LIFE ON THE ALTAR is about how the gospel of Jesus Christ is fleshed out in a believer’s life. It is written for those who want to align, or realign, their life commitments with the purposes of God. The unique message of Romans 12 drives the conversation of this book. Romans 1-11 provides the most systematic treatment of gospel found in the Bible as the apostle Paul outlines the good news of what God has done through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We find a major pivot in Romans 12:1,2 as Paul writes, "Therefore." Never has a "therefore" carried so much weight as Paul spends the remainder of the book providing teaching on how the gospel is worked out in the believer's life.
Life on the Altar is divided into four parts: Presenting Ourselves to God as Living Sacrifices; Presenting Ourselves to God in Body Life; Presenting Ourselves to God for Supernatural Living; and Presenting Ourselves to God for the Advance of the Gospel. The book is comprised of sixteen chapters which allow Romans 12, and the remaining chapters of the epistle, to give a portrait of what it means to live for Christ in this world. I pull from biblical, historical, as well as contemporary issues to guide each chapter. My hearts desire in writing was to give an engaging challenge to believers to live faithfully to Christ in the 21st century. The book concludes with a word of hope in that Life on the Altar has a destiny before the throne of God above.
I'm sure like many of us on Christian Authors Unite, you might be saying, “Another book on the Christian life. Why should I read this?” Well, I don’t take lightly the commitment of your time, especially on a subject that is well represented. However, my appeal is to consider the unique message of Romans 12 which drive the conversation of this book.
Life on the Altar is not a call to a physical altar in a temple or building. Rather, we are summoned to the altar of God’s presence through the finished work of Christ on our behalf. The Christian life is lived out by presenting ourselves to God every moment, of every day, all the days of our lives. This is what I am calling Life on the Altar, and it is the life we are called to live.
In the book, we will explore:
-True spiritual worship
-Discerning the will of God
-The importance of Church/Body life
-Living for God’s approval, is that even possible?
-When we face suffering, pain, and enemies
-Living for Christ in a "Cancel Culture"
-Viewing the world and living our lives through the lens of the gospel
-The book closes with a reminder that Life on the Altar has a destiny of hope in the presence of God
I am writing from nearly forty years as a Christian, nearly thirty years as a pastor with the same church, and twenty years training pastors and church workers in areas of the world under severe persecution. This doesn't make me an expert only a fellow sojourner who is determined to not grow weary with Life on the Altar.
Thank you for your consideration!
I enjoy each part of this book as the content is driven by Romans 12. If I had to pick a favorite part that I think believers would most enjoy, it would be a tie between Part 3 and the closing chapter on heaven. Part 3 deals with living for Christ in times when we face pain, suffering, and enemies. In these chapters of the book, I believe the light of God's word gives guidance and hope in times of difficult. I think the reader will appreciate the personal accounts mentioned from a dreadful murder, to how Hurricane Katrina impacted our community, to how the present cultural dynamics have changed life in America.
I would also include the final chapter, Chapter 16, which I trust the reader will receive as a robust conversation of heaven. In this chapter, I talk about how heaven has been trivialization by the culture and how sadly among believers the subject is not refreshing. "Like an air conditioner out of Freon in the summer heat," conversations about heaven among believers lack the joyful anticipation that should be enjoyed among God's people. This chapter is offered as a correction to the colorless ideas that seem to prevail.
Chapter 4-Worship that Makes Perfect Sense
My family and I went to a theme park several years ago. After watching the killer whales perform their tricks, we exited the aqua theatre. As we left the facility, I noticed they had put the word “BELIEVE” on the large screen above. My first thoughts were, “What do they want us to believe? Believe in the power of killer whales? Believe in ourselves? Believe in belief? Believe what?” After kicking these questions around in my mind, it reminded me that the words “faith” and “believe” have been lost in our culture to a hundred conflicting and vague definitions.
When we read the Bible, there is also an announcement to “BELIEVE.” However, the Scripture does not leave it open-ended. Jesus began His earthly ministry with this message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). The Christian faith is not a fill-in-the-blank belief system. We are not allowed to custom design the claims of Christ as if we were building a house where we pick and choose the colors, the fixtures, and the flooring. The call to believe in the Bible is not a trip through the buffet line at a restaurant where we pick and choose what we want.
On the contrary, biblical faith, true saving faith, has substance (Heb. 11:1) and is evident through an obedient life to Christ. Jesus said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46). The life of faith, indeed Life on the Altar, is one that is given to the obedience of faith (Rom. 1:5; 6:16; 16:26).
