The Rooted Church

I find it clear, not just logically, but biblically clear that the church should be rooted in the gospel. However, to be gospel centered is to be word centered. Christians are charged to spread the gospel. The pastors of our church have said several times that "...we have the most exciting and best news in the world." Therefore, we should share that news, or that gospel word. The Church must be gospel centered.

This is true no matter what the church is doing. Whether it be evangelism, discipleship, or teaching, the content is consistently the Christian gospel, and context is always our belonging in the Church. Our identity as Christians is defined by the gospel and how we do Church, or how we live in community with one another.

Being gospel-centered actually means two things. First, it must be word-centered because the gospel is a word - the gospel is news, a message. Second, it means being missions-centered because the gospel is a word to be proclaimed - the gospel is good news, a missionary message. As the book of Acts says that Philip preached the gospel to "all the towns he came to." The gospel is a missional commitment.

When the Church is rooted in the gospel, the church becomes rooted in what the early church was rooted in. Paul was eager to preach the gospel (Romans 1:15). And Paul was not ashamed of the gospel.

The Church has and will be rooted in the gospel. If we are not gospel centered, then we become what Paul wrote to the Conrinthians "If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied." Christ is the gospel; He alone is the good news of this world. If that is not true then we are of all people most to be pitied.

Coming soon pt. 2 "The Vigilant Church"

Oh, how He loves us.

Today, a good friend of my had a terrible accident. He is very badly injured-yet stable, and needs much prayer on his long road to recovery. The other person involved in the accident is a friend-though not a real close one. As sad as it is-she did not make it. I don't know where my readers find God's sovereignty, but one thing is certain and it's best put by John Mark Mcmillan.

He loves us

Oh, how he loves us

Oh, how he loves us

Oh, how he loves

I'm not sure if there is another song that has connected me with the beauty of the heart of the Father. There is much more to it, however this is the Gospel. That we are loved, we are desperately against God in all that we do, but Oh, how He loves us.

A girl has died and is spending eternity somewhere, and she was young. A friend is badly hurt-closer to death than anyone could be without actually dying. 

But one thing is certain: He loves us. Oh, how he loves us.

My Life Before Today

Being human is a fatal flaw. It never really ever surprises me how often and how hard I fall.  I am an unbelievable idiot.

I am praying that this next chapter of my life will finally be less about me.

Prayer-and Preaching Christ Church

For anyone who attends Preaching Christ Church that reads this at all...I love our church.

Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer-and it rained real bad, I'm not entirely sure what that means if God sends rain on our National Day of Prayer. However, last night our church had a prayer service for whoever wanted to come and pray for our nation and other topics.

We had Brothers Forever come and lead our service with some vocalized style music, which the church loved. We had different people come up in between songs and pray for different topics. 

Tony (a man of God) prayed for our president, that God would guide him, and he would listen and be productive for our nation as the leader. Tony also prayed for our government officials from the Executive to the Judicial we prayed for congressmen and Governors and Senators and local officials.

Pastor Bob and his wife Sharon prayed for the families of American and the husbands and wives of our country and the children, and the teenagers of this nation.

Donna prayed for social issues like Abortion and Homosexuality that the church would not be condemning to these movements but standing firm (in the love of Christ) and be against them. 

Pastor Chad prayed for our economy and the job loss of our nation-we prayed for men and women and the families that have lost their jobs and need help from the church, and we prayed that God would bless them and comfort the hurting people.

I prayed for the Church that she would rise up and be the bride of Christ, I prayed that we would no longer live inside of four walls that we find comfort in but that we would do like my friend steven and go and live out our faith in a big impacting way. For his glory and not for our own. 

Please don't let our prayers for each other and for this nation be only on a National Day of Prayer. May we the church, rise and commit ourselves to one another. Amen and Amen

God's word-and the Church

God is moving.

In the catacombs of Rome-where the ancient people of God would meet and share of the movement of God-to this day there are several things written on the walls-describing the church-who was heavily persecuted-beaten-arrested-killed

there is an inscription that is embedded into the walls of the catacombs and it says over and over again 

"God's word is not bound"

In other words the mentality of the church was sort of no matter how much affliction comes upon us-"God's word is not bound"-nothing will stop the movement of the spirit-"God's word is not bound"-this is the attitude of the church-it has to be-it must be

"God's word is not bound"

Ezekial 36:28

"And you shall be called My people..."

Amen and Amen

On Acclamation

One of the tragedies of growing up is that we get used to things. It has its good side of course, since irritations will probably cease to be irritations. But there is immense loss when we get used to the redness of the rising sun, and the roundness of the moon, and the whiteness of the snow, the wetness of the rain, the blueness of the sky, the buzzing of bumble bees, the stitching of crickets, the invisibility of wind, the unconscious constancy of heart and diaphragm, the weirdness of noses and ears, the number of the grains of sand on a thousand beaches, the never-ceasing  crash of countless waves, and ten million kingly-clad flowers flourishing and withering in woods and mountain valleys where no one sees but God.

I invite you, with Clyde Kilby, to seek a "freshness of vision" to look as though it were the first time, not at the empty product of accumulated millennia of aimless evolutionary accidents, but at a personal handiwork of an infinitely strong, creative, and exuberant Artist who made the earth and the sea and everything in them. 

