Book Review: Here and Now

“With a present-tense understanding of the kingdom, in place of just a future one, we should view our lives and ministry differently.   Our role as Christians is not a passive one where we sit idly by and watch, but a participatory one of advancing the kingdom by pushing back darkness with light.” Robby Gallaty, Here and Now: Thriving in the Kingdom of Heaven Today p. 218

I have really enjoyed the preaching and writing of Robby Gallaty over the past year or so.  His book MARCS of a Disciple really helped me streamline my thinking on being intentional about discipling students.  Since reading that, I’ve enjoyed several of Robby’s podcasts and have a few more of his books on my “to read” shelf.  In the meantime, I was given a chance to read and review his latest work, Here and Now: Thriving in the Kingdom of Heaven Today.  

The timing of reading this book couldn’t have been more perfect.  I put it in my bag to read while I was on a vision trip exploring a potential ministry partner for our school to work with for future mission trips.  Our group travelled to the Dominican Republic for 3 days.  We stayed at an Embassy Suites (nice hotel) in the heart of a city.  During the day, we travelled over an hour into some neighboring villages.  There was nothing like the Embassy Suites hotel in the neighboring villages.  Instead we met people who have never had clean drinking water, who don’t have food on a regular basis, and are constantly working to have shelter and the basic necessities of life for their family.  This was a lot to take in after enjoying the all you can eat breakfast buffet with the omelette station.  It always is…to go from my American way of life to visiting most other places around the world.  It’s an absolute paradox to go from abundance to extreme poverty and back and forth on a regular basis.

Many describe the Kingdom of Heaven as “already, but not yet”.  It’s a concept that keeps us encouraged where we are, but so hopeful for the future.  What I most appreciated about Gallaty’s book is that he gives very practical examples from Scripture of what it looks like to thrive here on earth…where the Lord has clearly called us to live out the Christian life as we share the gospel and invest in others.  The days are long…but eternity is much longer and so much sweeter!  We have a choice each day here on earth to decide if we are going to live with a kingdom mindset pushing away the darkness and seeking to find Christ at work in everything and everyone that we encounter.

This book really encouraged me because I don’t want to miss IT.  Whatever God has in store for me to accomplish during my days on this earth…I don’t want to miss a second of it.  I want to spend my life for the sake of the gospel and the good of those I come in contact with.  This book proved to be a pep rally for my soul!

