What The Gospel Is About...And Isn't

"The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about temporary structures; it is about immortal beings made in God's image. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about pressing issues of passing policy; it is about the death of Jesus Christ on the cross once for all time. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about connecting with the questions the non-Christian has; it is about communicating the answer God has given. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about me experiencing immediate joy with my friends; it is about my everlasting joy in God, and it leads me into a local church with people as sinful and as inconvenient to love as I am. "

~excerpted from Mark Dever's contribution to Proclaiming A Cross-Centered Theology

Sunday's Set List

This list is actually from February 5th, but hey....

So, apparently this Sunday was "D-Day", as every song but the final one was in the key of D.

Take My Life And Let It Be (simple, prayerlike hymn)

Today Is The Day

I Am Free

You Are My King (Amazing Love)

Spirit Of The Living God

What have you been singing in church lately?

Daylight...

God cut John Mark McMillan from the same cloth He used for Rich Mullins. Two poets, clever and refreshing, crazy in love with Jesus.

This Is How They Did It

Continuing on from the previous post, we consider the question of how the early church managed to turn the world upside down, even without all the money, power and bling that the modern church has at its disposal. Quoting again from The World Tilting Gospel by Dan Phillips:

"How does it show? Had they advocated the overthrow of government? Had they campaigned against civil institutions? Had they taken out ads complaining when the world acted like...well, the world? Did they hold concerts, dances, 'forty days of sex' campaigns (as one pastor promoted)? No, no, no and you've-got-to-be-kidding-me, respectively."

The answer lies in the preaching, Phillips contends. And I agree.

"In all these towns and elsewhere, Paul went where the people were, and preached Christ to them, from Scripture. He preached the Gospel."

How Did They Do It?

"The first Christians didn't have any power base whatsoever. They didn't control the local media...They didn't have massive popular numbers...They didn't have lines of clothing, entertainment, or holy hardware...Their assemblies could mostly be contained in people's houses...They didn't control any institutions - religious, educational, or political...They didn't have money, equipment, or rapid transport vehicles. Yet they created something like blind panic virtually everywhere they went. How did they do it?"

This is the question that Dan Phillips asks in The World-Tilting Gospel. It's really a great question when you consider that modern evangelicalism has all of that stuff the early church did not, and I'm just not sure we're turning the world upside down.

How did they do it?

Observation

Consider, please, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. This dramatic encounter with God is recorded as a narrative in Acts 9, and then subsequently in Acts 22 & 26 as part of Paul's own testimony.

Here's what I find interesting: Paul didn't want to be a Christian. I suppose you could say that Paul was seeking God - he certainly was zealous for the law. But what blows me away about this account is that at the moment of Paul's encounter with saving grace, he wasn't being given a Gospel presentation; he wasn't sitting in church; he wasn't listening to John Piper on his iPod.

But God broke in and saved him, suddenly and without warning. God revealed Himself and Paul's only possible response to that majesty was repentance.

What are your thoughts and reactions to this, after you've really thought about it? I'm just guessing, but I'll wager that most of us don't consider Paul's experience normative. It was, however, a valid experience of salvation. What does this say about our great God and His purpose in salvation?

Mmmm Good Music

I really dig the music of Cary Brothers (one guy...plural-ish last name is deceiving). I really dig acoustic guitar. I really dig bluegrass-y music. Therefore, I was quite delighted to find the Milk Carton kids this morning! These guys play a Martin and a Gibson, both older models it appears, and they sound soooo good. That's the thing about a finely made guitar: the older they get, the better they sound. The Milk Carton kids play sensitively, creatively and skillfully. Hope you like it.

If you'll start this second video at the 2:50 mark, you'll be able to skip the stuff that comes before the song...just saying'.