“The Age of Access”

     Doug Wolter, at his blog Life Together, has a great post on the access we have through Christ. He comments on how there is very little that we can’t access in our world today, and because of this, the fact that we have access to the throne of the Creator of the Universe through the blood of His own Son is taken for granted. This is a great post, check it out here.

Sermon on the Necessity of the Gospel

     Adam Kendrick has posted a link to my talk from Sunday night, March 25th, on the other blog that I contribute to, Soli Deo Gloria. My two-part post on responding to the Gospel came out of this talk. So if you’re interested in hearing the message in it’s entirety, check out this post.

Responding to the Gospel (Pt. 2)

     This is the second, and last, part of my previous post on our response, as believers, to the truth of the Gospel. When I talk about our response to the Gospel, what I’m talking about is how we live out the truth of our salvation. How does the fact that you have been justified in the sight of God come out in your life? Can people tell that the righteousness of the perfect Son of God has been imputed to you? These are the kinds of things I’m talking about; we have receieved salvation through faith in Christ, but are we living that way? Here are the last 5 of the 10 responses:

6. Forgiveness of Others: If we truly the grasp the gravity of the Gospel, then we will see how much we’ve truly been forgiven. As a result, how can you know how much you’ve been forgiven and then look at the sin of another person and even think about not forgiving them?

7. Strength in Trials: The Gospel that unites us with Christ gives us hope that nothing can separate us from Him. We look to the promise of Romans 8, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers; nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (verses 38,39)

8. Power in Temptation: We see our identity in Christ through the lens of the Gospel. We are justified, righteous and holy. This is a truth that we use to battle Satan in the midst of temptation. We stand on the solid rock of Christ’s salvation and who that saving work changes us to be.

9. Take Risks: God wants us to take risks for the Gospel. This can mean risking a reputation, a job, a friendship, and, in some cases, even a life. We must realize that the only reason we can take risks is because God can’t. The word “risk” implies some level of ignorance in not knowing what the outcome will be; since our Lord is an all-knowing, sovereign God, it’s impossible for Him to take risks. Therefore, our ability to take risks for the Gospel is grounded in the sovereignty of the God that saves us.

10. Be Authentic: The Gospel liberates us from having to put on masks around other people. The Christian life is not a cultural hiding game, and spiritual maturity is not measured by how well you can hide your sin. Though we try so hard to conceal our sin, it has been exposed; it’s been exposed to Jesus. So we don’t have to hide the fact that our sin is real, but we can acknowledge that truth and find hope in the fact that our Savior is real also.

 What is your response to the Gospel?

“The Morning I Heard the Voice of God”

“Let me tell you about a most wonderful experience I had early Monday morning, March 19, 2007, a little after six o’clock. God actually spoke to me. There is no doubt that it was God. I heard the words in my head just as clearly as when a memory of a conversation passes across your consciousness. The words were in English, but they had about them an absolutely self-authenticating ring of truth. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God still speaks today…”

     John Piper has written a very interesting article on hearing the voice of the Lord. I encourage you to read the article, it’s a powerful read. This is something that every believer must read. You can read it in full here.

(HT: Adrian Warnock)

Responding to the Gospel (Pt. 1)

     This past Sunday night, March 25th, God gave me the opportunity to preach at Boone’s Creek Baptist Church for their Sunday night service. This is a church that sees their role in training young men for ministry, and it’s very encouraging to see. I spoke out of Romans 3 and I closed with 10 different response that we should have to the Gospel as believers. This is only applicable for those who are followers of Christ because there’s only one response possible for an unbeliever and that’s the response of faith in Christ. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s just a few that came to mind as I prepared.

1. Seeing both yourself and God rightly: throught the Gospel, we see our sinfulness in light of God’s holiness. This gives us a proper view of ourselves and a correct view of our God.

2. Living in light of God’s grace: Our legalistic minds are nullified by the grace of God. Instead of trying to live in such a way that we earn God’s favor, we live knowing that Christ has earned His favor for us. We partake in the spiritual disciplines not so we can earn this favor, but because the grace that saves us and initially earns God’s favor for us in Christ is the same grace that disciplines us.

3.  Humility: The Gospel shows us that the ground is level at the foot of the Cross. Everyone is in need of God’s salvation, but everyone is also undeserving. Yet God chooses to save His Elect by His grace and apart from anything that we do. The Gospel humbles us by our sinfulness and by Christ’s saving work on our behalf.

4. Evangelism: This seem like an obvious one, but the more we preach the Gospel to ourselves daily, the more we grow in our passion for its truth, and the more we desire to share its message.

