Christian Living Beyond Belief: Biblical Principles for the Life of Faith

I really appreciated this book as Cliff McManis unfolded in Biblical detail the responsibilities and disciplines of the Christian life. Some of the topics Cliff addresses include: worship, fellowship, discipleship, giving, church membership and obedience. He offered challenging Biblical insight on giving, evangelism and prayer--these three were my favorite chapters. Giving--From this chapter I was most challenged by Cliff's examination of Proverbs 3:9-10 which says, "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim with new wine." I've heard teaching from this passage several times but always thought how opposite I was from it. I never consider myself wealthy, and I don't have crops, barns or drink wine so I wasn't sure really what the challenge could be personally from these verses. Cliff enlightened my understanding of giving and that it is to be more about my heart attitude and obedience. God has given me all that I have and from a thankful heart I need to give back to Him. I may not have crops or barns, but I need to give to Him first. I used to have a mentality that said, "After I pay the rent and the bills, grocery shop and fill my car up with gas...then I will give." This is an entirely wrong approach to giving. I need to be giving to the Lord and others as often as I have opportunity. I may not always be able to give money, but I can offer all that I have. Cliff said, "When we fail to give to God we dishonor Him. If we faithfully honor God by always giving to Him from the first fruits of all our income then He will reward us...God will meet all our basic needs with great abundance when we honor Him with our money by making Him the priority. The bottom line is, 'Do you trust God at His Word?'" (Pp.111-112) Evangelism--In his chapter called "Go!" Cliff looks at the command of the Great Commission from Matthew 28:16-20. There is quite a bit of debate on what evangelism is these days. Some people think evangelism means witnessing to third world countries, bringing someone to a church service, leaving gospel tracts in public places, supporting missionaries, building relationships with non-believers, and I'm sure the list could go on. Cliff provided a refreshingly Biblical perspective on this by explaining that in order for someone to become aware of the Gospel, they need to hear it and in order for them to hear it, we need to speak it to them. For the bulk of the chapter Cliff explains what the Gospel really is and why repentance is necessary for salvation. Believers are not supposed to only look like Christians on Sunday morning, and then live like they aren't the rest of the week. Evangelism should be a part of our everyday Christian walk. Cliff said, "God has appointed us to represent Him wherever we go--at home, with the relatives, with the neighbors, on the job, to the mailman, to the checker at the supermarket, to the barber, with the wa

This book has been a blessing to me. The title is actually quite telling, for each of the points made in this book is only valid for one who is saved by faith through grace in Jesus Christ. Each chapter covers a topic that is of vital importance to a Christian and includes many scripture references, sound reason based on biblical standards and some questions for reflection. There is also a list of suggested books to read for each chapter's theme. Cliff McManis does keep a very humble approach in this book. He faithfully presents a biblical position to several hot-button topics and asks the reader not to affirm his position or change his understanding just because he says so. He asks that the book be read with a Bible next to it, and that the reader look up the passages he lists. The support for his conclusions, then, is not in his writing but the inspired writing of the scriptures. While there are a few minor points where I would interpret something just a bit different than him, hence the four stars rather than five, I greatly appreciated this approach of driving the reader to the scriptures. The chapters discuss worship, fellowship, being accountable and submissive to the local church, giving an offering faithfully, evangelizing and several other topics. McManis does show restraint when certain topics come up. For example, his response to someone who attends a seeker-sensitive church is not to confront the pastor or to leave the church. Rather, he suggests doing something we ought to be doing all the while. Pray for the leadership of the church. What a concept! Whether you are teaching a class or would just like a good reference book regarding the foundational aspects of Christian living, I highly recommend this book to you. It is well-written and straight forward, but not at all dull. Perhaps the highest compliment I can give any book goes to this book. It makes you think. And that is reason enough to pick up a copy.

I recommend this book to you as a source of Biblical wisdom on practicing the spiritual disciplines, especially as they apply to the local church. Every Christian will be blessed by the straightforward instruction into the fundamentals of the faith, whether you are hearing about them for the first time or being reminded of truths you have known since childhood. The book is also profitable for small group Bible study because there are review questions at the end of each chapter. We are having a great time discussing them in our high school ministry! The book is made up of eleven chapters. Each chapter takes the reader through a basic Biblical imperative. In true Cliff style all of the commands are punctuated with exclamation points. The chapters are: Worship! Fellowship! Join! Serve! Disciple! Give! Go! Study! Pray! Think! Obey! The book excels especially in the first part where it instructs the Christian not only how to do these things, but how to do them in the context of the local church. Many Christians will be challenged by the priority the local church is supposed to play in our lives. My favorite was chapter three: Join! Some Christians might think that the idea of becoming a member of a local church is not in the Bible. Yet, Cliff makes a convincing case that if we are going to be able to do what the Bible says we need to formally join a congregation of believers. As I was reading this chapter, I realized that I hadn't read anything like this that makes such a clear, Biblical case for church membership. Cliff also had some helpful insights as to why Christians should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers in the chapter on Fellowship! And his instruction on how we will be judged for the stewardship of our spiritual gifts was especially insightful in the chapter challenging us to Serve! He also lists some of the common misconceptions in Christianity today in his chapter called Think! Here's a quote from the introduction as to why Cliff wrote this book: Here is a basic, yet huge principle of true biblical church growth that is frequently overlooked: corporate church growth is contingent upon and augmented by individual and personal growth. For the body at large to grow, first the individual members need to grow. Tiny cells are the building blocks that enable the whole human body to grow as a unit. So it is in the church. If we want strong, growing churches then the emphasis needs to be on cultivating and encouraging spiritually healthy, mature individual Christians. We need to focus on depth, not breadth. We need to go deeper before we go wider. Many churches have it backwards. They believe individual growth flows from corporate growth, when just the opposite is true-corporate growth is a natural spiritual byproduct of personal Christian growth. I would encourage you to purchase a copy of Cliff's book and read it for yourself. To read my full review go here: http://godsongmusic.com/blog/christian-living-beyond-belief/