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 […]

Why do you want to go to Heaven?

This is the question asked by John Piper: “if you could have everything about Heaven — forgiveness, fellowship, absence of sin and pain and death, etc. — but God is not there, would you still want it?” The question is addressing the heart of the gospel. Do we want the gospel for our own self-exalting […]

The importance of the Gospel

The gospel has always been controversial and attacked. This afternoon I began listening to Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ sermon “Christianity — the Only Hope” preached a generation ago. And his lament in that day was largely the same as today — a concern over a declining interest in the truth, the power of the Word of God […]

Sunday Leftovers (4/1/07)

Every word in Scripture counts. Every word is used by God to reveal Himself and His purposes (which is why Jesus makes statements like “truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished,” Mt. 5:18). Which is why […]

The Gospel and the Good Value of Guilt

John Owen (called by John Piper “the greatest Puritan Theologian”) writes the following concerning the good role of guilt in mortifying sin: Bring thy lust to the gospel, not for relief, but for further conviction of its guilt: look on him whom thou has pierced, and be in bitterness. Say to thy soul, ‘What have […]

Jerry Bridges on the importance of the gospel

The gospel is not a “one-time” truth, but an everyday truth, as Jerry Bridges has articulated: To preach the gospel to yourself, then, means that you continually face up to your own sinfulness and then flee to Jesus through faith in His shed blood and righteous life. It means that you appropriate, again by faith, […]