What is a Follower of Jesus?

As I read the early chapters of the Gospels, I see Jesus speaking the same command to almost everyone he meets: follow me! For decades Christians have understood this to mean “say a prayer of repentance and commitment to Jesus, attend church regularly, and live a generally good life”.  There is a problem with this. Jesus never led someone through a ‘sinners prayer’ followed by a command to attend church services.  No, he said, "follow me."

What he meant was "forsake all that you have put above and before me; devote yourself to living life my way, according to my teachings, and my example. Become my disciple. Let me show you a better way to live – free from the trappings of hypocritical living and dead religion. Follow me into a life of service and love of God and others.”

We see this through all four Gospels – Jesus sought to bring transformation into people’s lives. He wanted them to live a life that was all about him – a life that says “It’s not me that’s living my life now – it’s Jesus."  To follow Jesus is to put him at the center and to make him the supreme ruler of all that you are and all that you do.  It is to allow him to lead you, by his Spirit, out into the world as an agent of transformation in the lives of others.

Jesus gave the keys to following him to his disciples.  They are found in Matthew 28:18-20:

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Being a follower of Jesus means:

We recognise his authority in and over our lives

We allow him to be Lord. We acknowledge his complete control and relinquish our dilution of control. We let him lead us. We follow him – he does not follow us!

We make disciples

Notice that disciples are commanded to go and make disciples. Following Jesus means calling others to follow Jesus. We are his witnesses given the mission of sharing the gospel and showing the world what he is like. Disciples mature and multiply.

We get baptized

We align ourselves to Jesus publicly through the act of baptism. He asked his followers to baptize new followers. This was the ritual for new believers in the early Church when they put their faith in Jesus and became his disciples. As we look at the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the epistle writings we cannot help but conclude that baptism was not an option – it was an expectation Jesus had upon those who would follow him. Followers of Jesus are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We obey Jesus’ Commands

The disciples were told to both teach and obey Jesus’ commands. Followers of Jesus will take joy and great delight in obeying Jesus teachings.  It is essential that to teach others to obey Jesus, we must first be doing obeying him. Every follower of Jesus is by nature a leader – we are to lead others into obeying Jesus and surrendering to his way of life – which is the best and most fabulous way to live life!  To lead others we must first be doing.

Jesus expects his followers to obey what he taught – it is not an add-on to our faith or for the over zealous. We need to apply the Bible to our lives in a way that honors Jesus and places him at the centre of our lives.  Simply put, followers of Jesus obey him!

We go to the world

We share Jesus with a lost, broken, and hurting world. Throughout his life, Jesus took the gospel into public spaces. Today, we seem dedicated to keeping the gospel inside church buildings, but Jesus did the opposite. He shared God’s good and practical love in markets, next to bathing pools, in town centers, on mountain tops, on beaches, at a watering hole, on a road; at meals, at parties, sitting in the temple courts, and more.

Jesus expects us to take the Gospel practically and verbally to all the nations of the world. Are you seeking Jesus in order to hear where he wants you to serve him: Is it in your own community longterm?  Is it abroad?  Is it to move to another town that has little or no Gospel influence and voice? We are to take the Gospel where it is needed.

We Follow

Jesus’ disciples sought his wisdom, insight, and direction.  They went where Jesus took them and went where he told them to go. They trusted him enough to submit to his discipline. They didn’t always understand him. They messed up. They learned. They grew. They walked and talked with him. They preached the gospel after his ascension. They took him out to the world.

We are only two weeks into 2013, why not start the New Year by re-reading the Gospels to see what Jesus taught and how he lived. Then, continue on in the New Testament by reading Acts to see how the first disciples followed Jesus and stayed devoted to him and his teachings.

Perhaps there is a need to get back to the basics and consider our own commitment to Christ. Jesus is looking for disciples who will follow him and make him the most important part of their lives so that he is in control of every part.  It’s not always easy – you could say it’s a discipline at times – but it’s also the adventure of your lifetime.

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Stuart McCormack has worked as a shelf stacker, bingo caller, archivist, Youth Minister and is currently living out his calling to missional living in the secular workspace as a Targeted Youth Support Worker/mentor.  He co-leads “Vintage,” a missional community which is part of Kairos Network Church based in Harrogate North Yorkshire.  He is husband to Jenna and father to Noah, Bella and Sophia. In his spare time he tweets @missionalrev and blogs at www.missionalrev.wordpress.com

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Read more on this topic in Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson. 

Read other free articles on this topic: Patience and Discipleship by Jeremy Writebol and How Jesus Made Disciples by Winfield Bevins.

