The Explicit Gospel

There it is...that moment of confrontation. "What is that book about?" someone asked me. I wanted to look at them and say, "Um, can you see the cover? It's about the Explicit Gospel," but then I realized that would be a sore mistake. What a great practice opportunity. The girl who asked is definitely saved, but she was still curious what the book was about. And later down the road (because I'm such a slow reader), someone may ask me who really has not heard the gospel presentation in such a clear way. So I took a moment to thumb through and glance at the titles at the top of the page then I dived into what I had read so far. I told her about how many churches and Christians have began practicing a moralistic, therapeutic deism (basically a mindset of I'm-going-to-do-good-and-help-others-out-because-it-helps-my-conscious-out...oh-and-I-love-God). I touched on a few others things, but after I got done, I couldn't help but recognize the weight of the situation.

I believe she was meant to ask that question in order to test me. Here I am, reading this book about the "explicit gospel" because I want to be able to fully share Christ with those around me. Yes, I know the ABCs of salvation, but there is a greater depth to it than that. Yes, VBS is great, but at some point we must rise to a higher level because the more we understand the dirtiness and wickedness of our sin, the more we value the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. So yes, I do need to be quizzed about the topic of the book I'm reading. But more importantly, it should infiltrate every aspect of my life so that I am sharing the gospel on a daily basis.

Book referenced: The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler

Apathetic Point of View

The other day I had someone ask me if I believed Muslims would go to Heaven. When I said no because they didn't believe Jesus was the Son of God, he responded, “Well why doesn’t somebody go over there and tell them they’re wrong if it’s pointless anyways?” The whole tone of the conversation was lighthearted, and while he was joking, there was still some truth to what he said. Even though I believe they’re wrong, how often do I apathetically respond to that fact? It’s so easy to look the other way and just believe that they will never embrace Christianity. I’d even beg to say that it reflects a lack of trust in what God can do in the lives of people who follow other religions. He has a heart for them just as much.

I love the lyrics by Hillsong that say:

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause
As I go from nothing to
Eternity

I need to learn to never forget how powerful God is. He can change hearts of stone…it was never my job anyways.

God-#1 or center of our lives?

To blog or not to blog…that is the question. Sometimes I would like that I have something good to say, but then I realize that sounds pretty vain. But I as was reading some of my other friends’ blogs, my mind started to wander and pretty soon I was mentally blogging anyways. Usually I like to write my thoughts out in the forms of prayers, but there are times were my mind is working faster than my pen can keep up with. This will in no way replace that form of pouring out my heart to the Lord, but rather compliment it.

I have been thinking lately about making God number one in our lives versus making Him the center of our lives. Growing up it was always, “Is Jesus #1 in your life?” whether it was from youth camps or just church in general. Then I hit a point in high school where my leaders started preaching about how Christ didn’t need to be #1 in our lives…He needed to be the center. Ok, yeah, that resonated with me. If Jesus is in the center, then everything should flow out from that, be focused around that.

But I think our culture has taken that for granted and somewhat twisted it. Whether you put Him at the top of your list or in the center of your priorities, everything should start with Him. Everything should flow down from that. Here is my point of view on both situations.

Top of the list-it seems as if people say, “Yeah, God is first, then my family, school, friends, etc.,” but more times than not, everything gets compartmentalized. Sure, you have time for Jesus at the beginning of your day or week, but then you move on to other things. There should be a constant overlap, but there simply isn’t. There is absolutely nothing wrong with claiming God as #1 on our list. In fact, that is what He calls us to do in Matthew 6:33-“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (ESV).

Center of your life-this should imply that revolves around God and His sovereign will. In selfishness, we make our plans and then take them to God to see if they get approved instead of starting with God and working out. I’ve just been observing people (and myself!), and too often we fit God into our plans instead of us jumping on board with His plans.

I don’t have some fancy solution and 10-step process that we can follow to fix this. But I’m challenging myself to start with God.  And if I say He is #1 on my list or the center of my life, I will not let it be another Christian cliché. I pray that He would transform my life to where that would be my natural response in any and everything-seeking first His kingdom.