Todd Agnew – Which Jesus do you serve?

John Piper – the Believer and the Economy

Tilling truth in 1 Timothy

As you study through 1 Timothy, feel free to post your thoughts and discoveries here:

Jesus-centered Purpose

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”

Purpose is a buzzword isn’t it? It’s made Rick Warren a best selling author and has spawned a hundred knock-off writers, too. The Dalli Lama says that the purpose of life is the pursuit of happiness. Renowned psychiatrist Victor Frankl’s premise is that ‘man’s search for meaning’ is the primary motivation of his life.

Every philosophy leans on purpose for an explanation of some sort…

We believe that God’s purpose is what is important, and that He’s established particular people, places and things to accomplish His purpose.

Have you considered your role in His purpose? May our plans be according to His will, and only His will…

Gospel Truth (Tuesday Night Live)

We can all agree that there is one Gospel – but if we take scripture seriously, we have to admit that there are several parts to the gospel. Paul talks about the Gospel of the uncircumcised and the gospel of the circumcised… One of the contributors to this months Leadership magazine shared the following about the way he shares the Gospel:

” I take a page from Kierkegaard’s The Sickness Unto Death and define sin as building your identity; your self-worth and happiness on anything other than God. That is, I use the biblical definition of sin as idolatry. That puts the emphasis not as much on “doing bad things” but on “making good things into ultimate things.”

Instead of telling them they are sinning because they are sleeping with their girlfriend or boyfriend, I tell them that they are sinning because they are looking to their romances to give their lives meaning, to justify and save them, to give them what they should be looking for from God. This idolatry leads to anxiety, obsessiveness, envy, and resentment. I have found that when you describe their lives terms of idolatry, postmodern people do not give much resistance. Then Christ and and His salvation can be presented not (at this point) so much as their only hope for forgiveness, but as their only hope for freedom. This is my gospel for the uncircumcised.”

What do you think?

Tuesday Night Live?

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What shall we discuss?

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Defining the Gospel.

So, a couple of weeks ago at a leadership lunch hosted by KKLA, Alistair Begg gave a short message. He spoke a bit about Martin Lloyd Jones – the late theologian / teacher / evangelist – who was in his lifetime challenged to get the gospel right. It would be something like you or me walking up to Billy Graham and saying “Are you sure you’re teaching the Whole Gospel?” Ridiculous. Right?

Well Martin basically locked himself in a room with some books and The Book for days studying – rediscovering the word, if you will. The mark of humility – he wasn’t offended by the challenge – he wanted to be sure he knew what he thought he knew. His wife thought he had gone insane. When he emerged, he had a new perspective, and refreshed vigor for the Gospel.

This is interesting to me because I think we sometimes think we know enough. If someone challenged me about preaching the Gospel right, I’d be defensive – and go into theologian mode, spouting what I know about the atonement, sanctification, propitiation, and several other big words I’ve learned along the way.I bring this up because as we study Mark on Sunday mornings I’ve noticed something. The initial message of Jesus wasn’t “I’ve come to die for your sins” it was “the Kingdom of Heaven is near – repent and believe the good news (the gospel).” In fact, what Jesus taught he referred to as the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven – te good news about God’s Kingdom. It is mentioned many more times in the 4 Gospel’s that even the crucifixion.

Now, of course His death and resurrection are central to salvation – but clearly, Jesus wanted us to understand more about the Kingdom part of the gospel. It is what he taught about, and it is what he commissioned his disciples to preach about when they went from town to town.

So when Mark (probably telling Peter’s story) writes that Jesus preached the Gospel, what do you think he was preaching?