Discipleship and grace

Here are two statements worth contemplating that hit my inbox this week. The first addresses the cost of nondiscipleship. We rightly talk about counting the cost of following Christ, and that is obviously wise and biblical to do. But we also are wise to count the cost of not following Christ: This is the picture […]

Who’s imitating you?

I remember the first time that I really noticed my first-born copying me. It was a seemingly insignificant activity — it was the way she put a coke can on an end table — but it had the markings of her father all over it. At that moment I not only thought to pray for […]

The cost of discipleship

The benefits of salvation are great and wondrous and are and should be spoken of in glowing and rich terms. The privileges accrued through the cross ought to be of our greatest happiness. Yet there is also a corresponding truth that since by the gospel God means to change our lives from fleshly and earthly-minded […]

Book Review: Bitesize Theology

Title: Bitesize Theology: the ABC of the Christian Faith Author: Peter Jeffery Publisher: Evangelical Press, 2000; 110 pp. $5.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): When I was in seminary, one of my Hebrew professors, who not only had a doctorate in Semitic languages from a prestigious university, but whose wife also had a doctorate in biology […]

Book Review: Big Truths for Young Hearts

Title: Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God Author: Bruce A. Ware Publisher: Crossway, 2009; 234 pp. $15.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): More than one parent has been stumped by the question, “what should I teach my child about God?” Perhaps having read through a basic Bible story book, the young […]

Today’s Quote – Cheap Grace (Bonhoeffer)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship: Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.…The only man who has the right to say he is justified […]

Sunday Leftovers (6/7/09)

After a sweet morning of worship in the renovated sanctuary, two ideas continue to roll around in my mind — the cruciality of entrusting the gospel to others (discipleship) and the means of suffering to accomplish discipleship. As was said Sunday, too often we tend to think of discipleship as the responsibility of someone else, […]

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ

I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast, I’ve stepped over the line; the decision has been made; I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I will not look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed; my present makes sense; my […]

Sunday Leftovers (7/27/08)

One of the reasons there is so much confusion about the gospel is that we have misunderstood and misapplied the intent of the gospel. We (in the American church at large) have come to believe that the gospel is all about a decision instead of a lifestyle. Our efforts are predominantly decision-oriented. We encourage people […]

Born to Reproduce

Dawson Trotman, the founder of The Navigators, was a uniquely gifted and effective evangelist and discipler. His heart for the latter is demonstrated in his sermon, “Born to Reproduce.” It’s the first time I’ve heard a recording of one of his sermons, and I found it personally challenging. It’s worth a listen.

An Example of and an Exhortation to Endurance

In thinking about ministry and the role of the pastor and the role of the people in relation to 1 Thess. 5:12-24, I came across a story a read a few years ago and a statement about the importance of perseverance in ministry. The story concerns a pastor, John Newton, and a troubled parishioner in […]

Sunday Leftovers (4/22/07)

On the priority of a personal walk with God — If you are unhappy and discontent or even angry with God, it is the fruit of a heart that has fed too lightly and too little at the table of God — you have learned to be happy with things that cannot satisfy. Modern Christians […]

Sunday Leftovers (2/4/07)

A comment made by David Wells in his book God in the Wasteland resonates in my mind as I think about discipleship and the state of the church: “God rests too lightly — too inconsequentially on His church.” That is, too many believers follow God too superficially. And too often, He is followed weakly because […]

Sunday Leftovers (12/24/06)

Jesus is difficult to believe and hard to follow. It is for good reason that He says, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that […]