Remember Whose You Are

As I began my walk through the New Testament this year, the first reading was, quite obviously, from Matthew 1. I was struck anew with a sense of awe as I read it and the words came to life for me like never before. Just last month, my wife and I had our third child (and Jonathan begat Micah). Because of this recent life event, fatherhood had been on my mind more than usual. When I read over is familiar passage, two things stuck out: our parenting doesn't affect just our kids but also generations to come, and it matters whose you are.

Trickle-Down Parenting

We see it over and over again where one sin causes peril for generation after generation. Cain, Akin, Abram, etc., are prime examples of this.

The genealogies in Scripture should serve as a minder of how much our actions do matter for those yet to come. And when applied to parenting, this increases all the more.

My responsibility as a father to Ethan, Micah, and Parker is the train them for godliness. They will be most significantly influenced in matters of both faith and lifestyle by my actions, words, and training. That is a heavy responsibility, but a welcome one. God has chosen me as a father to these three boys. That in itself is quite humbling.

But He provides me guidance as I provide them guidance.

Through both Scripture as well as the example of my own godly father, I am blessed with a firm foundation on which to live my life as an example to my boys. I can rest in the grace God has extended to me and show that same grace to my boys.

My prayer is that they see that grace, respond to Christ in faith and do the same for their children, they for theirs, and so on.

Remember Whose You Are

When I was a youngster, the last thing my dad would tell me before I went out with my friends was, "Remember whose you are." I knew the meaning of that quite well. He wasn't just telling me to not do anything to embarrass him or my mom. He was reminding me to act in a way that represents the character of Christ. It's one of the most vivid memories I have from my childhood.

Reading these genealogies brings that memory rushing to the forefront once again.

Something that seems as boring as a genealogy was comfort to me and should be a comfort to you as well. For we are to remember whose we are. We are bought with a price. Heirs.

Sons.

We know who our heavenly Father is. Let us not forget that. We are His, and He is ours. And we are to pass that on.

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Jonathan Howe serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives at LifeWay Christian Resources, the host and producer of Rainer on Leadership and SBC This Week. Jonathan writes weekly at ThomRainer.com on topics ranging from social media to websites and church communications.

Should Christians Be Concerned About the Environment?

Jonathan Merritt is author of A Faith of Our Own and Green Like God. He has published more than 350 articles in outlets such as USA Today, The Atlantic, National Journal, and CNN.com. He holds an M.Div. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Th.M. from Emory University. Connect with Jonathan on Twitter.  

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People often ask me for a reason why I believe Christians should care for the environment. They are often taken aback when I respond, "Because of the Gospel." While these two might not immediately strike one as connected, I’ve come to believe they are inextricably so. Let me explain.

Creation care is a launching pad for the Gospel. I continue to get correspondence from missionaries around the world who are relieved to find American Christians championing “creation care.” In many foreign countries, missionaries don’t begin with Jesus, who is unknown. Rather they begin with the creation and Creator, who is clearly evident to all (Rom 1).

Creation care strengthens our Gospel witness. In Western countries like ours, where there is a growing sensitivity to environmental problems, people see environmental stewardship as the mark of a “good” person. When people see Christians selflessly caring for this planet and advocating for those who depend on Earth’s resources, our message becomes convincing. That’s why church planters across the U.S. are beginning to incorporate stewardship practices into their congregation’s DNA.

Furthermore, foreign peoples carefully observe the historically Christian West, and based on our lifestyles and witnesses, they form opinions about our faith. Take paper consumption, for example. America comprises only 5% of the world’s population, yet we consume over a third of Earth’s paper products. How does this effect the Gospel in countries like Nicaragua, Honduras, and Ecuador, where deforestation causes so much injustice?

Living out the Gospel includes caring for creation. It is inappropriate to claim that creation care — or any social issue — comprises the foundation of the Gospel. But we must accept that the Gospel calls us to a radically sacrificial, compassionate lifestyle. Even the Great Commission commands us both to “make disciples of all nations” and to teach others to “obey everything I have commanded you.” This includes the commands to love our global neighbors, care for “least of these” and uphold the creation care mandates replete throughout Scripture.

Ignoring environmental problems heaps shame on the Gospel. Part of missional living is truth-telling. That means we must be honest about our world’s problems. When we blindly follow Christian lobbying groups and “alliances” that ignore global injustices, the Gospel suffers. St. Augustine cautions against this in The Literal Meaning of Genesis:

It is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, while presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense. We should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn . . . If they find a Christian mistaken in a field, which they themselves know well, and hear him maintain his foolish opinions about the Scriptures, how then are they going to believe those Scriptures in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven?

I could offer a number of reasons why Christians should care about creation: Because the “earth is the Lord’s” (Psalm 24), because it reveals the attributes of God (Psalm 19; Rom 1), because God asked us to care for it (Genesis 2:15), and because Christ’s death began a process of cosmic redemption in which we are called to participate (Col 1; Rev 11). But more than any of those, we must care about creation because we want the Kingdom of God to reign on earth and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to take root among all people.

