Category: Gospel
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Hope for Humility
I’ve heard Steve Brown offer this amusing anecdote: “I was given a pin by my club for being the most humble member. They took it away because I wore it.” I have much to be humble about. But, if I was in Steve Brown’s club, no one would have ever given me a pin in the…
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Dynamics of the Spiritual Life
Christians who are no longer sure that God loves and accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual achievements, are subconsciously radically insecure persons – much less secure than non-Christians, because they have too much light to rest easily under the constant bulletins they receive from their Christian environment about the holiness of God…
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Enduring Aroma of the Gospel
People don’t earn God’s approval or receive life and salvation because of anything they’ve done. Rather, the only reason they receive life and salvation is because of God’s kindness through Christ. There is no other way. Many Christians are tired of hearing this teaching over and over. They think that they learned it all long…
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Sharing the Father’s Welcome
Tim Keller’s new book, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, will be released in a few weeks, on October 31. In the book Keller presents a powerful expression of the gospel, rooted in the parable of the Prodigal Son. Having heard Keller teach from this parable, I am looking forward to the…
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Respectable Sins
One of the books on my bedside table is Respectable Sins, by Jerry Bridges. The subtitle of the book is: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate. The theme becomes self explanatory. In his preface Bridges explains the motive behind the book: “The motivation for this book stems from a growing conviction that those of us whom I call conservative…
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The Gospel in 6 Minutes
What is the Gospel? While in many ways this should be a simple question to answer, experience has taught me that many people are confused about what the Gsopel is. Most agree that the Gospel is something good. But they are confused about what particularly defines the Gospel. Some see the Gospel as merely that…
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Thoughts About the Resurrection
That the resurrection is an essential aspect of Christianity seems to me to be a ‘no brainer’. But recently I had a dialogue with an individual who does not share this view. As I have thought about that dialogue I have come to realize that this person is not entirely wrong, though still, I think, confused. Let me…
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Hard Grace
“Even though we are now in faith, the heart is always ready to boast itself before God and say: ‘After all, I have preached the law, and lived so well and done so much that surely He will take this into account ‘. We even want to haggle with God to make Him regard our…
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The A-to-Z of the Christian Life
“The gospel shows us that our spiritual problem lies not only in failing to obey God, but also in relying on our obedience to make us fully acceptable to God, ourselves and others. Every kind of character flaw comes from this natural impulse to be our own savior through our performance and achievement. On the…
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Following Jesus in Different Directions?
I’ve been pondering the following assertion from Ron Sider‘s Living Like Jesus: “Still, the modern church prefers to accept only half of Jesus. They willingly accept him either as model or as mediator – but not both. Some urge us to follow his example of love and social concern, but they forget about the cross. Others…
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I Want to Walk Free, But I Still Hear the Chains Rattling
As a pastor I frequently encourage people to embrace the Gospel. It is not just to unbelievers that I present that challenge, but to believers as well – even to some who have been Christians for decades. We all need to grow in grace, and live by grace day by day. But as easy as it…
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Scarlett Letter Today
Inspired by an analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlett Letter, on NPR’s All Things Considered, my friend Nathan Lewis probes beyond the literary and sociologic interests offered from the program. Nathan asks two striking questions: “Have we learned from Hawthorne’s scathing presentation of hypocrissy?” “Would Hester [Prynne] be welcome in our community of faith?” I want to…
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The Mark of the Christian (part 5)
by Francis Schaeffer When Christians Disagree What happens, then, when we must differ with other brothers in Christ because of the need also to show forth God’s holiness either in doctrine or in life? In the matter of life, Paul clearly shows us the balance in I and II Corinthians. The same thing applies in…
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Are We Declaring a Defective Gospel?
by Rick Wood, Managing Editor Mission Froniers Magazine U.S. Center for World Mission Is the Gospel message that hundreds of thousands of missionaries are proclaiming around the world defective? Have hundreds of millions of people bought into a message that is, at its heart, unbiblical? If true, this would be like Bill Gates sending…
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Gospel Advancement & World Perspective
The March/April 2008 edition of Mission Frontiers magazine addresses a very important issue effecting the contemporary American and European church. While the Gospel is advancing wildly in several parts of the world, many formerly active church members are walking away from the church – and often Christianity – across North America and in Western Europe.…
