Christopher Wright: The Whole Gospel
“The whole gospel” must be:
- a Christ-centred story to be told
- a hope-filled message to be proclaimed
- a revealed truth to be defended
- a new status to be received
- a transformed life to be lived
- a divine power to be celebrated.
—Christopher Wright, via Albert Mohler.
Source: thegospelcoalition.org
One of the most wonderful things about being a Christian is that I don’t ever get up in the morning and wonder if what I do matters. I live every day to the fullest because I can live it through Christ and I know no matter what I do today, I’m going to do something to advance the Kingdom of God.
Chuck Colson, http://chuckcolson.org
Source: chuckcolson.org
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
(Galatians 6:14, ESV)
Source: desiringgod.org
Prayer of Confession: Galatians 5:1
O Lord,
You are our Father, and we are but earth and mire;
You are our Creator, and we are the work of your hands;
You are our Shepherd, and we are your flock;
You are our Redeemer, and we are the people you have bought back;
You are our God, and we are your inheritance.
Therefore, do not be angry against us, to correct us in your wrath.
Do not recall our sin, to punish it, but chastise us gently in your kindness.
Be mindful that your name is upon us, that we bear your mark and badge.
Undertake the work you have already begun in us by your grace, that the whole earth may recognize that you are our God and Savior.
We pray this in the strong name of Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
(Galatians 5:1 ESV)
Source: redeemer.com
Prayer & Benediction for Community Bible Church Ilderton
On April 1, 2012—my last official Sunday as Pastoral Intern at Community Bible Church - Ilderton—I prayed the following Prayer & Benediction at the end of the Sunday Worship Service:
—
Our Gracious Father,
Our Merciful Heavenly Father,
We bow our hearts and bend our knees before you. With a heart of immense gratefulness, we thank you for being our God who is full of grace and truth, mercy and love.
Because it is you who sent your Son Jesus to die and rise to new life, in order that we too might live a new life. You love us, Father, in spite of all our failings, forgiving us, as we confess our sins to you.
You are our Shepherd, and we are your sheep, not because we have gone looking for a Good Shepherd and found a man to fit our needs…But we are your sheep, because we have been looked for and been found by the Good Shepherd. While we were wayward, you came off your throne and you ran out to find us. With your rod & your staff, you disciplined us; you comforted us; you found us and brought us into your safe and loving arms.
Father, thank you for bringing me to Ilderton, for such a time as this. For this season–the past 5 months–you have blessed me with this opportunity to serve the body of Christ here; to assist Pastor Andrew (& Byron) in the ministry of the church.
Thank you for giving me this chance to learn and sit under Andrew’s leadership. I have been blessed by the fellowship of believers here. I can see that there is a body of believers here who love Jesus and his gospel, who trust and feast on your Word. Above all other things, I am thankful that the message of Jesus’s sacrificial love is having a transforming impact in the members here: Members of the church who love and care for each other; who pray daily for one another.
I thank you for your work in their lives. And I pray that even in my absence, they would grow in their faith in You, in their relationship with the Lord, increasing in their love for one another, just as as Christ loved them and gave himself up for them.
Now may the God of peace
who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great shepherd of the sheep,
by the blood of the eternal covenant,equip you with everything good that you may do his will,
working in us that which is pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ,to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen.
(Hebrews 13:20-21 ESV)
Travis Freeman: My Thoughts on 23 Blast
My former roommate, Travis Freeman, is the subject of a new movie, 23 Blast (in production). The movie is inspired by Travis’ life events—specifically his journey of overcoming blindness, to the point of playing high school football!
This movie is not “the Travis Freeman story.” It is a story inspired by the events of my life. This means that some things happen in the movie that either did not happen in real life, or maybe happened in a different time frame from that depicted in the movie. Having been around the cast and crew, I know that they want to capture the spirit and many of the events of my life’s story. I am confident that they will achieve this goal.
Source: tfreeman63
Why do we assume that finding a certain someone will solve all our problems?
Relationships aren’t bad. In fact, we’re made to find our significant other. But if we place our highest hope in that certain someone, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.
Think about it: What makes you think that putting two problem-plagued people together will make all their problems go away?
Source: jrtong13
A New Movement, A New Great cause, A New Way of Being Israel
In the time of Jesus, the hills above the Sea of Galilee used to be the hangout for… revolutionaries, for outlaws ready to defeat the pagan Romans and to bring in the kingdom of God—by force if necessary….a generation before Jesus, some of the revolutionaries had been smoked out from them by King Herod…. Nearby is the so- called ‘Mount of the Beatitudes’…where Jesus preached his most famous sermon.
But why did Jesus go up there to instruct his followers?…To hear some people talk, you’d think that the Sermon on the Mount consisted simply of Jesus telling people to be nice to each other. The popular image of the sermon is of a gentle, quietly romantic view of the religious life, somewhat detached from the world. [But] what was it all about?
Jesus…was staging a new movement, a new great cause. He was calling his hearers to a new way of being Israel, of being God’s people for the world. Why was there a ‘chosen people’ in the first place? According to the Bible, God chose Abraham and his family as his means of solving the problem of the whole world…they would be the people through whom God would eventually put the world to rights…. Some of Jesus’ contemporaries were hot-headed, zealous revolutionaries. But Jesus was calling them to be the people of God in a radically new way. He solemnly announced God’s blessings—but he blessed all the wrong people: the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, the pure in heart, the persecuted, the peacemakers. When the real revolution comes, he seems to be saying, the revolutionaries [of coercive force] won’t get a look in….
— N.T.Wright, The Original Jesus.
Source: redeemer.com
The Power and Priority of Marriage
The reason [marriage] must have priority is because of the power of marriage. Marriage has the power to set the course of your life as a whole. If your marriage is strong, even if all the circumstances in your life around you are filled with trouble and weakness, it won’t matter. You will be able to move out into the world in strength. However, if your marriage is weak, even if all the circumstances in your life around you are marked by success and strength, it won’t matter. You will move out into the world in weakness. Marriage has that kind of power—the power to set the course of your whole life. It has that power because it was instituted by God. And because it has that unequalled power, it must have an unequalled, supreme priority.
Keller, Timothy (2011-11-01). The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God (p. 123). Penguin Group. Kindle Edition. Bold emphasis mine.