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A version of this article first appeared in Christianity Today.

He Will Draw Near to You

It all hit at a time when life was going really well. My husband and child were wonderful, jobs were set, my first EP was just released, and we were on our way to a triple date with some of our friends.  July 20^th, 2012 started out as a perfectly normal day.

We chose to go see a movie that night and in the theatre I began to feel something unfamiliar. I was certain it was the beginning of a heart attack. It continued to get worse – the burning, the racing pulse, the shaking, the difficulty breathing. I was feeling frantic, and that’s putting it lightly.

All I wanted to do was go home or go to the hospital. Something was wrong and it wasn’t going away. As hard as I tried to figure out what was going on with me, I couldn’t.

After a visit to the ER, four days of agony dealing with anxiety, an uncontrollable shaking episode, a visit to the doctor, and Xanax, I found myself sitting on our bed on a Tuesday night.  What was all of this? Where did it come from? I decided to take a look in my journal where I record thoughts and prayers. Tears began streaming down my face.

Here are a few of the excerpts I read that night:

June 5, 2012

I feel that if I discipline myself in prayer and listening to God, I could really be who I'm supposed to be and do what I'm supposed to do.

June 13, 2012

Not sure what is next on the agenda for me, but I have a hopeful feeling that God is going to give me something new and different and better.

June 14, 2012

Being helpless is what creates a deep prayer life.  God, how do I become helpless?  I need to be that.  I need to be less.  I need to feel weak.  I need to feel like I can't control or do things on my own.  Help me do that.

June 19, 2012

I need to have faith - not rely on optimism and answered prayers.  No matter what happens, God is still God and God is still good.

Answered Prayers

I was absolutely floored and didn’t remember writing any of it. My desire was to feel a closeness and nearness with God that I hadn't felt before. I longed to feel him on the other side of my prayers. I wanted to be dependent on him and know that I truly was.  I wanted to give up control of my life.  I had asked him for this.

God allowed me to do, feel, and know all of those things. He allowed for this great pain to overwhelm my body, something that I have always been very good at controlling.  He allowed me to feel completely alone in my own mind.  He allowed me to feel helpless, weak, and out of control.

This is a part of God that some find troubling (including myself at times). Yet, God wasn't sitting in heaven on a comfy chair while zapping his hands at me and making me suffer through this pain.  He was allowing me to experience this pain, knowing all along that he would bring me out of it and I would come out a better person--a dependent child of God.

Although this was truly anxiety, there was also a deeper problem - a spiritual problem.  I believe that the outpouring of this pain came from a longing and emptiness in my soul.  I was supposed to uncover all of this truth about God and myself.

I asked my husband, "But would God really allow all of this to happen to me and for me to feel so much pain just so I could realize these things?"  "Yes.  That's how much He loves you," he said.  My eyes filled with tears as I thought about this love that I had blocked out of so many parts of my heart. I had finally let it all in.

I sat there that night crying, reading through my journal, and thanking the Lord through prayer. It was as if a cool breeze had fallen on my entire body and a huge burden had been lifted. I was free and the pain was gone. Gone.

Good News

I was reminded of this verse:

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.- James 4:8

I fell asleep praying that night.  I fell asleep feeling like the Spirit of God was wrapped around me like a blanket.  As if I could never escape it.  I didn't want to escape it; this was home.

I’ve learned so much from all of this.  The list seems unending. But how it has affected my understanding of people around me, the good news of Jesus, and the reality of God as Provider have proven to be the most significant.

I have to take time to understand where people are coming from. I had my definitions of “anxiety” and of “those people” with mental health issues nailed down in my mind until it happened to me. I have a deeper understanding now. I know what it’s like to feel like your life, as you once knew it, was over. Everything around me was dark and hopeless. I can now empathize with others walking in that same valley.  I am working on showing compassion and offering grace to others.

The good news of Jesus is true, living, and active. He did something amazing thousands of years ago. One remarkable result is it allows the Holy Spirit to live inside of us. We have access to this God! I am just now understanding what that really means and how powerful it truly is.  When I felt alone in a place of darkness, he was there.  He was all I had.  I leaned on him even though I didn’t feel like I even knew how.  When he came that night to reveal those truths to me, I not only had a new understanding of the good news of Jesus in my mind and heart, but I could feel it.  It swept through my body and provided healing.

Ask. Seek. Find

If you want something from God, then ask. Ask over and over. He does provide. I knew there was something I was lacking in my relationship with God and understanding of him. I asked for that many, many times, whatever “that” was. I asked him if he’d help me break through whatever was stopping me. He did. He did in a way that I would’ve never asked for myself, but it was so worth it.