I invite you to believe that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course you shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the Architect who calls Himself Alpha and Omega.

God,

May I never get used to things, but only marvel at your majesty and greatness.

Lates

I Need Thee

1. I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord
   
   No tender voice like Thine can peace afford
   
   
   I need Thee, oh, I need Thee
   Every hour I need Thee
   Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
   I come to Thee
2. I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby
   
   Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh
   
3. I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain
   
   Come quickly and abide, or life is vain
   
4. I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will
   
   And Thy rich promises in me fulfill
   
5. I need Thee every hour, most Holy One
   
   Oh, make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son
   

On Nehemiah

Nehemiah 7:2 "...For he was more faithful and God fearing man than many"

I wonder what I would give to be spoken of in such high regards. It's one thing to be called faithful amongst a group of believers, and a whole other thing to be called "more faithful".

I find myself in reading Nehemiah chapter 7, asking "what would i have to give up to be spoken of in such a way?" 

Comfort

Time

Friends

Family

My life?

I once heard a preacher give an example of this sort of thing. a young man who admired this preacher greatly came to him after a sermon saying "I would give my life to have heart like you do, to know God like you do, to have faith like you do" to which the very wise preacher replied

"I have"

of course i would love to be spoken of in such this way, or as Paul and Silas were spoken of in Acts 17 "these men who have turned the world upside down..." but i am not sure what i am willing to give up to be spoken of in such a way. i suppose that's the clue that i shouldn't be spoken of this way.

On Sin

Recently i was listening to a sermon, and something the speaker said blew my mind(in a good way) he said "all unbelievers do is sin" as in everything they do, even things that we would say are morally good are sin such as building a hospital. which is clearly a good thing, but is argued by this preacher, and me is sin. because as Romans 14:23 says anything that does not proceed from faith is sin.

So if anything that doesn't come from faith is sin, and we take the word anything or some translations say whatever means everything, then yes everything they do is sin. which is unbelievably hard for most to accept because they have this itching inclination that there is somehow some good in us, but there is not (apart from Christ of course). so as mentioned before what if an unbeliever builds a hospital? is that sin? yes.

if i asked my father if i could take the car to the ball game and he says "sure son, just wash it so it will be clean tomorrow, and you can take it" and this makes me angry because it was not in my plans to wash the car before i go to the ball game, and i leave the room just fuming mad at my father. and he says "i'm sorry son, that's the prerequisite  for taking the car, so if you wash it you can take it" well an hour or two later despite my best efforts to revolt, my father could look out the window and see me washing the car. now i am obeying my fathers will, but my heart in the matter is desperately against him, all i have within me wants to not be doing what it is i am doing for my father. 

so, yes i am obeying my fathers will, but my heart in the action is selfish to the core and rotten and against my ultimately against my father, because what i am doing is not out of my love for him, but my own selfish gain.

that is the way unbelievers build hospitals.

they are ultimately doing the will of the father, but have hearts that are desperately against him in so doing. therefore sin is produced, because the building of that hospital or any other morally good thing is not from faith, so it cannot be out of a love for the father, so it is sin.

here is to amazing biblical preaching. thank you John Piper.

Lates

On Coffee

The other night, a friend and i went out for some coffee. we sat in a local starbucks, and i had my usual(house coffee, because it's cheap). We sat and talked about doctrine, and some theology. We discussed the problems we see in the church, and how heartbreaking it is that we do nothing about it. through this seemingly bad conversation i found a lot of hope. hope that here now God's people are hearing his voice, and trying to live the way he has called us to live, and take up our crosses and follow him.

i was honestly worried when moving here that there would be no one who truly wants to seek God, because i didn't even want to seek God. i am longing to long after him, i am dying to love him, but these things aren't easy. and that reason is of course because i am selfish to the core. i pray for God to do a work in the lives of his people. and he would be God to me, and my toys would not be my God, but only the true God would be my God.

as i've said before. i know God is good, i just wish i believed it.

God in my living
There in my breathing
God in my waking
God in my sleeping

God in my resting
There in my working
God in my thinking
God in my speaking

Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything

God in my hoping
There in my dreaming
God in my watching
God in my waiting

God in my laughing
There in my weeping
God in my hurting
God in my healing

Christ in me
Christ in me
Christ in me the hope of glory
You are everything

On Moving

I've recently moved back home to tennessee. Let me be clear-I hate it here. Or at least that was my position on moving back home.

But then I got here-and too my surprise(and aside from not finding a job yet) it has not been that bad. I'm enjoying being home with family-friends-church-and just the overall feeling of home. As much as I would hate to admit this, I'm finding my position here more and more benificial. I was worried at first-I honestly had no clue as to why God would bring me back to tennessee-especially when I hate it.

God

has

a

funny

way

of

doing

that.

Doesn't he?

I would have to say absolutely. Be that as it may I am home-and already doors are opening, and things are starting to be revealed-and while I'm not entirely stoked to be home. I am home-and for some reason now I am okay with it.

I know God is good. I just wished I believed it.

Lates