Book Recommendation from a Pastor
“The Gospel Comes With a House Key” by Rosaria Butterfield
Recommendation by Pastor David Lee
Few books have shaken me up as much as “The Gospel Comes With a House Key.” The author, Rosaria Butterfield, paints a picture of the Christian life as one of “ordinary radical hospitality,” where Christians open our lives and homes to the strangers and neighbors around us for the ministry of the Gospel.
Butterfield boasts an intimidating pre-conversion resume. If ever the world were to have a champion of secular ideologies, Butterfield would have been the undisputed title holder. A distinguished professor in a liberal university, an active homosexual, a prominent leader in the LGBTQ community, an articulate and intelligent skeptic of the Christian metanarrative; one could hardly imagine a less likely candidate to be a follower of Jesus.
And yet God saved her miraculously (as he does in all salvations), not through academic arguments, but through the kind hospitality of a Christian pastor and his wife, who invited Butterfield into their home and life, and subsequently into the life of Christ. She has experienced firsthand the barrier-shattering potential of hospitality, which brings the Gospel to bear on the heart not through power and force and imposition, but with gentleness and kindness and sacrificial love.
So Butterfield is uniquely qualified to speak to the necessity of Christian hospitality for Gospel ministry:
“Radically ordinary hospitality is this: using your Christian home in a daily way that seeks to make strangers neighbors, and neighbors family of God. It brings glory to God, serves others, and lives out the Gospel in word and deed. If you are prohibited from using your living space in this way, it counts if you support in some way some household in your church that is doing it. The purpose of radically ordinary hospitality is to build, focus, deepen, and strengthen the family of God, pointing others to the Bible-believing local church and being earthly and spiritual good to everyone we know” (31).
While hospitality may look different now as we are confined to our homes, we are also more exposed to our neighbors than ever before. We may not be able to invite them into our home, but the sidewalk conversations, the bag of groceries, the batch of cookies, the empathetic questions about the difficulties of life can make the path straight for the King and his Gospel. The biblical call to hospitality is more important than ever, and Butterfield sounds that call with an unparalleled clarity and beauty.
Articles
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10 Keys to Solving Marriage Conflict in Quarantine
To further unpack this past Sunday’s sermon, here’s an article that helps us get to the root of our marital conflicts. The author provides 10 principles that are practical in considering how God can be pruning and maturing us in our relationships.
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One of the benefits of the coronavirus is how we’ve been driven to pray. It’s not too late; join us for our monthly prayer meeting tonight.
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5 Insights Into Your Feelings Under Lockdown
COVID-19 has afforded us with ample opportunity to examine our own hearts. Walking through Psalm 73, Peter Mead has us inspect our feelings and how to process them in light of God, His promises and character.
Music
A new album released by a pretty unique musician, Guerra describes his style as “devotional music, less Sunday morning worship music and more Monday morning prayer music.” For more insight, there’s an interview conducted here.
‘All Creatures’ by Rain for Roots: Music We Need Right Now
This collaboration album features eminently singable Scripture songs for kids and grown-ups. A veritable who’s who of Nashville Christian singer-songwriters meld a warm, folksy, Americana sound to biblical truth.
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A few weeks ago, Joni Eareckson Tada made a guest appearance at the Getty’s weekly family hymn singing.
Misc
Rosaria Butterfield on Hospitality in a COVID-19 World
In keeping with the book recommendation, here’s a recent interview that Rosario Butterfield did for Liberty University’s Convocation, specifically addressing the need of hospitality during the pandemic.
The Way Home: Scott James on the Unknowns of COVID-19 and How We Can Pray
In this podcast, a pediatric infectious disease physician discusses COVID-19, the struggles of the unknown, and how to pray for healthcare workers.
A Prayer in a Time of Coronavirus
Speaking of prayer, Daniel Darling models for us how to pray in response to COVID-19.
Available for free, Crossway has released a 7-day video devotional led by pastor Dave Furman. Consider spending this week encouraged to turn to God in the midst of these trying times.
