iCrucified

Book Review: For these Tough Times

jeff — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:00:36 +0000

I received the book, For these Tough Times, by Max Lucado (published by Thomas Nelson) a few days before Christmas. While it is a small book, and easily read in a single sitting, I was a little busy over the holidays and unable to sit down with an amount of dedicated time. I finally had the opportunity to sit down with it over the course of a few mornings and now offer my thoughts and review of the book.

If you are familiar at all with Christian literature, you will recognize the name of Max Lucado. I think he is probably among the most (if not the most) prolific writers of our day. I only make this point to say any critique or comment that I may have to offer isn’t going to be in the realm of technical ability or style; the gentleman obviously understands his craft. Sharing vocations with Lucado as a pastor, I was interested to hear what insight he has to offer those in need of answers during the tough times of life. I have been on the “hard side” of the table when difficult questions have been asked, I have entered into heart-wrenching sessions of grief counseling, and I have been speechless when a grieving parent and/or spouse is asking; “Why would God let this happen?” I am always in search of wisdom that may help me in bridging these moments with others, so it was with this interest that I approached For these Tough Times.(...)
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Post tags: Amazon, Book Review, Books, For these Tough Times, God, Grief, Jeff Borden, Jesus, Max Lucado, Thomas Nelson

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Date Night…?

jeff — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:15:13 +0000

“You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the LORD. Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death. The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day by observing it from generation to generation. This is a covenant obligation for all time. It is a permanent sign of my covenant with the people of Israel. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.” Exodus 31:15-17

Sabbath….Shabbat…

I have tried and tried to wrap my head and heart around what Sabbath means. I have read numerous devotional writings, books, studied spiritual disciplines and more…yet still feel as though I fall short in understanding the intent and purpose of the Sabbath. I am sure I fail to understand the Sabbath as God had intended it. My history, experience, and family of origin have predisposed me to understanding the Sabbath as a ritual day; an act of religion and tradition that is often worshipped more than (and over) the Creator who sanctified the day and gave it to us in the first place. In my life, Sabbath was equal to the weekday, Sunday. In the strictest sense of the word, there was no greater significance placed on Sabbath except for the idea that it was a good day to go to church. There was no holy reverence for the day; there was no sacred anticipation of its arrival. Until recently (the past couple years), I had never set out to explore the truest understanding of Sabbath, and by this I mean what God has intended.

(...)
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Post tags: Abraham Joshua Heschel, God, Holy, iCrucified, Jeff Borden, Jesus, Rest, Sabbath, Shabbat

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A meditation on the Gospel of John (Pt.5)

jeff — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 06:06:57 +0000

This continues a meditation on the Gospel of John; part five and the final installment of a multi-part series. If you’d like to catch the entire series, click here. A full manuscript in .pdf format will be available at the end of the meditation series.

Part Five:

The PRAYER of JESUS -John Chapter 17

I think this chapter from John’s Gospel is one of the most captivating and incredible collections of Jesus’ words in all the gospels. His personal prayer for His followers, the promises of His life continued in the lives of His followers, and the promise of reconciliation and unity-”oneness” with the triune Godhead is mind-staggering. This prayer is it! The promise we live for and the hope we look forward to; this is the payoff of the Good News…it is The Gospel.

“Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, Father save me from this hour? But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to Your Name.” Jesus -John 12:27-28

“Father, glorify Your Son so He can give glory back to You…” Jesus -John 17:1(...)
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Post tags: Christ, disciple, Gospel of John, Holy Spirit, iCrucified, Jeff Borden, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, Meditation, Religion, Spiritual Formation, Spirituality

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21 Years and a New Year!

jeff — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:16:23 +0000

How bout a little Borden Family update? I mean…if you’re interested. What’s with the title of this blog post? Well, I’m glad you asked (even if you didn’t); it gives me a chance to brag up me and my precious wife’s 21st anniversary! Yep, 21 marvelous-wonderful years of wedded bliss…and I mean that! There is no sarcasm at all in my words; I am truly a blessed man in so many, many ways. So, anyway…with this being a New Year, my anniversary, and me not sending out any Christmas letter updates…I thought I’d share a newsletter with you. Click on the newsletter link at the right (or this .pdf link) and you can catch up with the Bordens!

Happy New Year and May the Lord lead you in every step of your life.

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Post tags: Borden, Borden Newsletter, iCrucified, Jeff Borden, New Year

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A meditation on the Gospel of John (Pt.4)

jeff — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:02:20 +0000

This continues a meditation on the Gospel of John; part four of a multi-part series. If you’d like to catch the entire series, click here. A full manuscript in .pdf format will be available at the end of the meditation series.

“The world’s sin is that it refuse to believe in me” (Jesus) -John 16:9

*Jesus intends that “believe” means to “believe with your whole heart.” Believe changes the mindset and behavior of the one who believes. It is not simply an act of verbal affirmation or acknowledgement…it is life-changing. This understanding is implied and understood from the Hebrew mindset and use of the word from the original language usage of “heart” (Lebab) in conjunction with believe (eg. Believe with your heart not just your head).

