"What Jesus is warning us against here, among other things, is the invocation of his name apart from the application of his teaching."
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Building on the Rock:
Practical Advice from Jesus! by Bob Buehler Trafford Publishing
book review by RJM Terrado
In a rightly challenging approach to Christian living, Buehler provides a valuable tool for born-again Christians in all stages of spiritual growth. Building on the Rock has applications both for young Christians who are making sense of their newfound faith and older Christians, including church workers, who have been exposed to standard teachings about the grace of God and are struggling to reconcile it with the seemingly idealistic principle of following Jesus. As Buehler describes it, the book tries to address the gap between the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith and the high standard for both the attitude and behavior Jesus laid down in his sermons on the Mount found in Matthew chapters five to seven.
To improve the readability of what may otherwise be an old topic, Buehler interjects different stories throughout his discussion of Jesus' teachings on the Mount. His prayer with a woman who claims she doesn't know how to pray, his moment of double-mindedness, and his attendance to parties where booze and pot abound just so to proclaim Christ as the better way, put a human face to this seemingly mundane topic. By drawing from his experience, Buehler clearly illustrates each charter of Christian ethics and provides a clearer insight into why each of the issue raised in Matthew chapters five to seven is actually a spinoff of grace rather than an antithesis of it.
Like so many other Christian authors, Buehler tries to provide significant added value to practicing Jesus' teachings like real respect, active love, forgiveness, and prayer from the heart. He successfully casts them as practical wisdom, and not necessarily, impractical ideals.