God is legitimately listening and acting.  If you find yourself disagreeing with that statement, I encourage you to do one thing:  talk to God genuinely.  Tell him how you feel. Ask him for help. Be genuine and open in your interaction with him and I believe he will do more than you can imagine.  I'm not saying that if you ask for a new refrigerator that a new refrigerator is going to show up on your doorstep. I am saying that God takes care of us in ways we couldn't have come up with on our own sometimes. Trust me; his ways always end up being better than anything we could have planned.

I am not perfect and I am not struggle-free. I am still dealing with anxiety and fear in a way I’ve never had to before. (My old, in-control self would marvel at the fact that I now see a counselor regularly!) I get weary and even the journey seems too hard at times.   But I know, like that night God’s healing rushed through me, that he is with me.  He is making me new.  Draw near to him and he will draw near to you.

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Claire Westbrook (@clairewestbrook) is wife to Colt and mother to 14-month-old Duke. She lives in Oklahoma City, OK and spends her time being a stay-at-home mom, teaching piano lessons, and writing music. Claire blogs at My Devising.

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Read more on this topic in Winfield Bevins' e-book, Prayer Life.

Read more free articles: The Daily Gospel by Mathew Sims and Gospel Diagnostic Questions by David Fairchild.

Why I'm Not Reading in 2013

Josh King is Lead Pastor of Sachse's First Baptist Church and a graduate of Criswell College and Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Wylie, Texas with his wife Jacki and their two young boys.  

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Personally, I think New Year's resolutions get a bad rap. Many people portray them as almost unbiblical and at odds with Jesus and the Gospel. I disagree. I find them to be useful, at least in terms of assessing one's life. I think it is healthy to look back, evaluate, and move forward.

Instead of adding things like diet, exercise, and reading, I am cutting stuff out. The most life changing, for me, will be reading. I have decided that in 2013, I will not read any new books. Crazy, right? I know, like most resolutions, I will probably fail at this sometime mid-February but my motivation is centered around changing my personal attitude through an attempt at reading less.

Those who know me know that I am an avid reader. I love books - especially eBooks. There is something mind blowing about someone that I have never met packing up his mind and transferring it to me. I love the experience and the possibilities. But over time it has waned from learning and growth to acquiring and flaunting. To me, reading books has been no different than someone who might collect cars, watches, or electronics. I read to "stay in the know" and to let others know that I was. I was devouring without contributing.

This year, I am seeking a new approach that looks like this:

1. I will look to talk with people who know. Instead of picking up a book on revitalization, I will sit down and buy coffee for a revitalizer.
2. I will re-read what I've read. There are a few books over the past few years that stand out. I don't remember every detail, but I remember thinking and being engaged by the author and the content. This year, if I do read, I am going to go back and re-read those with a pen and paper. I will interact and look for real ways to apply what I've already learned.
3. I will seek balance, or better yet, priority. This is a tricky part. Should I read my Bible more than I read other books? Should I write more than I read? Just trying to answer those questions in the affirmative is going to be a challenge.

I am clearly not against books or new books. I am sure this year will be filled with great works by great men; all of which I can read... next year.

As We Fight for Faith

In almost every epic story there is a moment that is so dark you are unsure how the characters or your own soul will ever recover. You can’t see the road out. Very few cruel stories ever leave you there but the best of stories always go there.

Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise. - Victor Hugo, Les Miserable.

We have been in the darkest hour in Austin, Texas. The moment when you turn in each direction on this earth and you physically shudder. My friend Sarah can barely move and can’t speak, her three very young children have been told they may not see their mom again or it will be a really long time. Four weeks ago she had several strokes that resulted in a major brain surgery. She is 34 years old and also in the midst of a difficult divorce. Brokenness breaks everything all at once sometimes.

Lately, hope mostly exists in the form of heaven and laughter exists in inappropriate jokes that thankfully usually surround my darkest moments due to many inappropriate friends.

I got dressed for church last Sunday and we got there just a little bit late and I was so down. So, I dropped my kids off at church where my husband pastors and I went to Target to get a few last minute things for Christmas. I probably shouldn't publicly admitted that, but it happened.

As I pushed the cart my mind went places it has rarely ever gone. Places of wrestling with God and saying things like, “if this is how you roll God I want off.” As I retold this moment to a friend recently, she asked, “Then what did you do?” As if I were telling her a fascinating story before bedtime. She didn't want to be left hanging. There had to be a brilliant conclusion to such angst. I get it; we all want to know:

What do you do in the darkest hour? How do you fight for faith?

