The Gospel

God in a Crib - in diapers, feeding off His mother's nourishment.

God as an adolescent - growing in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

God as fodder for gossip - "That bastard child," it was said.

God as a scandal - that Friend of sinners, winebibber, glutton.

God as a rebel - that One who pulled rank on religious elites.

God as a teacher - masterful, patient, stern, kind.

God on a cross - vile, exposed, shamed, mocked

God as the Lamb - the Slain, the Sacrifice, the Sacrificer.

God as sin - Who became sin for us, He who'd known no sin.

God as Substitute - The One who took the punishment in place of the Elect.

God as Searcher - Looking for those other lost sheep that must come to Him.

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I concur with the apostle Paul sentiment: "I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the grace of Christ, and are turning to a different gospel - not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to change the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, a curse be on him! As we have said before, I now say again: if anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him! For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ."

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The gospel in brief:

We are unholy. He makes us holy.

We turn away. He turns us back.

We sin. He saves.

Hairy Legs, The Kilt, Other Observations

So I'm sitting at our round table at the Reform and Resurge conference this week...when I saw a guy walk by in shorts....

Shorts? "What in the world", I thought! This guy's got a dress on! I just figured it was a Seattle thing. After all, Seattle is a pretty liberal town. Maybe it was an emerging trend among men?

I finally had the opportunity to ask the hairy-legged kilt-wearer the why question. His answer? His son is in a bag-pipe group and wears a kilt. As dad, he thought he'd try one out a couple of years ago. He's been wearing them ever since. He said that it felt like a bath towel that didn't fall off. I was glad to hear that.

And, no, I didn't ask if he wore boxers or briefs.

I did ask how well it went when he rode his Harley Davidson. He said that he can keep things together when he's in town but that it gets a little challenging on the highway.
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Other Observations:

The Reform and Resurge conference was at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. It is an inner-city mega-church targeting post-modern types.

I didn't really know what to expect.

• Would they teach a compromised gospel?
• Would they be liberal in their view of scripture?
• Would the fact that it was inter-denominational diminish boldness and blur the lines of truth?
• Would they propose a type of moving away from the preaching of the Word of God as the means by which people hear the gospel and are drawn by the Holy Spirit?
• Would their focus on being hip and cool be an idol replacing the beauty and worth of the glorified Christ?
• Would prayer be important?
• Would they be seeker-sensitive in approach?

I was very, very suprised and blown away by how all my fears were answered!

• Gospel: They preached and went over the top in emphasizing the substitutionary nature of the atonement, that people were disgusting, vile sinners who are worse than they first imagined...that God is a God of wrath from whom justice will be eternally served upon the damned...that God is a God of love who is seeking to save that which is lost.
• Scripture: They taught that the scripture is the authoritative, and yes, even Innerant word of God that is to be taught with passion and power. Each session lasted over an hour..and most sessions were preaching. Incidentally, the pastor of Mars Hill, the host church, preaches over an hour each Sunday morning...to postmodern types!
• Truth: I heard more truth at this conference than I've heard at Southern Baptist Meetings. Uncompromised, bold, well-thought out, intensive, passionate, comprehensive. I discovered that there are many, many believers out there that call themselves by other denominational titles that are uncompromising in their teaching of the essential core doctrines of our faith.
• Preaching: Wow! "If you think that preaching doesn't work then you either don't believe the Word or you're not good at it!"
• Idolatry: They were not narcissistic, self-promoting, look-at-how-cool-we-are in presentation. Instead, they were very much centered on Jesus - His beauty, worth and glory!
• Prayer: The host pastor after introducing each guest speaker would stop and pray for the man prior to his preaching. On one occasion we had an open time of congregational prayer for a couple of inner-city church planters. It went on for about 15 minutes or more. Prayer was modeled and taught as vital.
• Seeker-sensitive: Yes, that is, if you're considering God to be the Seeker.

I went away encouraged and filled with hope! Encouraged that there are so many godly people committed to contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints even as they seek to become all things to all men so that some may be saved.

How Can You Tell If You Love Someone?

"Beloved", John writes in 1 John 4:7.

Beloved? What is that?

Well, it's God's view of you. You are one that is in a position of being loved by the Creator and Sustainer of all things. You are a Beloved one.

"But wait," you might say. Isn't that a term used for Jesus?

Sure! Perhaps you'll remember, at Jesus' baptism (Mt.3:17) and at the transfiguration (Mt.17:5, cf.,2 Peter 1:17) the Father spoke out of the heavens and said, "This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him."

How specially loved must be Jesus to the Father! And how did the Father choose to express His love for Jesus? "Beloved"!

Do you hear it? The Father is calling you by the same thing He calls His Son: "Beloved"!

But the chain doesn't end there.

Because of your great privilege as a Beloved one...you are to consider other brothers and sisters in the Lord as Beloved ones. John writes, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:11).

So, what are some tell-tale signs that you're loving someone? Maybe the following items are indicators:

When pierced...your prayer to the Father is for the offender's blessing
When mocked...you ask the Father to forgive the offender
When wronged...you seek to do good to those who've despitefully used you
When maligned...you pray for those who've treated you unfairly

Maybe the question should be reversed. When can I tell that I don't love someone? Maybe the following are some tell-tale signs:

You delight in another's pain
You secretly wish for the embarrasment or hurt of another
You rejoice when another person is in trouble
You take pride in correction...correcting others, that is
You swish the tasty morsel of gossip around your mouth treasuring it's flavor
You seek to make someone else look less....
Less godly
Less wise
Less important
Less socially with it
Less understanding
Less...you get the picture...

The Father loves you.
Jesus loves you.
The fruit of the Spirit is...love....

Do you love?