Jesus: The Centre of It All

By Kurt Mahlburg and Warwick Marsh

Meet The Man Who Changed Everything

 

He's the most influential person who ever lived. But how well do you really know Jesus of Nazareth? This book will bring you face-to-face with the One who holds the universe together; whose horrific death on the cross set the world right again. Discover Jesus as Messiah, Friend of Sinners, Good Shepherd, Light of the World, Coming King—and more. Learn how Jesus and His followers changed the course of history. But most of all, draw near to Him and be refreshed in the truth that Jesus is the centre of it all.

 

PRAISE FOR JESUS: THE CENTRE OF IT ALL

 

There is no greater figure in human history than Jesus of Nazareth. None. Likewise, there is no greater hope for us as individuals, families and nations than Jesus. This book will help us rediscover the uniqueness, majesty and power of Jesus, the God-Man. It is written for all people so that the living Christ can continue to renew our souls from day to day. This is a book for our time, and a book that points to the only hope for any long-term renewal of what is true, beautiful, and good in the modern world. I earnestly recommend it to general readers and also to church and university study groups.
—Dr Stephen Chavura, Historian, Author, Senior Lecturer in History, Campion College, Sydney

 

Through personal stories and biblical narrative, Mahlburg and Marsh's unwavering commitment to declaring the beauty and magnificence of Jesus Christ is evident on every page and the accompanying study notes. This book forces us to look again at Jesus with fresh eyes and a hopeful heart.
—Wendy Francis, National Director of Politics, Australian Christian Lobby

 

As I read this book, my reaction is best articulated using the sentiments expressed by the followers of Christ on the road to Emmaus: "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" Kurt and Warwick's discussions about Christ and their expounding of Scripture fanned the flame of faith in my heart. I loved their raw personal stories too!
—Cindy McGarvie, National Director, Youth for Christ

 

Jesus is indeed "the centre of it all". This book gathers together, in an accessible and manageable form, all that any reader will need to know to find the centre of meaning, of life, and of history. Here is displayed in His power and beauty the world's only true Saviour and Lord.
—Rev R. H. Goodhew, Retired Anglican Archbishop of Sydney

 

Kurt and Warwick have crafted an engaging book full of personal and missionary stories that draw the reader towards the One born of the Virgin; the God-Man; the willing Lamb whose sacrifice washes away our sins; the One true Christ who is the Saviour of the world. Jesus: The Centre of It All is peppered with Christian heroes, saints and sinners. It depicts moments of warmth, times of suffering endured in darkness and abandonment, and occasions of faith bathed in the light of the divine. This book helps shape the heart and mind to the true spiritual path in a world searching for meaning and salvation.
—Patrick J. Byrne, Former National President, National Civic Council

• Language: English
• Publisher: Australian Heart Publishing
• Release date: Dec 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781922480422

Book preview

Introduction

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,

will draw all people to myself."

—JOHN 12:32

It was the late 1960s and protests against the Vietnam War were in full swing. I (Warwick) had long hair and I was part of what people termed the counterculture. Some called us hippies. We listened to groups like Deep Purple, Eric Clapton, Black Sabbath and Jimi Hendrix. Music played an important role in the revolution.

You could get expelled from school for wearing moratorium badges in protest of the war. We wore them anyway. You could get expelled for associating with radical groups like the Students for a Democratic Society. We did it anyway.

I can remember as a teenager going to demonstrations at Sydney University and listening to political activists like Hall Greenland speak on the front lawn of the campus. Often, famous Australian bands like The La De Da’s, Tamam Shud or Black Feather played at the ‘demos’.

My best friends were never ordinary communists. They were Leninists, Stalinists, Trotskyites, or simply anarchists. Those were heady days. We all thought we could bring about peace on earth by singing protest songs and chanting expletives at the police.

Underneath these well-meaning endeavours, however, I was insecure and sad. I had a wonderful mother and father but they just could not get along. At times it was like the Vietnam War in my own home. I could not understand it because both of my parents professed faith.

Dad had a strong faith in Christ, and at the same time, he brought me up to question everything and to think for myself. He himself was a conscientious objector during World War II and he supported me in my stance against the war in Vietnam.

Approximately half of the first twelve years of my life, I grew up apart from Dad because of the ongoing conflict. I never saw my father hit my mother, but I did see my mother draw blood from my father’s face. I can only presume it was not an isolated occurrence.

I even contemplated suicide in moments of dark depression. I did not realise it at the time, but I had a ‘father wound’ and a deep spiritual void in my life. As John Lennon sang, One thing you can’t hide is when you are crippled inside.

It was about this time that I heard the famous evangelist Billy Graham preach the gospel on television. He was talking about the need for everyone to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He shared how we all had a perfect Father in heaven and that God loved the world so much that He sent His Son Jesus on a daring rescue mission—to suffer and die on the cross for the sins of the whole world.

One part of Billy Graham’s sermon stood out to me in particular. He explained that as Jesus was being crucified with a nail driven in each hand, He said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.¹ All around, people mocked Jesus, including the soldiers, religious leaders, the onlooking crowds and even the criminals who were crucified either side of Him. But then one of the two rebels hanging next to Jesus realised his error and, turning to the Saviour, he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus’ reply to this despised and forgotten thief filled me with hope: Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.²

That night in 1969, I knelt beside my bed and gave my life to Christ.

Soon after, I read Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand—a powerful book about followers of Jesus facing persecution at the hands of the communists in eastern Europe. That story, more than any other, shook my faith in the Marxist doctrine and I began to pull away from majoring in political change to focus on my own much-needed heart change.

I became the youth leader at my local Baptist church in the Blue Mountains near Sydney and began using my musical skills to share the message of Christ. Almost five decades later, I am still in full-time ministry. I have served as a musical evangelist, a missionary, a prayer leader, a cultural reformer and a champion of Christian values. My most important ministry of all is to my wife, my five children and my ten grandchildren. I have learned that family is the prize.

In the pages that follow, my co-author Kurt will share parts of his own story of faith. The gospel has transformed both of our lives. We are convinced that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection was the turning point of history. And we can testify from personal experience that Jesus is the answer to all of life’s big questions and the deepest yearnings of the human soul. Simply, we believe that Jesus is the centre of it all.

The name Jesus is the English rendering of the Hebrew name Yeshua, which means the Lord saves. There could hardly be a more appropriate name. It was actually a name revealed directly from heaven. When the virgin Mary found herself miraculously pregnant, her fiancé Joseph raised more than an eyebrow. He seriously considered breaking off the engagement. The Gospel of Matthew explains what happened next:

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.³

Jesus grew up in a little town called Nazareth in northern Israel, likely learning the carpentry trade from His father Joseph. He was mostly unknown until about the age of 30, when God thrust Him into a whirlwind, three-year ministry that changed the world.

As the angel foretold, Jesus was revealed to be the Saviour. It was a multifaceted mantle that included his identity as the Messiah, God in flesh, a friend of sinners, a radical revolutionary, the way to God, the Good Shepherd and so much more.

This short book is our humble attempt to frame the most important aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry. Consider it a portrait gallery of artworks, all featuring the same subject, but from different angles and in various shades and