Here is my answer as I currently fight:

First, go there. Go to the darkest place. Something about facing what I am most afraid of; facing the worst case; facing the underbelly of God helps me. I am not good at pretending. I have no rugs where all dark things wait for me. It’s all out in the open and there is something refreshingly healthy about that. God’s grace has always been big enough for me to question him; I don’t go to him and pretend we are ok when we are not.

Second, We need people. As I pushed my shopping cart that day I skiped church, a Spirit filled friend called me and fought for me. She begged for me to not give up, that God was at work and this dark hour would not define this story. I cried walking aimlessly through Target as she preached, but when I got off the phone, I laughed at God’s timing.

We tend to isolate ourselves in the dark moments. DO NOT. We have kept a 10 person text stream running through the last few weeks since Sarah’s strokes. In it we have prayed and celebrated and cried and fought for each other. I call it our sisterhood. It is beautiful. God has gifted us with his family.

Thirdly, I fight for faith. Faith comes easily for some, I envy them. Mine is fought in the trenches of me on a regular basis. I fight to believe that God is real and good and all-knowing, especially when all hell feels loosed. I think it is ok to have to fight for it.

I fight by remembering. I remember that God did not promise to make this all right now. But he promised to make it right. I remember that Jesus didn’t live a posh life. It began a few weeks after he was born in a barn, being chased by baby genocide as he fled to Egypt. That was what Christ did after the first Christmas-he fled a genocide. I remember that in heaven the darkest hour will seem like a moment, a second.

And I fight for my friend! She is fighting to come back and we are fighting beside her! We believe our God can heal! Pray with us!

I kind-of think we are in the best of stories here. The kind of story that goes to the darkest place but for the best of reasons and doesn't leave us there in despair. A story written by and for a God who suffered first and is rescuing us from the darkest moments.

Editor’s Note: This is a repost of Fighting for Faith. It appears at GCD with the author’s permission.

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Jennie Allen’s passion is to communicate a bigger God through writing and teaching. She is the author of Anything and serves in ministry alongside her husband, Zac. They have four children and live in Austin, Texas. Jennie’s blog can be found at www.JennieAllen.com.

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Read more free article: Grief and the Gospel by Abe Meysenburg and Long Live the King by Jake Chambers

Read the e-book, Prayer Life by Winfield Bevins.

Give Your Pastor a Break

Pastors, for the most part, work hard. They love people, love the church, and serve out of a sense of divine responsibility. They generally do it out of this love and commitment, and not because of any financial benefit, as most pastors work for far less money than they could earn elsewhere. Pastoring is a highly stressful vocation and one which requires an often absurd amount of hours. Pastors put their weekly hours in at the office, are usually “on the job” multiple nights throughout the week, and generally have responsibilities on many weekends, with Sundays obviously being consumed with commitments. Beyond that, the nature of the job means they are also almost always available. Phone calls in the middle of the night, emergencies at the hospital on weekends and holidays, as well as days off interrupted by well-meaning people who have a pressing (and often not-so-pressing) need. I know, in my situation as a pastor over the last 10 years, if I put in less than 60-65 hours in a week I considered it a light week and one to appreciate. Pastors work a lot.

The Tasking Work of the Pastor

Beyond the fact that pastors work a lot, the kind of work they do is tasking. Not only does the job require a lot of hours, it also requires a high level of emotional, mental, and spiritual commitment. I can personally attest to the fact that a pastor almost never has meetings with people to discuss all the good things that are going on. Instead, the pastor typically invests their time dealing with sin, struggle, and pain. Counseling sessions with people in need, lunches with people who are unhappy, emails, Facebook messages, etc. All of this adds up to an often weighty amount of time and responsibility that can suck the life out of our pastors, often before we realize it. Pastoral work is not only hard, it is incredibly draining.

In August of 2010, the New York Times said, “Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could.” The statistical realities that support this conclusion are often staggering.

With all this said, I would like to suggest a simple, easy to implement idea that should cost little to nothing, but could bring about significant benefits for both your pastors and your church: Give your pastors a break. Seriously. Move quickly to increase their vacation time. Now, before you quickly write me off, according to experts quoted in the same New York Times article, taking a bit of time off may be the most significant remedy to keep your pastors and staff from burning out and walking away. What is particularly great, from a church budget perspective, is this benefit costs little or nothing at all! Cheers all the way around! 

The Importance of Vacation

Over the years, I have spoken to a more than a few pastors who are at churches who give tiny vacation allotments to their pastors and staff. Often this is done by well meaning folks who model their compensation packages after secular packages without giving thought to the fact that pastors rarely work a 40-hour workweek and are always on call, not to mention the emotional and mental demands of the job which lead to higher-than-average burnout/dropout. Giving your pastors one week of vacation, or 10 days of vacation, is simply unfortunate and unnecessary. What makes this even more important, in my mind, is that churches are often operating as tightly as they can financially. Typically they are not flush with cash and, as such, struggle to find ways to compensate their pastors and staff in appropriate ways. Providing for them extra vacation time is an easy, affordable (if not free) way to bless your staff and, in doing so, builds a culture of love and respect among them that leads to even greater commitments to your church. In my mind, it makes little to no sense to offer them tiny, limited vacation packages. Moving their vacation time to three weeks, or even a month, could literally change their life and radically change the life of your church as well.