As we consider our response to the gospel outlined in Romans 1-11, we are called to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This saving faith is demonstrated through obedience to God’s commands and surrender in every aspect of our lives. We also discover in Romans 12:1 that such a life is “spiritual worship.”
We emphasized in Chapter 2 that the Bible often presents doctrine in tension. We also underscored that biblical truth is not irrational or contradictory. True faith, the faith referred to in the Bible, possesses three components that rescue it from a “leap-in-the-dark” understanding.
Our Faith has Content
Biblical faith is anchored to foundational truths centered on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ really came. He really walked on this earth. He really lived a sinless life. He really taught, healed, suffered, bled, and died. He really rose from the dead. He really commissioned his disciples to go global with the good news of what He accomplished. And, we are talking about it now, because they obeyed what He told them to do. Biblical faith has specific content. It is not a wax nose that can be molded and shaped into what we think is best. However, there is more to faith than knowing facts about Jesus.
Our Faith Includes Agreement with the Content
Does the good news of Jesus Christ resonate in your heart as true? Is there within you a resounding “yes” to this message of Jesus? Of all the worldviews you could embrace, do you find the message of Christ superior over them all? True faith requires agreement with the gospel in order to receive the remedy it promises.
Our Faith is Actual Trust in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior
Agreement with the content of the gospel leads to personal trust in Christ alone. This faith relationship is not a belief in a religious icon, but upon a living Lord who “has all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18). The writer of Hebrews explains that we must believe that God is who He says He is: “For without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is” (Heb. 11:6 NKJV). And the Bible was written that we would believe this message (1 John 5:13). Biblical faith has historical content, requires agreement with that content, and must demonstrate personal trust in Christ.
Living By Faith, Living to Worship
In Romans 12:1, what did Paul mean by “spiritual worship?” How should this inform our understanding of the living sacrifice we have been discussing? How should this help us live for Christ as we approach each day and each moment of our lives?
The term “spiritual worship” requires some work to understand. There are two words used in the Greek text, logikos and latreia. Logikos is the source for the English word “logical,” and it can mean either “rational, genuine, true” 28 or in a figurative sense, “spiritual.”29 Latreia can be translated worship or service and is used in describing religious service to God.30 Consequently, the translations vary: The King James Version translates these words as, “your reasonable service,” and the English Standard Version as “your spiritual worship.” The New Living Translation brings emphasis to the living sacrifice of ourselves to God as “truly the way to worship him.” So, whether we translate this phrase as “reasonable service,” or “spiritual worship,” it seems to capture both ideas: our spiritual worship is logical and reasonable service considering God’s mercies extended to us in the gospel.
Furthermore, Life on the Altar before God resulting in spiritual worship is all encompassing. John Stott brings an important word of application here: “What...is this living sacrifice, this rational, spiritual worship? It is not to be offered in the temple courts or in the church building, but rather in home life and in the marketplace. It is the presentation of our bodies to God.”31
This viewpoint is vital to our understanding of Christian worship which is often relegated to a building or a routine. True spiritual worship involves our mind, our reason, our body, and our intellect offered to God in moment-by-moment obedience in all areas of our lives. Presenting ourselves to God in this way is a reasonable, logical response. By contrast, to live for yourself and the fleeting pleasures of this world is the path of a fool which leads to destruction (Ps. 1:4-6). Christian, your daily worship of God makes perfect sense in light of His abundant grace upon your life. God is worthy of such an offering, and it is the privilege of every believer to present themselves in this way.
This truth of living for the glory of God was recovered by the Reformers who saw from Scripture that all of life was to be lived Coram Deo, a Latin phrase meaning “before the face of God.” Why are we hesitant to live before God in this way? Why are we prone to give the scraps of our lives to Him who has extended to us His stunning grace in Christ?
Perhaps we think we will be ripped off or miss out on something better. Perhaps we are in doubt of God’s promises, so we hedge our losses with blemished, half-hearted offerings. How foolish! For those who walk with God will lack no good thing (Ps. 84:11). We need to follow the example of David when he said, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24). David spoke these words after his prideful display in ordering the census of Israel. God’s chastening hand came upon the nation because of David’s pride. This man, whose transgressions were well documented (2 Sam. 11-12; Ps. 51), nevertheless lived in gratitude for the Lord’s mercies and was determined not to offer God the “leftovers” of his life.
The text of Romans 12 and, specifically, the call for spiritual worship, brings us once again to what God wants most. He wants us, all of us, and it is His prerogative to ask for it.