Dialogismos

Never Beyond The Reach Or Need Of The Gospel

“Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace, nor are your best days ever so good that you are beyond the need of it.”

Last night got me thinking...Could you go for a year without using toilet paper?

Colin Beavan did.

Granted it was a different scenario entirely than trying to relate to those in need.

The AP reports a story about Beavan and his family, who for the past year have sought to make zero impact on the environment around them.

They shut off the electricity to their apartment. They refused to use anything disposable, and they wouldn’t buy anything that was new. They traveled by bicycle, only bought fresh food from farmers, put away their television, and even gave up toilet paper. They didn’t want to leave a single fingerprint on the earth.

I admire Beavan and his family for their desire to preserve the Earth. But as I thought about Beavan and his year-long experiment, I couldn’t help but think of Genesis 1:28, where God says to Adam and Eve:

“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

God’s command to “subdue” the earth implies doing productive work to make the resources of the earth useful for themselves [Adam and Eve] and others. This is what he wanted Adam and Eve to do, and that is one of the things he wants us to do as well.

Here is yet another video from Nate Pfeil...what is your response to this message? What would you say about the motive? Is it loving, condemning, or perhaps both? How would you have communicated this message had this been your video? The same or different?

Is this useful or harmful?

http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=fd4de1a17c18e6316e36

There is a running joke among those who really know me and my heart. I bring the wood, a two by four. I like to go deep and go there quickly. But my desire to do so comes from a place of love, care, and sometimes concern? Typically I just ask questions to probe a little deeper and allow the truth to reveal itself. Ultimately that is what I am after for both myself and others, the truth. It's not my desire to "bring the wood" consciously, it's just where my conversations tend to find themselves.

I found another who seems to be "bringing the wood." What would you say?

This can be a pretty HEAVY video depending on where you are in your Christian faith and walk. I found myself glued to the screen as I took this in, even convicted at points. I put that out there as a disclaimer. However, I desire and hope that you will watch it completely from beginning to end. Once you have I invite you to post a comment and express your immediate thoughts, feelings, questions, etc...

Let the dialog begin...

I ran across this today and was moved...I love Sermon Jams...especially ones that are well done. Sermon Jams are simply a message with music put behind them...

I love the truth in this...it never gets old.

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chfxr6kK7as

by Ben Davenport

“Preach the truth.” That’s what they said to me. “Stand for the truth” sounded like pretty good advice at the time. “Know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” That one’s from the Bible. But will the truth set everyone free from everything? No, it will not.

1+1=2 is truth, and to learn this truth will indeed set an individual free from mathematical ignorance, but will it free a heroin addict from her love affair with death? No. Truth indeed will set the captive free, but in reality, people are held captive by different things.

The first intrepid souls who crossed the Atlantic to forge a new life in a new world found themselves instead facing extinction. The pilgrims were perishing for lack of knowledge. They were starving. They knew nothing of North American agriculture and simply could not grow enough food to feed their families. What did they need to survive? Truth? Yes, truth, but not just any truth, they needed native American agricultural truth. They needed knowledge of how to work the soil of this strange and foreign land. Nothing else would do. For a man to come along and see the pilgrims starving in ignorance and then begin to teach them that 1+1=2 imagining that he was liberating them from their predicament because he was teaching them the truth and that the truth would set them free, would be ludicrous!

The pilgrims would have gone to their graves with mathematical truth rattling around in their heads but without the truth that they so desperately needed, the truth that would have put food in their children’s bellies, life in their bodies, and would have kept them upright and breathing.

The man who would help such pilgrims must bring the truth that meets their most urgent need, not the truth that is most conveniently at hand.

The same applies to the message of the Bible. Remember this: The gospel is truth, but all truth is not the gospel. Everything in the Bible is truth, but everything in the Bible is not the gospel. And it is the gospel that Paul said is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe.

1+1=2 is a truth that cannot free the souls of men. We know this. But we often miss that, “Blessed are the peacemakers” is also a truth that cannot purchase one moment of reprieve from the shackles of slavery. Why? Because the particular truth that sets men and women free from bondage is the gospel of Jesus Christ and no other!

You’ve probably heard that the word “gospel” means “good news.” So is just any ”good news” the power of God unto salvation? No. It is the good news of Jesus Christ! The good news that He has come and conquered and now offers to us not only His pardon, but the opportunity to be partakers with Him in His victory; to tread upon the serpents and scorpions within our souls and upon all the powers of the enemy that should beset us.

“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” is truth, but it was truth before Christ came to this earth and died. “Thou shalt not kill” is truth but it was truth before Jesus ever rose from the grave. That it is good for men to pray and to study God’s word is truth but it was truth before the sacrifice of Calvary; and if these truths had the power to set the captive free then Christ died in vain!

The loftiest truths in the Bible can be read, studied, preached, and memorized and will never be lived out unless the glorious truth of the gospel has dawned, bringing salvation to those who behold it.

The man or woman who would help the wandering pilgrims of the human race must bring them the scripture truth that meets their most immediate, urgent and dire need, not the biblical truth that is least controversial, most convenient, socially acceptable, comfortable, or culturally relevant.

What most men and women desperately need, is something that most, especially in the church, think they already have . . . salvation.

The truth that man is hopelessly lost and dead in trespasses and sins is part of the Christian message and must be presented clearly and with love but without apology. It is a truthful and accurate description of the condition of mankind but this truth is not God’s solution to man’s condition and can hardly be called “good news”.

The truth is not the gospel; and it is the gospel of Jesus Christ and nothing else that is the power of God unto salvation.

