Benefitting in the Benefactor

Sinclair Ferguson offers this wise insight about the gospel-centered life:

“…we must never separate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ). The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual … but from the New Testament’s point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirtuality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety of a particular group is focused on OUR spirituality that piety will eventually exhaust itself on its own resources. Only where our piety forgets about ourself and focuses on Jesus Christ will our piety nourished by the ongoing resources the Spirit brings to us from the source of all true piety, our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Secret Mystery of Francis Chan

OK, the title of this post is purely to solicit interest. It is a play on the Charlie Chan Mystery series of the 1930’s.  So far as I know Francis Chan is not hiding any secrets.

That said, many are still mystified why Chan would walk away from a successful ministry, and the newfound celebrity he was enjoying as a result of his books, in order to explore other unknown opportunities.  So, at least in that sense, Francis Chan is a man of mystery.

In this video two of Chans peers, Joshua Harris & Mark Driscoll, sit down and try to get Chan to explain his somewhat unusual departure, among other issues.  It is a good discussion.