As I was reading Ruth again this morning (we are following up our study in Judges with a study in Ruth in my small group this year), I realized another contrast is that of the idea of judges vs. a kinsmen redeemer.

Most commentators agree that the word judge carries an idea of being a deliverer or a savior. If you have studied the book of Judges you begin to realize that these men and woman, are really less than perfect deliverers. Many of them are helpful for a bit, deliver for a time, but them mostly we find them right back to where all of Israel was previously and all of Israel seems to follow.

Not so with Boaz or at least the author does not allow us to see Boaz’s failures. He is after all a human being. But Boaz does right by Ruth. He cares for her, he leads her, he doesn’t work around the laws in order to attain her as his wife. He redeems her in righteousness, though I know he himself is not righteous.

Many of you know that Ruth (the Moabitess!) is the great-great grandmother of David, who is of course the line through which Jesus, the Messiah came. I do not think it is an accident that God allows us to see the desperate failures of most of the Israelite deliverers in Judges, only to give us a beautiful picture of redemption that leads to our ultimate redemption!

Our redeemer, Jesus Christ, was perfect and did come to rescue and laid down his life for those who would repent of their sins and trust in His death and resurrection as the only means by which we can be made right with a Holy God (1 Pet. 1:3-5)!

The small group I lead just finished up studying Judges. I think we are all depressed. Ok, maybe not depressed, because we did see how God sovereignly moved through the wickedness of the people and brought about the end that He desired. But the wickedness is overwhelming. It serves as a reminder to us that God is Judge, but in Christ He is a gracious judge. We deserve punishment for our sins, but Christ took that punishment for all those who would believe in His death and resurrection.

I find it interesting that the book of Judges is the perfect prequel to Ruth. We all love Ruth. How could you not? It’s the classic love story. But we in the West are so used to the love story being all about the disappointment and triumphs in the story itself, rather than what we see in the big picture. With Judges and Ruth you get this really great contrast, and find that Ruth is stuck in the midst of these terrible things that are going on in Israel. The most stark contrast is the end of Judges when the tribe of Benjamin is almost wiped off the face of the earth due to their unwillingness to deal with the  Gibeahites who desecrated a Levitical Priests concubine (let that one marinate for a while). Not only this, but when Israel destroys most of Benjamin they leave them no wives to procreate with. What does Israel do? They go and steal some women for Benjamin. What Gibeah does to an individual (rape and abuse her all night), Israel does to two different sets of women (steal them and force them to be wives to the dying tribe of Benjamin).

Contrast this with Ruth. The author tells us that the events of Ruth take place during the time of the Judges. The end of the book of Judges goes from broad national themes to narrow individual themes, though at the end we are reminded that the nation is in trouble. Here again in Ruth, we get a close personal look at a life and the results are glorious. The bleakness of Judges is carried through in the personal events of Naomi and Ruth, but the picture of redemption seen in Boaz and Ruth gives a much needed relief to the darkness of the Judges, especially when one realizes that though a king is raised up, the real kingly line is found in this family.

Similar to this is God’s work in our day. God’s work of redemption is always a showing of His glory in the midst of the darkness of sin. For this we should be grateful, especially as we consider this week leading to the remembrance of His death and resurrection. God has rescued those who have repented of their sins and trusted in Christ’s death and resurrection alone from death and His own wrath (Romans 5:8-10).

Yes, I know this is a bit late for a “2012″ list. Cut me some slack, I’m trying to be organized here! Here are some books I hope to read this year. Probably one a month (I am not Thad Bergmeier, who read 50-70 books a year!).

Teach Them Diligently by Lou Priolo (for a class I’m teaching)

A Book on Small Groups (TBD)

Humility by CJ Mahaney

Let the Nations be Glad by John Piper

Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelley

The Shepherd Leader by Timothy Witmer

Toward an Exegetical Theology by Walt Kaiser

The Passion Driven Sermon by Jim Shaddix

Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung

The Jesus Crisis by Robert Thomas and David Farnell

In my experience as a pastor, I have met few people who do not struggle with prayer. This is true for me as well. Whenever I am called upon to teach on prayer or even in the mornings when I try to practice the discipline of prayer, I struggle because I know this is a discipline I can always be improving upon. I’m just being honest. The hard thing for me is that I know as an elder it is one of my main responsibilities (If we understand the apostolic duties to be what should be done by elders of today’s church, Acts 6:4). I also know that prayer is not something that is only for a certain time of day. It is something I should be in the practice of throughout the day. One of the practices I try to follow is, when someone asks me to pray or I recognize that I should pray for someone (in that they have come to me to tell me of a situation in their life, etc.), I should pray with them right there and then. Just a few thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head this morning.

Damon Horton, the author of G.O.S.P.E.L ¹, is a pastor, Bible college professor, author (obviously) and Christian Hip-Hop artist . Yes, you read correctly, I said Christian Hip-Hop artist, (his stage name is Azriel. And for those of you out of touch, this means he raps, if you still don’t get it, then never mind.). If you are familiar with the likes of Lecrae or shai linne, then Damon’s solidly biblical content will be no surprise to you. It is also no surprise that his book is just the same.

In G.O.S.P.E.L. Horton attempts to take the street lingo he was used to in his days before Christ when he was a pusher, to communicate the gospel to those who come from a similar background. This book is written mainly for the urban dweller, the inner-city folk, who Horton identifies as having cultural roots in the church, but very little knowledge of the true hope that is in Christ. However, don’t expect this to be a watered down contextualized message. Though this book is small, it is meaty with a strong Biblically substantiated gospel message, that does not leave the reader wondering where Horton stands on issues like repentance and lordship.

The reason the title is spelled the way it is, is that Horton uses it as an acrostic: G–God’s Image, O–Open Fellowship, S–Sin Introduced, P–Penalty and Price, E–Enter Jesus  and L–Life Everlasting. In each chapter the author addresses these issues from Scripture interspersing it with what he calls Thebonics (Theological Ebonics) to flavor the truth with street language. Again, Horton never allows this to detract from the beauty of Scripture and the clear message of man’s sin and his need of repentance and faith. Each chapter also includes a rap that Horton wrote to coincide with the topic he is addressing. He also recorded an album which features each of these songs.

Not only does Horton tell the reader how they can be made right with God through Christ’s death and resurrection, but in a chapter called “What Now?” he also communicates how the reality of one’s conversion can only be known through a lifestyle that reflects what they’ve said they believed.

The most encouraging part about the book is every time I thought the author was going to concede a strong point, to aid in “not being offensive” to the urban dweller in presenting the gospel, he shocked me with solidly Biblical responses. For instance, Horton encourages the reader that skin color or style has nothing to do with the effectiveness of gospel communication in certain contexts, but reminds us that “the Holy Spirit is responsible for bringing regeneration to the sinner, not the church or our methods. Minorities in the inner city are in need of the same gospel that is preached to the white-collar CEO in the suburbs.”

It is because of this kind of balanced approach that I can highly recommend Damon Horton’s book to you, both as an encouragement to your heart, as well as an extended gospel tract.