Why Believe: Reflections on John’S Gospel

By Bruce Tong

In a glorifying moment with God, this book was born. As author Bruce Tong wrestled with a deep question about how many Christians live life with a huge wall of frustration and unwanted failure in front of them that leads to the wave of complacency that infects the Church, God showed him that it comes down to the difference between believing and believing in Jesus.
There is a simple little verse in Johns Gospel: The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent (John 6:29 NIV). As if it were dancing on the paper, this thought came to Bruce: many Christians say that they believe in Jesus but live a life that would suggest that nothing has changed. Its as if the shroud of Christianity is only reserved for Sundays and the rest of the week is about living for the world. They say, I believe in Jesus, but I will carry on living my life the way I want.
Then there are the people who believe Jesus. In other words, their lives have been immersed in Jesus. He is their everything, and you can see it by the way they live, what they say, and how they act.
Bruce sat there stunned for a while. Could it be that simple? Is belief simply faith in action? He needed to find out, so he began to turn the pages of Johns Gospel, and it was as if a large hand jumped out of every page, slapped him on the face, and pulled his head to the word believe, saying, Look at this! Read that. The journey began, and ideas began to flow. He began to view this wonderful Gospel with different eyes and through a revitalised, open heart. Each word that was written on paper not only transformed his understanding but also began to transform him.
He hopes that this journey will be as encouraging for you as it was for him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris NZ
• Release date: Feb 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781499099355

Bruce Tong

Bruce Tong was born in Zambia to missionary parents who worked for the Salvation Army. He spent the first eleven years of his life experiencing what a third-world culture is like. Returning to New Zealand with his family, Bruce continued his journey in the Salvation Army in this new culture, both in its social entities and through its holiness teaching. It was during his late teenage years that he felt God calling him to greater things, the first of which was marriage. He met the love of his life in a neighbouring Salvation Army church, and the rest is history. With their small family, Bruce and Valerie went to train as Salvation Army officers at the Booth College of Mission, where they graduated with diplomas in biblical studies and readied themselves for the adventure ahead. At Bruce’s commissioning, he became a third-generation officer. This rich heritage he has in the Salvation Army is part of his DNA, which he draws on when he speaks or writes. Bruce and his wife have worked for the Salvation Army as corps officers (church ministers) for fourteen years in various communities throughout New Zealand, gaining many life skills that have shaped both of them into the people they are today. He draws on those experiences as an officer and a family man—as a son, father, and husband—a graduate in biblical studies, and a qualified spiritual director to fulfil his mission in life, which is to have a loving and intimate relationship with God and to encourage others to do the same.

Book preview

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