Thankfully, I can speak to this from personal experience. I have had the privilege of serving in churches that understand how important this is and who have blessed their staff with sufficient time off. I cannot tell you how much of a blessing that was, and how that led to a healthy ministry environment for me and my family.

So, do you want to bless your pastors and staff? Do you want to keep them around, keep them satisfied, and engender their greatest commitment to you while seeing them provide the highest level of service to you? Give them a break. Literally. I think you may be surprised at how well it could pay off for you and for them.

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Cross-posted from Micah's personal blog.

2013 Recommended Reading from Our Team

At Project TGM, we all love to read. Like, a lot. Here are some books that we read in 2012 that we recommend to you for 2013!

Brandon Smith

• The Great Gain of Godliness by Thomas Watson
• The Great Awakening by Thomas Kidd
• Spurgeon: A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore

Jonathan Howe

• Gospel Deeps by Jared Wilson
• The Book of Business Awesome by Scott Stratten
• Empty Promises by Pete Wilson
• Who is This Man? by John Ortberg

Logan Gentry

• The Permanent Revolution by Alan Hirsch and Tim Catchim
• Real Marriage by Mark and Grace Driscoll
• Everyday Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis

Lore Ferguson

• Gospel Wakefulness by Jared Wilson
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller

Micah Fries

• Bold as Love by Bob Roberts, Jr.
• The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken

Owen Strachan

• Charles Hodge by Paul Gutjahr
• The Conviction to Lead by Albert Mohler

Seth McBee

• Winning the Story Wars by Jonah Sachs
• Creating a Missional Culture by JR Woodward
• The Cure by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and John Lynch

Gospel Amnesia in the Local Church

Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from Gospel Amnesia by Luma Simms. The ebook edition will be available next week from GCD Books.  In Gospel Amnesia, Luma fearlessly interrogates how our prideful forgetfulness of the power and grace of the gospel of Christ undermines the foundation of our relationships with God, ourselves, and each other. For the purposes of this excerpt, Luma defines gospel amnesia in this way: "an extensive degradation or suppression of our consciousness of the gospel." It is our sincere prayer that her words will inspire believers to renewed gratitude and deeper understanding of all that Christ is and all that he has done for us.

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A few years ago I watched one of my dear friends start maturing and growing spiritually. There seemed to be a tangible difference in the way she served her family and in the way she related to her husband. This was not an act; the Lord was working in my friend's life. Instead of rejoicing with her and seeking to learn from her, I became envious. I told myself that it was okay, that we are allowed as Christians to “covet” someone else's sanctification because it would drive us to try hard and do better and become more spiritually mature ourselves. This was at the height of my gospel amnesia years, and I had “moved on” from the gospel and was busy growing and becoming “more sanctified” with all those “right things” I was doing. Except that I wasn't growing, my heart was becoming darkened with envy. I actually envied my friend's spiritual growth; I wanted it for myself, and not in addition to her, but instead of her! Is that not sick with sin? How very Cain-like of me. If that's not gospel amnesia, I'm not sure what is. It grieves me deeply when I think about how sick my heart was that I would resent the work of the Holy Spirit in my friend's life.

This went on for almost an entire year until one day I couldn't take the conviction from the Sprit any longer. This sin was crushing me. I called my friend and admitted everything. Of course she forgave me. It's not like my poor friend hadn't noticed that I had been irritable with her for almost a year, but she waited patiently for me to come talk to her. She was very longsuffering, way more than I had ever been with her, to my shame.

This type of sin is real in the local church and it needs to be brought into the light. As long as we keep our “little” sins hidden in the dark we have no hope of overcoming and standing victorious over them. The entire time I was being eaten by envy over my friend's spiritual growth, my longsuffering friend had been praying for me. She saw that I was in bondage. I will dare to say that gospel amnesia is that—bondage.

SPIRITUAL COVETEOUSNESS & SPIRITUAL PRIDE

Have you ever felt ashamed or guilty because you can't seem to keep up with someone else's sanctification? On the other side: have you ever let words slip from your lips (e.g. how many times a week you do family worship, what books you are reading, which parenting and education method you are using, etc.) to show how far along your family is on the sanctification spectrum? In other words, have you ever “preached Christ” out of envy, rivalry, or selfish ambition (Philippians 1:15–17)? I certainly have.