Definitions of heart:

Heart, as defined by the English dictionary (Merriam-Webster), is the emotional or moral as distinguished from the intellectual nature…

Heart, as defined and used in the Greek (Romans 10:9), is Kardiða [Strong's #2588] - denotes the centre of all physical and spiritual life.

Heart, as defined and used in the Hebrew (Romans 10:8 quoting Deut. 30:12-14), is Lebab [Strong's #3824] - inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding; mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory; inclination, resolution, determination (of will); conscience; as seat of emotions and passions

Chapter 16

Jesus shares with his disciples that he must “go away” to the One who sent him and promises the coming of the Holy Spirit. With this promise, he shares with them the specific work of the Holy Spirit in the world and in their lives.

v.8 -convict the world of sin
v.8 -convict the world of God’s righteousness
v.8 -convict the world of the coming judgment
v.13 -guide “believers” in truth
v.13 -tell “believers” about the future.
V.14 -give instructions to “believers” from Jesus (directly!!!)

“He (The Holy Spirit) will not speak on His own but will tell you what He has heard. He will bring me (Jesus) glory by telling you whatever He receives from me. The Spirit will tell you whatever He receives from me…” -John 16:13-15

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Post tags: Christ, disciple, Gospel of John, Holy Spirit, iCrucified, Jeff Borden, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, Meditation, Religion, Spiritual Formation, Spirituality

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A meditation on the Gospel of John (Pt.3)

jeff — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 06:58:29 +0000

This continues a meditation on the Gospel of John; part three of a multi-part series. If you’d like to catch the entire series, click here. A full manuscript in .pdf format will be available at the end of the meditation series.

This incredible revelation of Himself with the promise of His “indwelling person” to His disciples stands alone as utterly fantastic and almost incomprehensible in its ramifications and scope. But then, Jesus continues this thought with his teaching of one of the most vivid visual illustrations of “connectedness” in all the gospels. He equates himself with a vine as he points to a vineyard as an object lesson to his hearers. The metaphor of Jesus being “the vine” (John 15) is not only a great visual, but it serves as a “bolded underline” as Jesus reiterates his main points from the previous chapter repeatedly to emphasize the importance and urgency of his message. (I notice how many times Jesus repeats the importance of his main point in the verses that follow.)

Jesus: The True Vine (3X)

1. v.1 “I am the true grapevine”
2. v.4 “A branch cannot produce fruit if severed from the vine, you can’t be fruitful unless you remain in me.”
3. v.5 “I am the vine”

Jesus: You were created to bear and produce fruit for God (7X)

1. v.2 “my Father cuts off non-producing branches…”
2. v.2 “He prunes fruit producers, so they will produce more fruit…”
3. v.4 “be fruitful; remain in me
4. v.5 “remain in me; produce much fruit”
5. v.6 “non-producers are cut-off and burned up”
6. v.8 “produce much fruit = true disciples and glorifies God”
7. v.16 “I chose you and appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit…”

Jesus: Talks about “love” (7X)

1. v.9 “I have loved you as the Father has loved me”
2. v.9 “Remain in my love…”
3. v.10 “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love”
4. v.12 “This is my commandment: love each other in the same way I have loved you.”
5. v.13 “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
6. v.14 “You are my friends if you do what I command…”
7. v.17 “This is my command: Love each other.”

“Unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many kernels-a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.” -John 12:24-26

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Conferences 2009

jeff — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 06:23:08 +0000

I’m starting to plan…what conferences I’d like to attend for personal growth during 2009. I’ve found the most balanced grouping of conference sessions that I’ve ever been able to line-up before now. Here’s what I’ve found and what each conference theme is built around:

Leadership: Catalyst West (April 22-24, 2009)

Andy Stanley
Erwin McManus
Brian Houston
Craig Groeschel
Jud Wilhite
Perry Noble
Francis Chan
Guy Kawasaki
Nick Vujicic
Catherine Rohr
Worship Leaders - Hillsong United

Worship Arts: Christian Music Summit (May 15-16, 2009)

Lincoln Brewster
Newworldson
Paul Baloche
Laura Story
Doyle Dykes
Joel Auge’
Gregg Bissonette
Rick Cua
Will McFarlane
Brenton Brown

Spiritual Formation: 2009 RENOVARÉ International Conference (June 21-24, 2009)

Eugene Peterson
Emilie Griffin
Chris Webb
John Ortberg
Robert Gelinas
Dallas Willard
James Bryan Smith
Richard J. Foster
Joshua Choonmin Kang
Lyle SmithGraybeal

So far, this looks like it is going to work out and I’m in process of nailing down the necessary dates and details to make them happen. I’d still like to organize some outreach or social exercise to complete this line-up. I’ve considered a few options, but have not settled on anything definate yet. What ideas or plans do you have?

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Post tags: Christian Conferences, iCrucified, Jeff Borden, Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Worship Arts

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Word Cloud from tags

jeff — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:35:01 +0000

I’ve posted these before, but like to check it out from time to time. This tag or word cloud is created with the java applet on the website www.wordles.net. It’s pretty cool; it takes the words posted in your blog and creates a image from them. It gives an “artful” look at your content.

