement.
Sproul, R. C. The Truth of the Cross.
Stott, John R. W. The Cross of Christ.
Tidball, Derek. The Message of the Cross: Wisdom Unsearchable, Love Indestructible.
Wallace, Ronald. The Atoning Death of Christ.
Wells, Paul. Cross Words: The Biblical Doctrine of Atonement.

To Carry the Cross

What does it mean to "Carry my cross?"

Jesus commanded his disciples that if they truly wanted to be Jesus' disciples, that they had to take up their cross and follow after him. He didn't say that they ought to...or that they should...he said they must.

What does that mean for us? How do we go about doing that? What does my cross look like? Yours? I don't know. I get so wrapped up in my own personal existence that I miss out on what my cross is.

I guess the cross that Jesus spoke of is our life. It means that daily we must commit to dying to ourselves, to give up control of our life, to let the Master lead us, guide us where He may. That is taking up our cross.

It means that we continue to live this life that we have been given to live, despite the circumstances around us. Despite the garbage that seeps in around us, we continue to struggle with it, we continue to praise the Father for it, and we show others that it is worth it.

But the cross that Jesus spoke of meant...death! Exactly the point, when Jesus spoke of the cross, that is what he meant. He meant that his disciples had to die. They had to give up their own lives, for the sake of the gosple. And that is what Jesus commands us to do even now...

We must let loose, give in, and let Him take control of our miserable lives, in hopes of a better one. We must die to this world, and let the Maker of the Universe our own special possession. That is our call...that must be our choice.

Everyone wants to go to Heaven...but we must be willing to die, on earth, everyday.

I truly believe that the goal of Christianity is not to go to Heaven...the goal is have an intimate relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ. Heaven is just a reward! But to truly have that relationship, we must carry our cross...and follow...wherever that may be...after Jesus.

Dreaming...
adam