mike passaro

Three great books that I’ve finished recently:

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.  The book was published in the late 1600s. It has been translated into over 200 languages, has never been out of print, and is one of the most widely read books of all time.  The main character, Christian, says of his journey toward the heavenly city, “I must venture: To go back is nothing but death, to go forward is fear of death, and life everlasting beyond it. I will yet go forward” (p. 42).

Christian is asked why he desired so much to go to the heavenly city. He answered, “Why, there I hope to see him alive, that did hang dead on the Cross; and there I hope to be rid of all those things, that to this day are in me, an anoiance to me; there they say there is no death, and there I shall dwell with such Company as I like best. For to tell you truth, I love him, because I was by him eased of my burden, and I am weary of my inward sickness…” (p. 51).

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone” (p. 78).

“The individual must realize that his hours of aloneness react upon the community…Every act of self-control of the Christian is also a service to the fellowship” (p. 88-89).

“If my sinfulness appears to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all” (p. 96).

“The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are sinners!…But it is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: ‘ You are a sinner, a great, desperate sinner; now come as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you…” (p. 110-111).

Christ-Centered Worship is so helpful for the modern worship leader. The worship liturgy should be telling the gospel story. I’ll give a more detailed summary of this book soon…