Spiritual covetousness and spiritual pride are real, and can do damage to relationships and to a church body. These are subtle sins. Nourished by the fertile soil of a gospel amnesic church culture, they creep into hearts under the guise of the call to “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24). They manifest themselves in a myriad of ways across countless personalities. How does this type of thing happen? How do we get to a point in the local body where we resent the work of the Holy Spirit in someone else's life, or sling around our spiritual pride provoking our brethren? How do we forget that it was he who said, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion?”

The answer is: gospel amnesia. We forget the gospel and the cross at the heart of the gospel. We forget the work of Christ.

The local church is a messy place; a place full of sinners in need of their savior every day. You and I are part of this organism. Hence, if we personally have gospel amnesia, we can imagine how that could exponentiate within the local body. Here too we have to ask ourselves: What has become the center of our local church? What excites those in the pews around us?

SINS IN THE LOCAL CHURCH

There is sin in every church, because every church, no matter how small or how selective, is made up of fallen humans.

Gospel amnesia flourishes in a local church where there is a disconnect between doctrine and culture. An obvious case would be a church where there is no gospel preaching. Another would be a church that is obligation-heavy and gospel-light. Yet another is where there is a fair amount of gospel doctrine with little or no gospel action.

Ray Ortlund Jr. asks in his sermon Justification versus Self–Justification, “what kind of dark church culture can a mentality of self-justification (gospel amnesia) create?” (I am substituting 'gospel amnesia' knowing that the gospel is more than just the doctrine of justification.) Here are some of his answers: Selfish ambition, manipulative power of exclusion, a sense of grievance toward some, a redefining of what it takes to be an acceptable Christian (a “Jesus + Something” mentality), biting, devouring, insecurity, anxiety, fear and anger. I would add suspicion, warring over secondary matters, verbal or non-verbal pressure to adhere to unstated rules, a culture of affectation, preoccupation with outward behavior, and a lack of humility and transparency. A church rife with gospel amnesia can trumpet all day long that they hold to the gospel, but if the fruit of church culture shows otherwise, they have effectively de-gospeled the gospel. (My deep gratitude to Pastor Ray Ortlund Jr. whose sermon helped me to crystalize some of these thoughts. His phrase “de-gospel the gospel” had me taking notes feverishly while driving and listening.)

When members of a church are blinded by gospel amnesia, dealing with sin in the congregation is hampered by a lack of grace and a gospel-centered rebuke and restoration process. How can a people tackle difficulties in their relationships and in their body life when they have forgotten the gospel, Jesus has been marginalized, and the center has become many things, none of which is the gospel and cross work of Christ!?

The friend I mentioned has long since forgiven me. Although we went through more hard times, the Lord has always brought us back together. I will say this: The only reason our relationship survived such heavy sinning was due purely to the cross of Jesus. When the two of us grabbed hold of the gospel again, when we started understanding the grace of God and when we became more comfortable with our identities being in Christ, that is when our friendship truly deepened, and love—Jesus' love—covered a multitude of sins.

What has become the center of your life in your local church?

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Luma Simms (@lumasimms) is a wife and mother of five delightful children between the ages of 1 and 19. She studied physics and law before Christ led her to become a writer, blogger, and Bible study teacher. Her book Gospel Amnesia is forthcoming on GCD Press. She blogs regularly at Gospel Grace.

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For more GCD articles from Luma on the life-changing power of the gospel, read: Gospel Amnesia & Building a Sister Up and Raising Gospel Centered Children.

A Single Calling

A few months ago a friend called me for advice. Phone calls for advice are nothing new, but the advice she sought seemed a bit strange to glean from me: "I can't get my baby to stop crying, what should I do?"

Let me introduce myself. Lore (pronounced Lor-ee), single, 32, graphic designer and writer, lives with three other singles in the suburbs of Fort Worth, Texas. No babies. No husband. I have no recollection of the last time I found myself babysitting. I don't know, how do you get your baby to stop crying?

I don't know much about babies, but I do know a little about God. We spent thirty minutes talking about my friend's relationship with the Lord, the ways in which she sees God, and the ways she feels He sees her. We spoke of Him as a Father and her as a child. We talked about the ways she's been instructed (by books and well-meaning friends) she needs to train her little one—to make him independent, self-sufficient, able to pacify himself, etc. We talked about how she would sit on her couch sobbing while she listened to her four-month old sob, how her heart ached to be near him, her hands ached to hold him, and her soul longed to sooth him. And, while his cries sounded in the background, I did what no single childless person should do, I gave parenting advice: go pick him up and hold him close, do exactly what God does with us when we are dependent, insufficient, and unable to be consoled.

