It's been awhile but I'm back with another interview.
Today's guest is Johnnie Moore.
Johnnie is the 29 year-old Vice President of Liberty University. He is an author, commentator, advisor, professor, faith leader, university public relations executive, and humanitarian whose work has garnered the attention of leaders around the world.
His latest book is “Dirty God: Jesus in the Trenches” which just released with Thomas Nelson on January 1, 2013. I recently reviewed his book here: Dirty God
OK, let's get to it:
1. Your new book, Dirty God, has just been released. Who would you say is the target audience?
The book is written for Christians and non-Christians alike, and is for all ages. While I primarily minister to college students, and most of my experience is with college students, I've written the book for everyone and I'm hearing from a surprising amount of middle-aged, and older, adults.
2. Why did you want to take on a book about grace?
My book deals with grace, given and gotten, through the lens of Jesus' humanity. While lots of people have written on the subject very few people have written on it from the perspective of Jesus' everydayness. I believe Jesus, who was both fully God and fully man, came as he came for a reason, and it's within his humanity that we find out how to live the life he has designed us to live. So, this book deals with the Jesus who lived in a village of 400 people called Nazareth and the Jesus who hung out with vagabond bunch of disciples who had personalities that drove him up a wall. It's a book about Jesus' occasional temper and his temptation to give up, and the tenderness with which he approached the woman at the well. It's grace through the lens of the Jesus - who was the God who chose to look like a man on the chance that men would follow a God that looked like them.
3. Do you think Christians have a harder time receiving grace or giving grace?
We love receiving God's grace, but we're not so good at giving it. We
have to aggressive combat this selfishness, and that's why I spend the
second half of the book really unpacking
why we must, and why we don't live lives of grace. I also paint the
picture of what could happen if we did.
4. How do you balance grace and truth?
Grace - properly understood - is a friend with truth, and they contribute to one another. There's a whole chapter on this in the book.
5. What do you want readers to take away from your book? 4. How do you balance grace and truth?
Grace - properly understood - is a friend with truth, and they contribute to one another. There's a whole chapter on this in the book.
I just want them to understand and love Jesus more, and then become vessels of his kindness to world in desperate need of it.
Thank You Johnnie!
I would encourage you to check out Johnnie's website here and to pick up a copy of Dirty God today.