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Post tags: Borden, iCrucified, Jeff, Jeff Borden, tag cloud, wordle

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My 2008 Reading List

jeff — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:25:39 +0000

I’m finally getting around to posting the list of books I’ve read during the past year (along with a few that are nearly completed but still in process…). It’s been a great year for reading for me and I had the wonderful privilege of getting hooked in to several publishing companies that allow me to review advance copies of new releases. This sort of “cut both ways” by pulling me off schedule from my personal reading list, but it introduced me to a number of authors and books I might not have read otherwise. I’m glad I was able to join the review teams for these publishers no matter the hiccup it throws into my personal schedule for reading.

As I said, it was a great year for reading and it was really tough to narrow down the Five Most Influential Books for me in 2008. While some books in the collection for this year were awesome in themselves, I have to be honest in my assessment of what wielded the most influence in shaping my thinking and heart for the entire year. So, with that criteria in mind, here are the titles that continue to come up in my conversations, teaching, sermons, and works of faith. They are in no particular order:

The Present Future by Reggie McNeal - This book continues to shape not only me, but the church that I serve. I had the privilege of hearing Reggie as the keynote speaker for our denomination leadership conference this past year. Following the conference I purchased the DVD set of Reggie’s Present Future Lectures and used them for a 16wk teaching of an adult group in my church. Great Stuff…indeed.
A Community Called Atonement by Scot McKnight - This isn’t one of Scot’s newer books, but man did it do a number on me. It took me several weeks to read (and it is a small volume) with consideration to the depths it was plumbing in my own spirit. I’m thankful for the timing that it was introduced to me. I am still feeling the ripples of its effects in my soul.
Deep-Rooted in Christ: The Way of Transformation by Joshua Choonmin Kang - This little book…Wow. It is arranged into 52 chapters; each chapter is 1-3 pages long, but the depth of spiritual teaching that can be plumbed from those short little chapters is incredible; I only taste-tested these teachings by comparison. Don’t misunderstand me, the teaching is as simple as a person needs it to be, but can be as deep as a person wants to go…I set this book aside after my first read-thru and determined that I would use it as a year long devotional taking each chapter as a meditation for the week…52 chapters equals 52 weeks! Sounds like a plan…
Walking With God Day By Day by D.M. Lloyd-Jones - This was one of the daily devotional readers that I was inspired from for the 2008 year. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is one of my favorite Theologian-Pastor-Authors of all time and this little reader was a tool of affirmation, inspiration, encouragement, challenge, conviction, and more all during the year. It is a compiliation of excerpts from various books and sermons during the lifetime of Lloyd-Jones. If you’ve never been introduced to the writings of Dr. Lloyd-Jones, there is probably no better means to try him out than this little devotional volume.
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan - This one is still shaking my soul (in a good way). I was pretty frustrated and disappointed with some of my expectations and ministry goals about the time that this book jumped off my bookshelf and into my bookbag. It couldn’t have happened for me at a more needful time though, and the words were literally a GODsend for me. My heart, vision, and mission were affirmed and reaffirmed with every page I turned from Pastor Chan’s book. I talked about this one back in September when I read it; here are my thoughts in that post.

My complete list of books in pdf format are here.

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Post tags: Books, Christian Literature, Jeff Borden, Reading List

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A meditation on the Gospel of John (Pt.2)

jeff — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:47:54 +0000

This continues a meditation on the Gospel of John; part two of a multi-part series. If you’d like to catch the entire series, click here. A full manuscript in .pdf format will be available at the end of the meditation series.

Part 2 of a Meditation in John:

Jesus: “I AM” = I am GOD

Chapter Eight of John’s Gospel begins Jesus making unequivocal claims of His Godhood.

Jn 8:12 (implied) - “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
Jn 8:19 (implied) - “Since you don’t know who I am, you don’t know who my Father is. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”
Jn 8:23 (implied) - “You are from below; I am from above. You belong to this world; I do not.”
Jn 8:24 (explicit) - “That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I AM* who I claim to be, you will die in your sins”
Jn 8:25 (implied) - “‘Who are you?’ they demanded. Jesus replied, ‘The one I have always claimed to be.’”
Jn 8:28 (explicit) - “So Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I AM* he.’”
Jn 8:38 (implied) - “I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father…”
Jn 8:40 (implied) - “…you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God.”
Jn 8:42 (implied) - “…I have come to you from God”
Jn 8:49 (implied) - “…I honor my Father-and you dishonor me.”
Jn 8:56 (implied) - “Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.”
Jn 8:58 (explicit) - “Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!*”

*Jesus uses the “I AM” the divine name of GOD that was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. There is no mistaking that his usage of this name was an absolute and direct claim to himself as the One and only GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.(...)
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Post tags: Christ, disciple, Gospel of John, Holy Spirit, iCrucified, Jeff Borden, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John, Meditation, Religion, Spiritual Formation, Spirituality

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