Category: Gospel-Centered
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5 Life Changing Gospel Perspectives
There are 5 perspectives from the gospel that, when embraced and frequently pondered, shape lives: The need to recognize that God calls for ongoing and continual growth and change in all of us. The need to understand the extent and gravity of our sin. The need to understand that the heart is central; that behavior…
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Gospel Fluency pt 2
I have been listening these past few days to the audio of Jeff Vanderstelt on Gospel Fluency. The concept of Gospel Fluency is simply to learn to speak the language of the gospel, and gospel-centeredness, in every aspect of our everyday lives. Like any language, the the vernacular surrounding gospel-centeredness may initially feel somewhat foreign,…
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Gospel Fluency pt 1
I have been listening these past few days to the audio of Jeff Vanderstelt on Gospel Fluency. The concept of Gospel Fluency is simply to learn to speak the language of the gospel, and gospel-centeredness, in every aspect of our everyday lives. Like any language, the the vernacular surrounding gospel-centeredness may initially feel somewhat foreign,…
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The Cross in the Crosshairs of My Heart
“I tend to focus my thoughts on my Christianity – how I’m doing, what I’m learning, how my prayer time was today, how I avoided that pesky sin or fell into it again. I think about what I’m supposed to accomplish for Christ, and I interact with others on that same works-oriented ground. But this…
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The Determining Factor
In his magnificent and practical work, Spiritual Depression, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones provides this wonderful description of the dynamics of genuine Christianity: “The determining factor in our relationship with God is not our past or present, but Christ’s past and present.” ‘How then does it work?’ It works like this. God accepts this righteousness of Christ,…
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Countering Moralism
Probably the most difficult obstacle for ministry I face is moralism. Despite the obvious declining standard in our culture, licentiousness is not the biggest hurdle. Nor is Biblical and theological illiteracy. Moralism, which substitutes our becoming good in exchange for God’s grace and glory as the essence and goal of Christianity, is a plague that…
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Living By Grace
What an awesome insight from Brennan Manning: “To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God’s grace means.”
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How Faith Speaks
“We can put it this way: the man who has faith is the man who is no longer looking at himself and no longer looking to himself. He no longer looks at anything he once was. He does not look at what he is now. He does not even look at what he hopes to…
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Deeper Into the Gospel
Reflecting on Colossians 1.6, Tullian Tchividjian, in his book Jesus + Nothing = Everything, offers this poignant perspective about the present practicality of the gospel: The gospel represents both the nature of Christian growth and the basis for it. Whatever progress we make in our Christian lives – whatever going onward, whatever pressing forward –…
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Scandalous Freedom
I have been listening to Steve Brown‘s Scandalous Freedom podcasts over the past couple weeks. For those not familiar with Steve, let me issue a warning: Don’t listen to him if you take yourself too seriously or think Christianity is about putting a stamp of approval on your goodness. I guarantee that if you think that…
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Legalism in Light of the Gospel
In light of the gospel, let me especially demolish the myth that legalism is a blunder that’s associated only with our initial salvation—with our positional justification in God’s eyes. Most believers realize we could never earn such salvation; we’ve come to accept that no one can work his way into God’s kingdom… . But when…
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Gospel Greater Than Conservatism & Liberalism
The gospel is neither conservative nor liberal; and at the same time the gospel is both liberal and conservative. This causes a lot of confusion to folks both inside and outside of the Church. On the one hand, the gospel is conservative because it declares that there is such a thing as right and wrong,…
