Böcker av Jon Zens

When R.C. Sproul boiled everything down about church life, he concluded that "in Protestant worship, for the most part, we sit and listen to a sermon." But aren't we justified in asking, why would we devote an ounce of concern to this since there is nothing in the New Testament concerning sermons? The vital question that begs for an answer is, why have we taken scissors and cut 1 Corinthians 14 out of the NT, and substituted for it a "church service" which was unknown to the early believers? Further, why have we not practiced a body meeting lifting up Christ together, and instead constructed a "service" that is fixated on what "the pastor," and often a worship band, do in front of the audience? Don't Be Called Leaders seeks to answer such pivotal questions and bring the focus back to God's eternal purpose in Christ-a house for His Son, the Son in us, the Son among us, and the Son displayed to the world. The religious machine is called with leaders who have muddied the Lord's preoccupation with His anointed. God's words from the Shekinah glory cloud, "This is My beloved Son, hear Him," must be our plumb line. The Lord Jesus is the only Leader to follow.

Many think that the phrase "e;body of Christ"e; is just a picture or a metaphor, but in fact it is a reality. Believers are the body of Christ on earth. The ministry of Jesus has continued through His people since the Day of Pentecost in 30 A.D. Frank Viola pinpoints this truth that is revolutionary, but became buried underneath human traditions. What had taken place [on the Day of Pentecost]? The body of Christ was born on the earth. But what does that mean? It means this: The literal body of Jesus Christ had returned to earth. It expanded; God now had a family. Jesus Christ in heaven had dispensed Himself into His body on earth. He returned to earth in the form of His body, the church, and His species was reintroduced to the planet. In the eyes of God, the Church is nothing more and nothing less than Jesus Christ on earth. (From Eternity to Here) In We Are Christ On Earth, Jon opens up a number of crucial implications flowing out of "e;Christ in us, the hope of glory."e; He presents perspectives that liberate the people of God to express and serve Jesus in endless ways. Perhaps we will better understand why Jesus said to Saul, "e;Why do you persecute Me?"e; when he was arresting and hurting believers.