5. Freedom from Guilt: We look to the promise of Romans 8, “There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Through the imputed righteousness of Christ we are justified and declared not guilty before God. It’s crazy to think that the same God that condemns us is the same God that pardons us from His condemnation.

Rob Bell Comes to Lexington

     Rob Bell, best known for his NOOMA videos, came to the University of Kentucky last week. Many different topics were discussed during his question and answer session. Dr. Ben Witherington has blogged on what Bell had to say on various issues. Dr. Witherington offers both agreements and disagreements with Bell; you can read the post here.

 (HT: Justin Taylor)

New Attitude 2007 Conference

     The guys from New Attitude will be coming to Louisville, KY on Memorial Day Weekend (May 26-29) to hold their annual conference. This conference will feature speakers such as Joshua Harris, CJ Mahaney, Eric Simmons, Al Mohler, Mark Dever and John Piper. The theme of this year’s conference is Discernment. The goal is to learn how to look at our relationships with others, our enviroment, our world through the lens of Scripture. “Discernment is more than what we should do or shouldn’t do as Christians. Discernment is examining what we think and do and say in light of God’s Word.”

You can register for the conference at the New Attitude 2007 Website.

How Much Have I Been Forgiven?

     How much do you sin? Well, maybe I better ask it this way: how much do you think you sin? Do you see how great your sin is? An even better question: do you see how much greater God’s grace is?

     I think an issue that plagues the Church today, and I know it’s true in my own personal life, is we have a small view of sin. This is a big problem because if we have a small view of our sin then that results in a small view of our Savior. Charles Spurgeon once said, “If your sin is small then your Savior will be small, but if your sin is great then your Savior will be great.” I doubt very many believers would deny the greatness of Jesus Christ, so why do we think it’s okay to try and hide the greatness of our sin? One of the reasons that Jesus is so great is because He paid for ALL of our sin; His sacrifice was full and complete.

     There are two sides to this because there’s a temptation to just focus on the greatness of our sin but totally ignore God’s grace. Let me remind you of the words of a hymn, “Grace, Grace, God’s Grace; Grace that is greater than all our sin.” We cannot out sin God’s grace, it’s impossible. I’ve heard a lot of people say, “Well, I just don’t know if God can forgive me. I’ve just sinned so much.” That attitude is a result of pride. Those who say that, and I’m guilty of thinking that at times, have such a small view of God’s grace and such a big view of their sin. There is not a pit that the arm of God’s saving grace cannot reach to the bottom of. I think that we limit God because of how much we underestimate the power of His gospel. Paul writes, “…[the gospel] is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). God’s gospel is powerful whether we believe it or not, and He will save those He has chosen to save.

     I say all that to say this, BE AUTHENTIC! The Holy Spirit has exposed this in my own life. I’m so busy checking the knots on my suit of fig leaves that I avoid being real with people. What the Church is in need of today, and this starts in my our own individual lives, is authenticity and transparency. These attributes will only be cultivated in our lives as we grow in our understanding of how great our sin is and how much greater God’s grace is.

    

Hebrews 9 and 10 Reading

     This is a clip of Ryan Ferguson quoting Hebrews 9 and 10 at the Sovereign Grace Worship God ‘06 Conference. I know that this video has been out on the web for sometime, but I think that it’s a great testimony to the importance of memorizing the Word of God. A lot of pastors these days try to dress up God’s Word and make it easier to hear or more “relevant” to our culture. Scripture does not need dressing up. We have too much entertainment and cheerleading in the Church today, my desire and prayer is to see the Word of God preached boldly, faithfully, and truthfully. Alistair Begg, pastor of Parkside Church in Ohio, said, “It’s imparative to remember that it’s about being exhorted, not entertained. We are not to praise eloquence or lack thereof, we are to hear and heed the Word of God.” This video is a great example of that. God’s Word is powerful by itself (through the Holy Spirit), it doesn’t need to be added to and we must not take away from it.

Passion 07 Live-Blogging

     Well, I finally made it to Atlanta. There are around 24,000 college students that have gathered here for the next few days. I was orginally planning on liveblogging each session of the conference, but once I got to the hotel I found out that wireless internet comes with a price. Being the poor college student that I am, I can’ afford to pay each day to get on the internet. The one thing that I want to emphasize is a need for prayer. Those of you reading this, PRAY! Pray for this conference, for these next few days that we’re gathered here in Atlanta. Many people my age are seeking an experience, some emotional high. While experiences are a part of worship, they will mean nothing unless those experiences are grounded in the truth of the Word of God. Pray for our generation as a whole; may God raise up a generation that seeks His face, a generation that is consumed with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you are interested in watching each session, you can view them on the Passion 07 Website. Each one will be available for 24 hours. May God glorify His name through these next few days and through our generation!