Mike McKinley - Am I Really a Christian? (Foreword by Kirk Cameron)

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This is a truly important book in the most urgent sensea book that serves the cause of Christ by raising the most important question human beings face, and helping to answer it, no less. I am thankful to McKinley for his faithfulness and for the pastoral concern that prompted him to write such an important work.

Simple, piercing, winsome, practical, honest, direct, and pastoral. If you know anyone questioning their conversion (or who should be questioning!), get this book!

Mike has always had the ability to talk about the mundane and serious aspects of life with both passion and depth in an endearing way. That is such a great and rare combination. Using those skills in his newest book, he references everyday experiences to explain much deeper and more important spiritual truths around the question of how do I know I am a Christian?

Really, is there anything more important to know about ourselves than whether we are actually Christians? People have come up with a lot of different ways of thinking about that questionranging from your ability to remember praying the prayer, to possessing a signed card in your Bible from a revival meeting, to ensuring your letter is safely tucked away in some churchs filing cabinet. Examining ourselves to make sure we are in the faith is about a whole lot more than that, and McKinley offers good help for that kind of heart evaluation. This is good devotional material, good small group material, and I expect that for some, it will probably even turn out to be the first time theyve truly understood the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There can be no more important question than Am I really a Christian? and Mike McKinley helps us answer it with great skill. He manages to challenge nominal Christians while comforting genuine believers. McKinleys writing is accessible, engaging, and simple without ever being simplistic. I particularly appreciate the way he encourages us to explore this crucial question in the context of a Christian community. If youre not sure where you stand before God, or you know someone whos not sure, then this is the book for you.

Can any question in life be as important as knowing whether you are right with Godwhether you are going to heaven or hell? Im quite sure that every person now in eternitywith not a single exception among the billions therewould affirm the urgency and priority of pursuing the answer to such a question. Thats why, if you have any uncertainties about the answer for your own situation, you should read this book. Some day, on a day as real as the one in which you entered the world, as real as the one in which you are reading these words, you will enter another world. There you will remain forever. Are you ready? If not, this book will help you understand how the Bible says to prepare.

Other 9Marks Books:

What Is the Gospel?
Greg Gilbert

Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church
Michael Lawrence

Church Planting Is for Wimps
Mike McKinley

It Is Well
Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence

What Does God Want of Us Anyway?
Mark Dever

The Church and the Surprising Offense of Gods Love
Jonathan Leeman

What Is a Healthy Church Member?
Thabiti M. Anyabwile

12 Challenges Churches Face
Mark Dever

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism
Mark Dever

What Is a Healthy Church?
Mark Dever

The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made
Mark Dever

The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel
Mark Dever

The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept
Mark Dever

Nine Marks of a Healthy Church
Mark Dever

Am I Really a Christian?

Copyright 2011 by Mike McKinley

Published by Crossway
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Dual Identity inc.

Cover photo: Getty Images

First printing 2011

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible ( The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-2576-6
PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-2577-3
Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-2578-0
EPub ISBN: 978-1-4335-2579-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McKinley, Mike, 1975

Am I really a Christian? / Mike McKinley.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-4335-2576-6 (tp)

1. Theology, DoctrinalPopular works. I. Title.

BT77.M1595 2011

2010053224

230'.0462dc22

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Well, here we are, at the introduction. Congratulations to you on successfully navigating the table of contents and Library of Congress information and making it this far! At this point, it is customary to do some introducing, specifically of myself and this book. So lets start there.