The New Testament Gamble

I am a youth pastor. The gospel is the single truth I want my students to comprehend beyond any other before they graduate. When I was in seminary, one of my profs had us read a little book called TrueFaced, by John Lynch and Bill Thrall. I have found few other explanations of the gospel more helpful and compelling outside of the Bible. The book has since  been updated, and now goes by the title, The Cure. One particular passage in the book made me stop, put the book down, and consider my relationship with Jesus for a solid hour. It has changed my approach to the Christian life. The passage can be experienced in the video embedded below.

The Gospel Says You Can’t Do It, And How That’s Good News

“If I am to be like him, then God in His grace must do it, and the sooner I come to recognize it the sooner I will be delivered from another form of bondage. Throw down every endeavor and say, I cannot do it, the more I try the farther I get from his likeness. What shall I do? Ah, the Holy Spirit says, you cannot do it; just withdraw; come out of it. You have been in the arena, you have been endeavoring, come out and sit down, and as you sit there behold Him, look at Him. Don’t try to be like Him, just look at Him. Just be occupied with Him. Forget about trying to be like Him. Instead of letting that fill your mind and heart, let Him fill it. Just behold him, look upon Him through the Word. Come to the Word for one purpose and that is to meet the Lord. Not to get your mind crammed full of things about the sacred Word, but come to it to meet the Lord. Make it to be a medium, not of biblical scholarship, but fellowship with Christ. Behold the Lord.”
~Norman Douty

I’ve Quit Trying To Please God

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” -Hebrews 11:6

The person who trusts that the work of his own righteousness was done and finished by Jesus when he was crucified, the person who knows he can’t add or subtract to that work in any way, who doesn’t toil to please God or try harder or crucify himself when he fails, that person finds peace. There is no other way. That is the gospel. That is all.

Will you spend your life trying to please God, or will you simply trust him?

The God Who Is Self-Existent

God, you are the God who is self-existent, and you depend on nothing.

You exist because it is your nature to exist. You’re the God who calls himself Yahweh, which means “I Am Who I Am.”

You are Creator, and not created. Your Word says, “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

The God Who Is Triune

God, you are the God who is Triune, one God existing in three persons and I cannot understand you.

You are three persons equal in being but subordinate in role. Each person is distinct, each person is fully God, and each person possesses the perfections of God in their entirety. You are three but one in purpose, agreement, essence, nature and existence. You are unified to the degree that you are one.

Certain Words Are Edible; They Nourish

December 21, 2012

I remember the first time I heard the date December 21, 2012. I was in my tenth grade world history class. Mr. __________ was the teacher. He was also the soccer coach, both men’s and women’s. He was a man of short stature, red hair, and a red face. Sometimes he would reduce girl soccer players to tears by berating their mistakes during games. He’d yell at them across the field in front of their parents and fans. I didn’t prefer him as a person, but he was a good teacher. He may have been the best teacher I ever had.

The God Who Is One

God, You are the God who is one, and there is no other god.

You’re the God who says about Himself, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one,” that we should love you with everything within and without us.

You’re the God who says about Himself, “There is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.”

What Kind of Namby Pamby Turns His Personal Name Into a Domain?

Well, I do, apparently. At a meager cost of $18 a year, who wouldn’t? If you haven’t done it you should seriously look into it.

Now that’s out of the way, we can move on to more important topics such as, “why?”