Tag: Gospel
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Resources for Racial Reconciliation
Since February is designated as Black History Month in the USA, I wanted to take the opportunity to post something that might be helpful in the ongoing discussions about Racial Divides and Racial Reconciliation. Racial tension and racial division are major issues in our culture – and, sadly, still issues in the American Church. This…
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The Gospel is Saying
“The gospel is saying that, what man cannot do in order to be accepted with God, this God Himself has done for us in the person of Jesus Christ. To be acceptable to God we must present to God a life of perfect and unceasing obedience to his will. The gospel declares that Jesus has…
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Are We Singing the Same Song?
I cannot recall who said this, nor where I first read it, but the following statement resonates with me: Jesus’ life and teaching always attracted a crowd; he was loved by the irreligious and was outcast and hated by the moralistic, legalistic, religious types. If our lives and proclamations of the gospel are not having…
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Winning By Losing
Here are two great quotes from Robert Farrar Capon‘s The Parables of Grace: “Jesus came to save a lost and losing world by his own lostness and defeat; but in this wide world of losers, everyone except Jesus remains firmly, if hopelessly, committed to salvation by winning… it would be funny if it were not…
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Selling Out the Gospel at the Altar of Politics
I don’t do politics on social media (nor in the pulpit), but I feel an exception is warranted – on social media, anyway. With the exception that I don’t really care that Donald Trump has not previously held public office, nor do I care that neither Ben Carson nor Carly Fiorina have ever held public office, pretty much…
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Symbol of a New Day Dawning
From time to time I am asked why I have a rooster for a profile picture, both on my blog and on Facebook. What’s more, the rooster is also the screensaver on my phone. I use these images for more reason than just the bucolic tranquility they depict. The rooster has a long history as…
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The Deconstructed Gospel
What is the gospel? My first semester at seminary I showed up feeling called by God to become a pastor and I couldn’t say what the gospel was. Sure I had an idea. Isn’t the gospel that we’re “saved by faith” or that “Jesus rose again”? The word gospel comes from the Greek word that…
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Seeing the Cross With Bi-Focals
Is is essential to keep together these two complementary ways of looking at the cross. On the human level, Judas gave him up to the priests, who gave him up to Pilate, who gave him up to the soldiers, who crucified him. But on the divine level, the Father gave him up, and he gave…
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How to Preach the Gospel to Yourself
Paul, in Colossians 2.6, instructs us: “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him…” Simple words, but powerfully practical when unpacked. How did we “receive” Jesus? By faith and repentance – or by repentance and faith. We are not quite sure which comes first, but perhaps…
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Gospel vs. Legalism
What is the difference between legalism and the gospel? Legalism (or Moralism) says God looks at how well we keep the law. The Gospel says we are hidden in Christ. So God sees how well Jesus kept the Law (perfectly), all his works, and his death on our behalf. Consequently, because we are hidden in…
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Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves Each and Every Day
C.J. Mahaney reminds us of the importance and benefits of preaching the gospel to ourselves each and every day.
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Gospel Wakefulness
One of the more helpful works I have read concerning gospel-centered Christianity is Jared Wilson‘s Gospel Wakefulness. Perhaps most insightful to me was Jared’s point that gospel-centeredness can be explained but cannot be taught. In other words, it requires a grace of the holy spirit. I do not think this realization moves gospel-centeredness into a…
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Counterfeit Gospels
Having begun a new series of messages at our church, Freedom: A Study of Galatians, I am struck anew by the passion with which the Apostle Paul uncompromisingly declares: “There is NO OTHER Gospel!” What Paul does throughout his letter to the Galatians, and vividly in the opening verses, is to impress that claim upon…
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11 Personal Heart Examination Points to Consider
It might be beneficial to periodically take some moments to consider if, to some degree, we are functionally forgetting the gospel. “Forgetting the gospel?” Yep. As absurd as such a thing may sound, it is a very common spiritual issue for all of us. Consider 2 Peter 1.3-9: His divine power has granted to us all things that…
