In This Edition:
The God of the Towel: A Conversation with Jim McGuiggan
What’s Happening On The West Side?
The God of the Towel: A Conversation with Jim McGuiggan
Jim McGuiggan’s strong Irish accent is almost as unforgettable as his passionate love for Jesus Christ. His moving sermons, lectures, website and books have lifted our spirits, rekindled our love for God, and moved us to center our reading of Scripture in Jesus Christ as the interpreter. Jim now lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his daughter, Linda. I sat down with Jim for episode 15 of the Life on the West Side podcast.
Q: What inspired you to write The God of the Towel?
I’m not sure that I know now very well! But I know I was very big on Jesus Christ. Every now and again one of these stories that you see and you read and you hear and rejoice in—these guys bring a woman taken in adultery. They put her down, draw a circle around her. And all the crowd is looking at her. And they are cheering and waiting to see what they were gonna do with Christ. And Christ draws a bigger circle that takes them in…And because we’ve known, and because we’ve all struggled with our own sin that we’ve gotten forgiveness of—that has worried us greatly, and we are guilt-ridden and all of that—and he comes and says “I don’t condemn you either. Go and don’t do it again.” And you feel like jumping up and praising him, you know— “Good for you!” And that kind of spirit [is seen in] other stories….He wanted us to know “you don’t have to earn your keep with me.” …
All these beloved people in my life (and the one’s that I’ve forgot) will all be there. And he will make them all feel at home. And when you meet him—when you meet God—you end up meeting two Jesus’ so to speak, where Jesus is the spittin’ image. And in him the fullness of God is made known. So, why did I write the little book? I had to write it with that kind of thing in mind.
Q: What are we doing wrong in our church services? What can we work on in our congregational assemblies?
Yeah, a number of things. I think we underestimate our assembly and what is happening when we gather. I really do think that. People can’t know who we are—the place where they really know what our faith is centered on is in our assemblies…When we get there, makes him center—God is center.
We don’t see the supper as a place of celebration as well as thanksgiving for forgiveness. You are on your own; there’s nobody there. There are no two guys on the side. There are no Romans. There are no women sobbing. There are no disciples. Just you and him. And you are looking up, and this young man is dying; he’s right on the edge of it. And you want to know, “what is happening here?” And you hear someone saying, “the world is reconciling the world here.” What is happening here? Death is being destroyed here. What is happening here? Sins—all of that that is against you—has been annulled…All of that. That’s whats happening here. Right now when I see this kid dead. And that is what we are doing on the Lord’s Day when we come together and we take the bread and we take the wine and together we announce the death of Jesus Christ and the meaning of the death of Jesus Christ and the consequences that follow it and his coming again. We don’t know what we are doing at the supper. And I hold us responsible mainly for those who are leading us. Yeah, the supper is profound. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, “do you know what the supper is? It’s a protest against all demonic worship. When you go to the supper and all together there is one loaf, and we all participate with one another and fellowship with Jesus Christ we are saying one thing. Up in the Temples, they are saying things about demonic power, and this, that, and the other. We are defying them with a meal. This is what we are doing here.”
(photo credit: Scholar Works at Harding)
Q: If you could speak to all the preachers in the world, and could only tell them one thing, what would say to make our preaching all that God wants it to be?
You must have noticed that Jesus is always talking about himself. Do you know Jonah? I’m greater than Jonah. Do you know Solomon? Solomon on his best day, I’m better than him. The temple wasn’t just a building. It was the center where God had made himself present in the midst of the people. It was more than a building, and it was more than a building to Jesus. But Jesus would say to them, you know the temple, don’t you? I’m greater than the temple. Do you want to see the Torah? Look at me. I’m the development of and the fulfillment of [it]. I am where the pedagogue points and brings you… The Holy Spirit will glorify me. The Holy Spirit will not say a word that is not about me. God wants himself seen and known because he’s speaking to humans, and he wants to manifest himself in relationship to humans in Jesus of Nazareth. I would say that. Christ is. Any hermeneutic that is not God centered is a bad hermeneutic. Any hermeneutic that is not Christo-centric to be God-centered is a bad hermeneutic.
It’s important for preachers to get what is central. Do you want to be a churchman or one of those academics who writes for academics? If you want to be a churchman, whatever you do, get your material and give it to them. I know good preaching when I hear it. And those who speak to the rank and file have to take into account who they are and speak according to their needs. And their first need to help them live their lives out is to introduce them to Jesus Christ, and then develop them, as Paul said. Your business is to bring believers to maturity and to get to know him.
And this I would say. Paul in 1 Corinthians says look, when you come to the assembly, choose the best gifts for educational growth. And then he says you know, if I knew everything, if I had the answer for all the questions, and I didn’t have love, I am nothing. He goes on to say that kind of thing. And he talks about quantity of knowledge. He’s really talking about what real knowledge is. I’d say that.
Paul said do you want to get to know God? You love that man. You love. I’d tell them that. I’d tell preachers that.
Excerpts from Episode 15 of the Life on the West Side podcast, titled “The God of the Towel: An Interview With Jim McGuiggan” Available on all podcast platforms.
What’s Happening On The West Side?
Sunday Morning Sermon Series: A Good & Beautiful God
Don’t you love a good dinner table? Table is where you tell stories; it’s where you share stories. And who we eat with tells a lot about our story. The self-righteous and well-to-do tried to think up the worst thing they could say about Jesus. And here is what they came up with: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
A few weeks ago, we began a morning series exploring the goodness of God. A helpful resource during this series is James Bryan Smith’s book The Good and Beautiful God. This Sunday, we will look at the feast thrown for the prodigal son and the claim that Jesus welcomes sinners and invites them to the table. You can watch the sermons live at 9 AM (CST) streamed on facebook or YouTube, or visit my website later to watch the sermon, get the discussion guide, read a transcript, or listen to it as a podcast.
Coffee Time with Mark and Casey
Casey MacDonald and Mark Gregory work through Scripture and offer an encouraging word each Monday morning at 8 AM on facebook livestream called “Coffee Time.” Tune in and start your week off right!
Podcast Catch Up
My interview with Jim McGuiggan provides a fitting introduction to my sermon series “The Good and Beautiful God.” The lessons are now appearing on the Life on the West Side podcast, and all past lessons of this series will continue to drop over the next two weeks. Once we are caught up, the goal is to publish the current Sunday morning sermon every Tuesday following the presentation, interviews intermittently as they are recorded, and Sunday evening sermons as a complete package unit once a series is completed. I hope these lessons and interviews will be a blessing to you.
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My name is Nathan Guy, and I serve as the preaching minister for the West Side Church of Christ in Searcy, Arkansas. I am happily married to Katie and am the proud father of little Grace. You can find more resources on my website over at nathanguy.com. Follow me: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.