After All (Holy)
May 10, 2012 in
Faith with
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The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there. The life of the godly is not an Interstate through Nebraska, but a state road through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee.
There are rock slides and precipices and dark mists and bears and slippery curves and hairpin turns that make you go backwards in order to go forwards. But all along this hazardous, twisted road that doesn’t let you see very far ahead there are frequent signs that say, “The best is yet to come.” And at the bottom right corner written with an unmistakable hand are the words, “As I live, says the Lord!” – John Piper
Book Review: Explicit Gospel
“He (God) loves his children and is therefore patient with them, wanting them all to come to repentance. We deserve his wrath, and even through we persist throughout our lives in foolishly demanding what we think we are due, he refuses to give us what we deserve.” (53)
Every once in a while I will finish reading a book and know that will not be the last time I read it. The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler and Jared Wilson is one of those books. In fact, I knew after the introduction I would be reading this book again.
Everything in churches these days seems to be gospel-centric. ‘Gospel centered’ this and ‘gospel centered’ that plaster the websites and ministry descriptions of countless churches everywhere. The word gospel has become soaked into evangelical Christianity that its possible some of its true meaning has been watered-down or not completely understood to begin with.
Being ‘gospel centered’ is a great thing, however, its important to make sure the true meaning of gospel is applied and understood. In The Explicit Gospel, Chandler explains what the gospel is and how it is applied in our own lives as well as offers warnings towards abuse of gospel.
As the pastor of a large church in the Dallas, TX, Chandler is all to familiar with people misunderstanding the gospel as something that is earned and not simply the gift of grace from God. This mode of thinking has been commonly referred to as Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. “The idea behind moral, therapeutic deism is that we are able to earn favor with God and justify ourselves before God by virtue of our behavior (13).”
This mode of thinking has become popular in churches today. It offers the facade of being Christian, but is ultimately nothing more then religion. Chandler warns this way of teaching only leaves the hearer with an assumption of the gospel, not a complete message of it.
In clearly explaining the complete gospel message, Chandler splits the book into three sections: gospel on the ground, gospel in the air, and implications and applications.
The gospel at the ground level is what you and I are probably most familiar with. This is the story of God extending undeserved grace to us through sacrificing his son, Jesus Christ, on the cross for our sins. And how we are to faithfully share that good news — the gospel — with others.
The gospel in the air is shows a cosmic view of things. Chandler writes, “When we consider the gospel from the air, the atoning work of Christ culminates and reveals to us the big picture of God’s plan of restoration from the beginning of time to the end of time and the redemption of his creation (16).”
After laying the framework for the gospel on the ground and in the air, Chandler warns against choosing one over the other and shows the necessity for the marriage of both views.
The Scripture’s complementary perspectives of the gospel on the ground and the gospel in the air help us comprehend the breadth, length, height, and depth of God’s love. Neither perspective dilutes the other but rather shapes our vision of God’s saving purposes to the epic scope of biblical revelation. We are after a gospel that is resolutely centered on the atoning work of Christ and scaled to the glory of God… …May we never assume that people understand this gospel but, instead, let’s faithfully live out and faithfully proclaim the explicit gospel with all the energy and compassion our great God and King has graciously given. (221-222)
Chandler’s understanding of culture coupled with his unwavering passion to stay faithful to scripture shines through in The Explicit Gospel. Whether you’ve heard the word gospel before or have grownup knowing the word, The Explicit Gospel is a book that should be read by all.
Chandler’s thorough explanation of the gospel has been a great source of encouragement to me as I have been reminded again of the wonderful, powerful, selfless, love of God through the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus Christ.
Greg.
On Friday a thief
On Sunday a King
Laid down in grief
But awoke holding keys
To Hell on that day
The first born of the slain
The Man Jesus Christ
Laid death in his grave
Severity Deserved
April 5, 2012 in
Faith with
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Reftagger
I wanted to let you know about a new feature I added to the blog. It’s called Reftagger. Reftagger allows easier access to bible verse references I add to some of my post. Often times when I write a post I will reference bible verses but won’t right completely write the whole verse out. This is where Reftagger comes in handy.
Anytime you see a verse location written out, simply hover your cursor over the text and a small window will pop-up with the bible verse. Give it try, Romans 10:13.
Cool, huh?
Greg.
There Is Hope
A week from today Grassroots Church will be celebrating the resurrection of our savior, Jesus Christ, with a sunrise service at Pritchard Park in downtown Asheville. This will be our first public gathering and we are more then excited for this opportunity to share with others the hope we have in Jesus Christ.
Even though many of you reading this blog don’t live in Asheville, there is one very important way you can be a part of the service.
Pray.
Specifically, you can pray for the Spirit to began moving within the hearts of those who will be there to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, as well as boldness for the Grassroots core team as we continue to share about this sunrise service with others God puts in our lives.
Jesus is alive!
Greg.
