A book that everyone in your church should read

I am kind of geeked about this. I have been using the book, The Drama of Scripture, as I prepare to teach our membership class here at the church. I want to make sure our people have a context for the great storyline of the Bible before they try and understand how the modern day church fits into the whole. This is why Biblical Theology is so huge for our people. Context, context, context.

I know that up until a few years ago I didn't really have my pieces in place in terms of what God was up to in the world from beginning to end. What a difference this makes. I felt as though this was my second big awakening when it comes to my faith. First was when I was 20 and learned about God's sovereignty in salvation (they don't teach you this stuff in ELCA churches) and second was gaining an understanding of what the Bible is all about cover to cover as a cohesive whole through studying Biblical Theology (The Grand Narrative, Redemptive History, etc...If you don't know what Biblical Theology is, click here).

Anyway... This book, The Drama of Scripture is very strong. Here is the description from the authors:

In The Drama of Scripture, Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen provide an engaging overview of the story line and theology of the Bible. As the authors suggest in their introduction, it is only as we read and appropriate the Bible "as our story" that we fully understand it and allow it to have authority over us. As we enter into the story of the Bible, we find God revealed there and are called to participate in his continuing activity. The biblical story, then, is foundational to Christian thinking and living.

Working from this perspective, the authors survey the story in Scripture. Their work is part introduction, part commentary, part theology, and thoroughly engaging. They suggest two over-arching themes running throughout the story--"covenant" in the Old Testament and "the kingdom of God" in the New Testament. These two themes effectively summarize the activity of God throughout human history. They are ways of looking at the story in order to gain an understanding of God's purposes and to let them claim us.

This book is great because it is easy to read, but not fluffy. They breakdown some tough concepts in ways that are easy to understand and as you finish you get a feeling that now as you work your way through the Bible you can have a context for understanding how the individual parts fit into the whole. I can't stress how important this is for our people. If I was a pastor for many years and didn't have this context, what does that say about our people?

Here is the really cool thing for church leaders. At their website, www.BiblicalTheology.ca they have given tons of resources for you to teach this book in your church in the form of adult education or home groups. They give you a very thorough study guide with questions for discussion and all their PowerPoint files that they use when teaching this book in a classroom setting. They also have tons of articles that relate to Biblical Theology that would accentuate the reading of the book. I already know that this is what we'll be doing in our home group after we finish, The Blazing Center. I highly recommend that you read this book and check out the website. Our people need this stuff!