Turning Your World Upside Down: Kingdom Priorities in the Parables of Jesus

by Richard D. Phillips

The parables of Jesus pose a striking challenge to current thinking about personal relationships, money, security, and success. They search our hearts and try our attitudes, showing us the truth about ourselves and pointing the way God wants us to go.

The parables confront our worldliness with the searching perspective of heaven-all the while deepening our understanding of salvation and the priorities of Christ our King. In short, they turn our world upside down.

Richard Phillips shows how as he explores Jesus' parables of the sower, the rich fool, the lost treasure, and many more in these thirteen chapters. Discussion questions help to make this book well suited to group or individual study.

229 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2003

About the author

Richard D. Phillips (MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary) is the senior minister of Second Presbyterian Church of Greenville, South Carolina. He is a council member of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, chairman of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology, and coeditor of the Reformed Expository Commentary series.

Reviews

[Sarah Ryburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our most recent discipleship group reading-very good and thought-provoking. Solid discussion of parables Jesus used to teach, particularly as told in gospel of Luke. Provoked excellent discussion in our group, too.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent resource for studying the parables of Jesus. I am sure I will return to it many times.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine. Phillips is the master at stating the obvious, but sometimes that can be helpful. If you want to introduce the parables to a new or young Christian, this would be a good start. Don't look for anything cutting-edge (which is usually not what you want in theology anyway!). His interpretations of the parables are standard and helpful. Sometimes he lets his imagination get away from him with details in the parables that Jesus does not share (sometimes he seems to forget that these characters did not actually exist in real life), and at times the connections to the gospel are perhaps slightly strained, but that is probably partly because these were originally sermons (is that a valid excuse? I'm not sure).

Anyhow, solid, workmanlike, quickly read.

[Jonathan Markham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book as a frame work for a series of sermons on parables in Luke. It was very helpful in stimulating my thinking

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book to read be read slowly. It calls the reader to ponder his own life in the light of our Lord Jesus Christ's teaching.

[Zack · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent homiletical treatment of Jesus’s parables recorded in Luke. In this book, Phillips is careful, engaging, and useful, if not always comprehensive. I highly recommend this.

[Duane Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

An overview of key parables taught by Jesus. I found the book useful as a resource for Bible study, especially for the later parables taught near the end of Jesus' ministry (Luke 20, Matthew 24, 25).