Frank Viola - Jesus Now: Unveiling the Present-Day Ministry of Christ

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To Leonard Sweet:

friend, colleague, interpreter of symbols,

and seer of that which is to come.

CONTENTS

THERES A MAN IN THE GLORY

Theres a Man in the glory

Whose Life is for me.

Hes pure and Hes holy,

Triumphant and free.

Hes wise and Hes loving,

How tender is He!

His Life in the glory,

My life must be;

His Life in the glory,

My life must be.

Theres a Man in the glory

Whose life is for me.

He overcame Satan;

From bondage Hes free.

In Life He is reigning;

How kingly is He!

His Life in the glory,

My life must be;

His Life in the glory,

My life must be.

Theres a Man in the glory

Whose Life is for me.

In Him is no sickness;

No weakness has He.

Hes strong and in vigor,

How buoyant is He!

His Life in the glory

My life may be;

His Life in the glory,

My life may be.

Theres a Man in the glory

Whose Life is for me.

His peace is abiding;

How patient is He!

Hes joyful and radiant,

Expecting to see

His Life in the glory

Lived out in me;

His Life in the glory

Lived out in me.

Mary E. McDonough, 1787

JESUS NOW

Published by David C Cook

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David C Cook Distribution Canada

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David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

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The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,

no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of David C Cook, nor do we vouch for their content.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org.) Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com; KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.); ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved; HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Copyright 1999, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved; NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved; ISV are taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version. Copyright 2003 by The ISV Foundation. Used by permission of Davidson Press, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY; NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The author has added italics to Scripture quotations for emphasis.

LCCN 2014933915

ISBN 978-0-7814-0591-1

eISBN 978-0-7814-1129-5

2014 Frank Viola

Published in association with the literary agency of Daniel Literary Group, Nashville, TN 37215.

The Team: Alex Field, Karen Lee-Thorp, Amy Konyndyk, Nick Lee, Caitlyn Carlson, Karen Athen

Cover Design: Nick Lee

First Edition 2014

FRANK VIOLA has helped thousands of people around the world to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ and enter into a more vibrant and authentic experience of church. He has written many books on these themes, including Gods Favorite Place on Earth and From Eternity to Here . He blogs regularly at frankviola.org .

Visit DCCeBooks.com for more great reads.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I want to thank Mike Morrell and Brittian Bullock for their editing efforts, Greg Daniel for supporting this project 150 percent, and the David C Cook team for turning the plain manuscript into an attractive volume. You all made this a much better book.

FOREWORD

THE PROVENANCE OF ORDINARY THINGS

Everything in life has a backstory. The French word provenir means a coming forth from, a chronology, or lineage.

It even implies custody, a history of ownership or belonging. As a noun, it suggests there is a backstory for something we hold dear, a primal origin or a source. The word is used most typically in our culture for the his(story) of an artifact or antique.

We as Christians have a backstory too, one that tells of our source of life and our lineage as people of Godan extraordinary lineage of grace and wonder.

You see, whenever you attach a story to something, you turn an ordinary thing into an extraordinary gift of sacred blessing. Stories are the seeds of human existence. In them are contained the DNA of our identity. When we embrace them, nourish them, feed them, own them, we discover who we are. And through them, we are encouraged to bloom into the beautiful flora we were designed to be. Our tales are our talismans; our imaginations, our keys to the Scriptures.

In Jesus Now , Frank Viola invites you to use your imagination to take part in a journey that will lead you into an extraordinary new world where you can discover Jesus in present tense, living color. In doing so, you will discover the stories that reveal who you are.

One of the most famous all-night conversations in history took place between C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. From dusk to dawn, they discussed the meaning of fire and fable, sacred and secular, story and myth, legend and fairy tale.

The morning dawned with Lewis persuaded by Tolkien that the story of Christ is simply a true myth: a myth working on us in the same way as the others, but with this tremendous difference that [the Christ story] really happened.

Based on this conversation, these two literary giants divided up the narrative landscape between them: Lewis tumbled us through a wardrobe into an alternate world of faith; Tolkien vaulted us into an alternate world of fantasy. The world was never the same.

All history is Gods love story. There is no event in space or time unrelated to the Jesus story, and there is no metaphor in existence unrelated to Jesus. All roads lead to Rome was the brag of the ancient Romans. All metaphors lead to Jesus is the vaunt and jaunt of the Christian life.

Provenance tells the story behind, with, and under the story. Provenance is proof that people heard and experienced the story encased in an ordinary object. Provenance elevates and authenticates the story.