Planting Roots in Asheville
When I was sixteen years old I felt the Holy Spirit’s call on me to full-time gospel ministry. As I have developed and grown in that call through the last seventeen years God has blessed me with various ministry opportunities. Looking back over those years I can see where God has allowed me to experience many different seasons all filled with great joys and, at times, biting pain. It has been through those experiences that my faith has been strengthened and my will to make His renown known, assured.
For roughly two years now I have felt a stirring within me to plant a church. When I first felt this call I set my sights on Charlotte, NC. Up until a month ago Charlotte was strong on my radar. So strong, in fact, that last year I had put a deposit down on an apartment there. But through God’s sovereignty I have not moved. This desire of mine to plant a church has been bathed in prayer and counsel. It is through that prayer, counsel, and God’s gracious hand that I realize I have more to learn before I plant anywhere as a lead pastor.
At the end of next month I will be moving to Asheville, NC to be a part of a church my friend, Lance Crawford, is planting there called, Grassroots. Lance’s vision for the church in Asheville corresponds with mine for Charlotte. When I first heard about Lance’s desire to plant in Asheville, I was excited for him and his team but never considered being a part of Grassroots outside of supporting them through prayer. I felt God had called me to Charlotte and that was where I was going to be headed. But, in the spirit of Proverbs 16:9, the steps of my plans are being established be God.
For about a month now I have been wrestling with a desire within me to move to Asheville and be a part of Grassroots. This desire has completely taken me by surprise. As I began to pray about the possibility of moving to Asheville and being a part of Grassroots I felt the Lord pressing upon me that it wasn’t about the location but about the message; the Gospel.
I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to be a part of Grassroots and sharing the love of Jesus to Asheville. This next season of my life will be unlike any other. I am excited to see how God will move in Asheville, and through that, move in me.
Greg.
Pecans and Perspective
I am a prideful man, filled with a desire to take things on myself. I hear it’s “a man thing” or something. What ever it is, it’s exhausting and incredibly lonely. I wrote this in one of darker, prideful moments. Instead of reaching out for help, I decided to close up and slide away from people. People who truly love me.
Today I went to the doctor for my yearly check-up. I was supposed to go back in February. I didn’t because I am fat and knew the doctor was going to tell me that. Frankly, after years of hearing that, I didn’t want to hear it again. Instead, I told myself I would finally lose the weight and come back in six months when I had shown some progress from last year. At that point I had lost 20 pounds since Christmas and was on my way to losing a lot more. Then I stopped. My lack of discipline in losing weight crept back in. The only reason I went to the doctor today was because of three weeks ago.
Three weeks ago I found a lump the size of a pecan on the top of my left hand. I Googled about it and found that it might be a Ganglion Cyst. Nothing to much to worry about I thought – it seemed pretty common. I would monitor it and go the doctor if it got bigger or started to hurt. Well, I have been thinking about it a lot since discovering it. Common sense finally beat out my pride and I made an appointment to see the doc. She doesn’t think it’s the cyst Ramer M.D. self diagnosed. She sent me to get my hand x-rayed. We will know more next week.
I spent most of my day today in medical offices between physicals, x-rays, and blood work. I would say I spent roughly three hours just waiting. A lot of time to think. Something I like to do often. I thought back on my week. It has been one of the more emotionally exhausting weeks in recent memory. On Tuesday night I found out that my tax refund has already been issued — a month and half before I even submitted my paperwork. I have spend the last three evenings filling out paperwork regarding identity theft. My main concern is not my return but my credit. I spent many years with horrible credit and have finally gotten to a place where I have good credit. I get frustrated thinking it might take a hit because of someone’s cowardly act. I have and am taking steps to protect it as much I as know how, but I still have this overwhelming sense of helplessness.
During my time of waiting and thinking this morning I was reminded of Job. Not that the circumstances of my life are anything in comparison to Job’s – not even close. But I was thinking about my propensity to complain. I complain a lot. Some of it is verbal, but I think most is non-verbal. My actions show my complaints and my self-rightous attitude toward life. Thinking back on the post I mentioned at the beginning of this one I realize now I wrote that in somewhat of a selfish way. While I do think it is good to step away, I firmly believe there is a reason why we live where we live and with who we live and “do life” with. For me to step away from that is not beneficial to anyone. People can’t help me and I can’t help them if I am not around. We all need and positively benefit from each other (Acts 2:42-47).
After Job had been through all that he had been through he finally breaks and complains about all of it. Then God, in his divine sarcasm, goes off on Job (Job 38-41). “Dress for action like a man…” he tells him. I kept thinking about those words all day. I thought back on my life and the times God has graciously used me to positively impact the life of someone. I couldn’t help but realize that by me stepping away and isolating myself from the world I couldn’t have an impact on anyone. I don’t think I am anyone special, however I know that God can use me to be a blessing to others just as he has used others to be a blessing to me. (Thank you to those of you who reached out to me after I wrote the post a few weeks back. You have certainly been a blessing.)
I hope that whether through this blog, Facebook, or whatever means, I can be a blessing to people. I am thankful that God does love a messed up sinner such as myself. And I am thankful He uses lumps the size of a pecan to help bring life into perspective.
Greg.
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