I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below…

• If the purpose of Christianity is just to enter heaven, Jesus wouldn’t have left us on Earth after He saved us.  We’d be raptured without a second to spare to enjoy eternity with Him.  Surely the purpose of the kingdom of heaven is greater than just achieving eternal life.  P. 3
• It’s called the Great Co-Mission for a reason: God expects our involvement.  They reason He didn’t eject us into the Elysian Fields of paradise the moment we were born again is because there’s work to be done.  You were saved not just from the world, but for the world.  P. 4
• Heaven is not a future destination hidden in the solar system; it’s the supernatural dimension of God. P. 9
• Now that we are saved from sin, what are we actually saved for? P. 11
• Exodus 24:3-Their salvation was unconditional, but the intimacy of their relationship was contingent on their obedience to the agreement.  Both grace and obedience are needed for a healthy relationship. P. 26
• Notice what Jesus did immediately before sharing the Sermon on the Mount.  He selected the twelve disciples, according to Mark 3 and Luke 6.  They didn’t choose Him; He chose them.  As already seen, redemption precedes responsibility.  Another way to say it is that grace from God precedes work for God. P. 31
• Perpetual examination of our spiritual life is important to examine what crowds out worship of God. P. 44
• There is a time and a place and a way in which to enjoy some of the creativity, art, and entertainment that the world displays.  But we are always to do this as Christians, never as passive consumers of whatever the world throws at us. P. 49
• The good news of the kingdom is not destruction and damnation for the wicked and rebellious; it’s mercy and grace for the hopeless and helpless.  P. 59
• When we reduce the Christian life simply to leaving Earth to live in heaven, we miss the glorious end of God’s consummation of all things.  The God who created heaven and Earth in the beginning is going to renew and restore it in the end.  God will not discard the old canvas in place of a new one.  Rather, He will review the existing one. P. 74
• The kingdom of heaven expands, not through passivity, but advancement. P. 84
• The kingdom is a grassroots movement that expands exponentially against all barriers or hindrances, much like a mustard seed tree grows in any environment.  The kingdom is persistent and consistent. P. 100
• Salvation is not a two-part process where we trust Him now for salvation and later for obedience.  “We must dispense with the myth (all too common),” according to Sinclair Ferguson, “that we can have Christ as Saviour to begin the Christian life, and then at some later stage, make a full surrender to him as Lord.” P. 104
• John Stackhouse rightly asserts, “We see the marks of the kingdom of God, then, wherever light penetrates darkness, wherever good makes it way against evil or inertia, wherever beauty emerges amidst ugliness and vapidity, and wherever truth sounds out against error or falsity.” P. 123
• Moreover, when Paul states in Philippians, “our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:20), he doesn’t envision believers writing off this world in hopes of leaving for heaven.  Christians, at the moment of salvation become citizens of heaven while still holding passports on Earth.  This is precisely why Peter urges Christians “as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11).  Our identity influences our activity. P. 125
• Idolatry is not just carved images on a shelf or in a church for people to pray and adore.  It covers what consumes your hearts affection and minds attention.  We engage in idolatry in four ways.
• • Worshiping something or someone other than God (Deut 8:17; Dan 4:30, 5:22-23)
  • Seeking security in something or someone other than God (Jer 2:13, 18; 1 Tim 6:17)
  • Desiring something or someone other than God (Matt 6:24, Eph 5:5)
  • Setting our affections elsewhere by being unwilling to part with someone or something for God. P. 133
• The Old Testament commands are the pencil sketch drawing of the coming Messiah.  They were incomplete until Jesus, so to speak, painted the lines between His life.  He completed the portrait. P. 135
• The author of Hebrews reminds us, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful” (Hebrews 12:28).  We don’t receive once and then we are good from that moment forward.  It’s a continual surrendering of oneself to receive more and more of God. P. 146
• Everyone is either walking toward God or away from Him.  We are either growing closer to Him or drifting away.  Our direction is an either/or not a both/and. P. 151
• Kingdom living is the outflow of a right relationship with Christ.  We glorify King Jesus as we live for Him obeying His Word. P. 152
• Joseph Frankovic describes kingdom living: “Entering the kingdom of heaven goes beyond piety, uprightness, kindness, and generosity.  It cannot be contained within the walls of an institution or adequately expressed by the dogma of a community.  It requires subscribing to a new economy that is sustained by God’s provision and not material wealth.  Those who participate in this economy have joined a movement whose values are inverted, whose agenda is transparent, and whose hierarchy is horizontal.  Not many enter the kingdom of heaven.” P. 155
• Christians should be a people who proclaim the message of the kingdom, display the character of the kingdom, pray for extension of the kingdom, and walk in the benefits of the kingdom. P. 156
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer summed up the Christian life this way: “Salvation is free but discipleship will cost you your life.” P. 162
• But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. – 2 Corinthians 4:7-10
• In his book, The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission, John Dickson offers a summary statement: “The gospel is the announcement that God has revealed His kingdom and opened it up to sinners through the birth, teaching, miracles, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christa, who will one day return to overthrow evil and consummate his kingdom for eternity.” P. 175
• I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7
• Making converts is not the end goal.  Making disciples should be. P. 176
• By saturating ourselves with the Word of God, though, we take away the spaces in which sin festers and grows.  Every moment you spend focused on the things of the Spirit is a moment you are less likely to be thrown for a loop by temptation.  The only weapon you wield to withstand the evil one is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).  Saturate your life with the Word and the roots of sin will have no where else to nestle. P. 206
• Remember the words of Dallas Willard: “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.  Earning is an attitude.  Effort is an action.  Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.” P. 210
• “The root of our sinful behavior is an inability to hate sin for itself and this stems from a tendency to see obedience as simply a way to avoid danger and have a good life—not as a way to love and know Jesus for who he is.” Tim Keller p. 217
• With a present-tense understanding of the kingdom, in place of just a future one, we should view our lives and ministry differently.   Our role as Christians is not a passive one where we sit idly by and watch, but a participatory one of advancing the kingdom by pushing back darkness with light. P. 218

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”