Markers along the way

I think it's important for people to have mementos from important moments in their life. Birth certificates, diplomas, wedding rings, these are all reminders of significant events in our lives. For Christians it's also important to have things that remind us of the times in our spiritual lives that God provided for us in unforeseen and amazing ways. We see this repeatedly throughout the Bible, especially the Old Testament. After their miraculous crossing of the Jordan river the Israelites set up a stone memorial to remind them of what God had done for them there. (Josh 4:20-24) In fact in the book of Joshua alone the Israelites set up seven memorials to remind them of important moments in their history. (Josh 4:20-24, 7:26, 8:28-29, 8:32, 10:27, 22:34, 24:26-27)

In my own life there are things that are markers of times God has worked, for, in, and through me. Anytime I see a Pizza Hut I'm reminded of my salvation and the joy and freedom I have in that. My charcoal and navy blue fleece is a reminder of my mission trip to Vietnam, what I saw God do there, and that I'm supposed to live as a missionary where I am. My newest marker (and the one that prompted this post) is the skyline of Denver and the Rockies. I was driving home last night from Buffalo Wild Wings and came over the crest of a hill and there below me was Denver. Between the street lights, the skyscrapers, and headlights, it looked like a giant living Christmas tree. I was reminded of everything God had done on my behalf for me to arrive here. An Air Guard recruiter so determined to fill slots that he looks through the IRR records to find people in those career fields, the only one in Colorado who does that. A new GI Bill that provides me with the income I need to live here. Putting me in touch with an Acts 29 church that's not even a year old yet, thus making it the perfect learning opportunity for me. Helping me find and sign for an apartment in less then a week that "just happens" to only be three and a half miles from where I go to school and church. Those are just some of the things I'm reminded of when I see the Qwest building, or The Flatirons. I smile, laugh, and thank God for providing for me far beyond what I deserve in spite of the fact that I never have, and never will, do anything to deserve it.

These are some of mine, I would encourage you to stop and take a few minutes to think about times God has moved mightily on your behalf and what some things are that remind you of that. Because there will be times that you'll feel forsaken and need those things to remind you that the God who was with you then is still with you now.

What is The Gospel?

I talk about The Gospel a lot in my blog but I haven't every really defined what I mean when I talk about The Gospel. Today I want to try to address the fact that I think most Christians aren't really sure what The Gospel is. This interferes with their ability to live lives centered around The Gospel, negatively affecting their children, and rendering them impotent as missionaries in their culture. Before I get to far into this post I want to make it clear that I'm a Calvinist and that my view of The Gospel and salvation stems directly my theology.

First we have to define what The Gospel is. I have to admit this is something I struggled with a great deal when I felt the Lord first calling me to church planting 2 years ago. Because of the people that I was reading and listening to, primarily Acts 29 guys, the common theme was The Gospel. I kept coming across things like; the local body of believers needs to be Gospel centered, preaching needs to be Gospel centered, mission needs to be Gospel centered, essentially everything that is done by Christians was to be centered around The Gospel. This sounded reasonable, the only problem was I didn't have a clear enough understanding of what The Gospel was to make any sense of what they were trying to say. I think it's important to point out that I've grown up in the church, sat under solid bible teaching for most of my life, and have a mother who is gifted at teaching children the concepts and doctrines of the bible. Yet, somehow, I was never taught The Gospel clearly and repetitively enough that I could clearly articulate it. I understood enough to know that it was more then simply doing certain things and refraining from participating in others, but I was unable to get much farther then that without getting confused. I continued to read and research what exactly The Gospel IS and how to explain it to myself and then to others. The quotes I came across that helped me the most are these three:

"The Gospel is: God has come to rescue and redeem creation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on our behalf." - Tim Keller

"For to Calvinism there is really only one point to be made in the field of soteriology: the point is that God saves sinners. " - J.I. Packer

"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" - 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 ESV


At it's core The Gospel is simply the fact that we're all sinners, living contrary to God's law, incapable of saving ourselves.(Romans 3:23) That our only hope of being seen as holy and perfect in God's eye's is through receiving His gift of salvation that was bought through Jesus' sinless life, His death on the cross in our place, and His resurrection from the dead three days later, forever defeating Satan, sin, and Death. (Mt. 27:32-50, Mt. 28:1-10, Rev. 19:11-21) Thus securing eternal life for all those He calls to Himself. (Romans 9:1-29)

So how does this affect us as we attempt to live lives based on this reality? Simply, one day Jesus will return and restore the world to it's original perfection. (Romans 8:19-23) In the mean time we are called to be agents of His kingdom here on earth proclaiming what He accomplished during His time here on earth, assisted and guided by the Holy Spirit in our actions. (Mt. 28:18-20, Acts 1:2-8) This means we should view our time, talents, and money not as ours but as tools given to us by our Heavenly Father for the advancement of His Kingdom. This means our lives aren't based on what's best for us, but what brings God the most glory.

I know one pastor who drills the idea that everywhere we go we're to be missionaries into his kids minds by having the following kinds of conversations with them on a regular basis:

"Why do we play in little league?"

"So that we can tell people about Jesus."

"And....?"

"To have fun and play baseball."

This is a brief overview of The Gospel and how it is to be intertwined with our lives. It's not a very good one (I think) so I would encourage you to order Tim Keller's study guide on The Gospel and have your entire family go through it together. Also, Ed Stetzer is a brilliant missiologist (The idea that we're to be missionaries right where we are) and has many excellent resources available that would be well worth your time to make use of.

I hope you've found reading this to be a profitable use of your time.

Timothy

I'm reading 1st and 2nd Timothy right now and when I get done I think I'm going to go back through and read them a few more times. In them Paul is writing to a young pastor and giving him instructions on how to lead the church Timothy was pastoring. It's full of practical insights on how to lead a church and as someone who hopes to that some day I've found it helpful, encouraging and a little bit scary. I also enjoy the personal aspect of it as well, you can tell this was someone Paul loved a great deal.

Acts 29 had this posted on their web site and it just grabbed my heart.:

I received the greatest letter this week from a seven-year-old boy along with 5 one-dollar bills. In his own handwriting he said,

“Dear Acts 29,
My name is Ravi [deleted last name for privacy].
I am 7 years old.
I want to help plant a church.
God Bless You,
Ravi”

This thrills me because of his heart for Jesus and His work through faithful church planters and those with child-like faith.

I don’t want to make this a gimmick, but for anyone who wants to match Ravi’s $5 donation to help plant a church, send $5 to
Acts 29 Network Ravi Matching Fund
3524 NE 95th St Seattle, WA 98115

Can we receive a boy’s five loaves and two fish and feed five thousand? Any funds received will be sent to a church plant in Dallas, Georgia that is launching in September.
Thank you Ravi, for your gift and inspiration!