Good stuff...

I have been listening to the audiobook version of Charles Spurgeon's classic "All of Grace". What a soul-feast! It is pure gospel for your soul's needs - converted or unconverted. Give it a read or a listen. Here's a nibble:

A Certain man placed a fountain by the wayside, and he hung up a cup near to it by a little chain. He was told some time after that a great art-critic had found much fault with its design. "But," said he, "do many thirsty persons drink at it?" Then they told him that thousands of poor people, men, women, and children, slaked their thirst at this fountain; and he smiled and said, that he was little troubled by the critic's observation, only he hoped that on some sultry summer's day the critic himself might fill the cup, and be refreshed, and praise the name of the Lord.

Here is my fountain, and here is my cup: find fault if you please; but do drink of the water of life. I only care for this. I had rather bless the soul of the poorest crossing- sweeper, or rag-gatherer, than please a prince of the blood, and fail to convert him to God.

Who Needs the Gospel?

Many Christians believe that "The Gospel" is for non-believers alone. Once a person becomes a Christian they leave the "ABC's" of Christianity to go on to deeper things. But the Gospel is not the ABC's of the faith; it is the "A to Z" of the faith. We never go beyond the gospel, we just go deeper.

St. Paul considered the Christians at Rome to be "loved by God and called to be saints" (v.7). And yet he can say to these believers that, "I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome." (v.15) The Gospel is for believers too!

A mark of a revitalized church is that it is "Gospel-Driven and Christ-Centered". What, then, is the Gospel? The gospel includes all that God has done for us in Christ, past, present and future. Consider these elements of the gospel:

Deliverance - "Past"

• The Persuasion of Sin – Effectual Calling (A New Perspective) - Romans 8:30, 2 Thess. 2:14. God gives us eyes to see and ears to hear!
• The Power of Sin – Regeneration (A New Heart) – John 3:3, Titus 3:5. We exercise saving faith and godly repentance!
• The Penalty of Sin – Justification (A New Record) – Rom. 3:21-24. In justification the Lord has cleansed us from our sin and clothed us with His righteousness!
• The Position of Sin - Adoption (A New Family) – Eph 1:5, Rom 8:15. With God as our Father we relate to him as redeemed sons and daughters.

Deliverance - "Present"

• The Practice of Sin – Sanctification (A New Life) – Eph 4:22-24. God works holiness into our lives as we walk in repentance and obedience to Him.

Deliverance - "Future"

• The Presence of Sin - Glorification (A New Home) – Romans 8:30, 2 Cor 5:1. Not just new bodies in the new heaven and earth, but new desires to love God and new capacities to enjoy him!

What fuel for meditation, worship, and application! That should give us all a lot to chew on. Join us next Sunday in our "From Embers to a Flame" Family Bible Hour class as we feast together on the Gospel!

The well wisher of your soul's happiness,

Pastor Tom

Calvinist Hip-Hop?!

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Good Stuff...

Pretty amazing quote considering the source...

"Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding line, and no way of knowing how near the harbor was. "Light! Give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour."

Helen Keller

This week's article is from an interview with Dr. Ed Stetzer on "missional living". I hope you find it as challenging as I did. My hope is that God would shape us as a church of true missionaries to our community!

How would you define "missional living"?

Missional living is essentially living with our primary perspective as that of an ambassador for the Kingdom of God. It means making our lives not about us, but about Jesus and His Kingdom.

In an alliterated sense, missional living is an incarnational (being the presence of Christ in community), indigenous (of the people and culture) and intentional (planning our lives around God's agenda) focus on the power of the Gospel to bring the reign of God into people's lives.

What keeps people from missional living?

Believers do not live missionally for two primary reasons:

a) because they believe someone else is doing it; or worse,

b) they are selfish.

Too many Christians assume or deceive themselves into believing that someone else has explained the Gospel to our neighbors, co-workers and friends. Beyond that, believers choose their traditions over the mission. Entire congregations have decided that "the way we do things" is superior to the mission to go, be and tell the Gospel in understandable ways to the culture surrounding them.

Ten Tips for Missional Living

1. Understand the Gospel. The mission of God is consumed with the person and work of Christ. As you understand Christ, you can accurately participate in God's work of redemption. So read the Gospels—a lot.
   
2. Take an eternal view of people. The friends, neighbors and co-workers around you have an eternity in front of them. We need to see them as God does and care for them accordingly.
   
3. Be friendly. A Christian should be the most trustworthy confidant another person has in the world. Believers should be the kind of people everyone else wants to be around.
   
4. Watch for a chance to serve. People use up all of their energy on family, work and menial chores. Look for ways you can care for your neighbors—even if it is just cooking a simple dinner for them.
   
5. Be truthful. Missional believers contend for the faith while speaking in a way understandable to the hearer. No matter what, be ready to talk about the truths in Scripture.
   
6. Love like Jesus. He lived a robust life of caring for the lost. In elevating sacrificial love far beyond any previous thinking, He gave an example for us.
   
7. Be on guard. As you work alongside the King to extend His Kingdom, our spiritual enemy will immediately attack. Guard your heart in holiness.
   
8. Live missionally at home. Family is the first place for the mission of God in your life. When people see the impact it has on your home, they will be more willing to trust its veracity for their own lives.
   
9. Show patience. People are farther away from understanding the Gospel than in previous generations. Do not hesitate to invite them to submit to Christ, but know that they have plenty of questions that might need answering first.
   
10. Do it for one reason—the glory of God. The only reason to be missional is to make Christ more widely known. God is worthy of being honored by all of creation, and it should be the main reason why we participate in His mission.