This is why Paul said, not that he would “preach the truth,” or that he would, “stand for the truth,” But that he determined to preach nothing but Christ, and Christ crucified, glorying in nothing but the cross.

The mere preaching of truth, even biblical truth, apart from the gospel will never save a single soul from the clutches of death.

Christ condemned the Pharisees saying, “You search the scriptures for in them you think you have life; but the scriptures all testify of Me; and you will not come to Me that I may give you life.”

Scripture truth is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. It is the cross of Christ, not the canon of scripture that makes men into new creatures, that speaks to dead men’s bones and causes dust to come to life.

How many professing Christians, both liberal and conservative, have gone to their graves with orthodox, theological truth rattling around in their heads but without the truth that they so desperately needed, the truth that would have put Christ, the Bread and Water of Life into their parched, starving souls, and would have kept them from ever having to hear those chilling words, “I never knew you”.

There are many truths one can learn that will inform, but only one that transforms.

The only transforming truth is the gospel.

The only saving truth is the good news of Jesus.

He has come to be the Savior and Redeemer of all men; of both the atheist filled with facts and fiction as well as the Pharisee filled with Divine doctrine. The Gospel, the good news, to both the Hypocrite and the heroine addict is the same, “He came to save his people from their sins”. And He is now present and ready to save all those who will look to Him and believe.

He is the way. He is the truth. And it is He who is salvation.

Preach Christ.

Stand for Christ.

Know Christ.

The truth is not the gospel. Jesus is.

Never forget it.

Always seeking a balance and seeking truth I wanted to post this for your consideration.

Quick background...Mark Driscoll is the Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington and one that I follow and listen too on a regular basis.

Marcia and I had a conversation about the reality of God's love and wrath following various other conversations with some friends of ours. They both exist, wrath and love. The reality is that God loves the whole world...John 3:16...It's why Jesus hung on a cross...but the other part of that reality is Proverbs 6:16...He hates evil and those who commit sin...

If we fail to address both issues we do ourselves and all those who may seek Him a disservice. We paint a false picture of who God is and our relation to Him.

Is your God a god of all Love, Compassion, and Mercy?...It's only part of the picture.

Is your God a god of Wrath, Accountability, and Judgment?...It's only part of the picture.

If you only have one of these views of God (and there are many more distortions out there) not a combination of both you are not worshiping the God of the Bible and in fact may be worshiping a God of your own design which is in fact a breaking of the first and second commandments.

It's important that we know to the best of our ability who God is as He has revealed Himself in Scripture.

Do you really have a clear picture of God? Is it even possible? Is it important? If so, how important is it? From where do you get your tools to paint your picture, your view, your understanding of God?

The following is just the beginning of a series I will be working on and posting here. I'm looking at the revealed Word of God, the Bible, to strip away years of presumptions and hand-me-down understandings to find what I hope will be enlightening for us all, God's Word about Himself.

I don't want to read another man's opinion through a book, magazine, blog, or article. I have had plenty of that. I want to hear it straight from the amazing God I serve. I expect to be challenged and there to be long days, and possibly weeks, as I examine the paradigms I have built and structured around my understanding. God has only revealed a small portion of all that He is...but...He has revealed Himself and we can know Him. I hope you will join me.

Who is God? - The Fact The fact of God’s existence is so conspicuous, both through creation and through man’s conscience, that the Bible calls the atheist a “fool” (Psalm 14:1). Accordingly, the Bible never attempts to prove the existence of God; rather, it assumes His existence from the very beginning (Genesis 1:1). What the Bible does is reveal the nature, character, and work of God.

Who is God? - The Definition Thinking correctly about God is of utmost importance because a false idea about God is idolatry. In Psalm 50:21, God reproves the wicked man with this accusation: “You thought I was altogether like you.” To start with, a good summary definition of God is “the Supreme Being; the Creator and Ruler of all that is; the Self-existent One who is perfect in power, goodness, and wisdom.”

Who is God? - His Nature We know certain things to be true of God for one reason: in His mercy He has condescended to reveal some of His qualities to us. God is spirit, by nature intangible (John 4:24). God is One, but He exists as three Persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17). God is infinite (1 Timothy 1:17), incomparable (2 Samuel 7:22), and unchanging (Malachi 3:6). God exists everywhere (Psalm 139:7-12), knows everything (Matthew 11:21), and has all power and authority (Ephesians 1; Revelation 19:6).

Who is God? - His Character Here are some of God’s characteristics as revealed in the Bible: God is just (Acts 17:31), loving (Ephesians 2:4-5), truthful (John 14:6), and holy (1 John 1:5). God shows compassion (2 Corinthians 1:3), mercy (Romans 9:15), and grace (Romans 5:17). God judges sin (Psalm 5:5) but also offers forgiveness (Psalm 130:4).

Who is God? - His Work We cannot understand God apart from His works, because what God does flows from who He is. Here is an abbreviated list of God’s works, past, present, and future: God created the world (Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 42:5); He actively sustains the world (Colossians 1:17); He is executing His eternal plan (Ephesians 1:11) which involves the redemption of man from the curse of sin and death (Galatians 3:13-14); He draws people to Christ (John 6:44); He disciplines His children (Hebrews 12:6); and He will judge the world (Revelation 20:11-15).

Who is God? - A Relationship with Him In the Person of the Son, God became incarnate (John 1:14). The Son of God became the Son of Man and is therefore the “bridge” between God and man (John 14:6; 1 Timothy 2:5). It is only through the Son that we can have forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7), reconciliation with God (John 15:15; Romans 5:10), and eternal salvation (2 Timothy 2:10). In Jesus Christ “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). So, to really know who God is, all we have to do is look at Jesus. (www.gotquestions.org)