Our Common Devotion

I have been guilty of thinking the only way a woman could meet God's expectation for her was to be a wife and a mother, and I thought the next highest calling was to teach other women these same expectations. But when I watched all of my friends marry and become mothers while I still remained single, I felt like an oak tree in the fall, losing all my leaves and opportunities one by one. If I couldn't be a wife or mother, I certainly couldn't disciple other women in being a wife or a mother—and how could I accomplish anything of worth otherwise?

In I Corinthians 7:32-35, Paul addresses the unmarried and married. To the unmarried woman he gives this generous task: to be concerned with the things of the Lord; and to the married he gives the beautiful task of devotion to her husband. And then he closes that section with this: I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

This means for the unmarried woman, she is unrestrained in her undivided devotion to the Lord, and for the married woman, she understands good order and the security of her devotion to the Lord. Neither call is higher, neither is better—both result in devotion to the Lord.

Our primary devotion is the Lord. Psalm 16 speaks of pleasant boundaries and this, I believe, is the pleasant boundary of womanhood (single or married). As single women we seek to reflect the gospel in ministry to others, and as married women we seek to reflect the gospel in ministry to our children and husbands. There are always ideas and principles and tactics and recommendations for how these are done best, but ultimately, the gospel going forward is our highest aim.

Knowing and Reflecting the Gospel

How do you serve your husband best? How do you parent best? How do you discipline best? How do you do singleness well? Know the gospel. Know the Word of God. Grasp core tenets of our faith (the Trinity, the character of God, the redemptive plan of salvation), because they ought to be the starting point of every conversation in which wisdom is sought or given.

Single women, serve others in joyful gratefulness for the gospel. Whether you ever see the culmination of what you wish, God's promise to His bride never fails.

Wives, submit to your husband as the Church submits to Christ, adorn the gospel in this pleasant way.

Young mothers, preach the gospel to your babies, parent them as you are parented by the Father.

Middle aged women and seasoned mothers, don't simply offer good advice to younger women, instead all your counsel should adorn the gospel. Study how this is a role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Older women, recognize the greatest need for discipleship in the Church today among women is not your good ideas or years of experience, but the beauty of a woman who has lived devoted to the depths of the gospel in her home and ministry—whether married or never married.

Above all, whatever your home or ministry looks like today, make Christ the centerpiece and cornerstone.

Resolutions: Aladdin vs. Jonathan Edwards

The much-maligned ritual of making New Year’s resolutions has fallen on hard times. One problem is most people want their wish magically granted. This Aladdin-like, genie-in-a-bottle, approach is why many New Year’s resolutions are abandoned by February. In our quick fix, microwavable, take-a-pill-to-lose-weight, culture we often make resolutions devoid of the necessary resolve to see them through. Aside from a well-known failure rate, there are other problems with these vows of fortitude made at the beginning of every year. First, our approach can teeter dangerously on the edge of self-salvation. “My life isn’t what I’d like it to be so I will turn things around! I will get a better job this year so I can improve my life.” In this process, we see a problem and then assume that we can also be the solution through our own determination. The reality—as many of us know—is more complex than that. Change happens best in the context of a supportive community, and we will inevitably fail if we attempt significant life change in our own power. Change happens through God's power.

Second, our resolutions often give disproportionate significance to a single area of life. We assume that the problems our resolutions will solve are the only things standing in the way of our our complete happiness, growth, or true meaning. So, our resolutions hang around our necks as a magical key to unlock the abundant life. This can be imprudent for multiple reasons: it reveals misplaced priorities, it's a narrow view of the good life, and misses Jesus. The good life comes from Christ. The gospel brings life.

Aladdin: Tempted By The Genie Approach

1 Kings 3 challenges our way of looking at and making resolutions. In this chapter, we find an interesting contrast to our New Year’s resolutions in an interaction between God and Solomon. In this rare display of wish granting, God asks Solomon to make a wish. He says, “Ask what you wish me to give you.” In this moment, Solomon could have asked for anything.

If God asked you or me what our one wish would be for the coming year, how would we respond? Would we ask to lose 20 pounds? To stop smoking? To have a prosperous year? More safety? More comfort? Better family? Solomon’s response was astounding. He asked that he would be able to understand justice for the sake of better serving God and his people (1 Kings 3:9). Essentially Solomon's one wish was to be divinely equipped to serve others better.

God’s reaction to Solomon’s response reveals what lies within most of our hearts. God has come to expect us to lust after physical and financial excellence above all else. Affirming Solomon’s request, God said,

Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself…behold, I have done according to your words. - 1 Kings 3:11-12

God knew that most people would be tempted to ask for health and wealth. God was impressed that Solomon did not follow suit.

It isn’t necessarily wrong to have good health and money. In fact, God decided to give Solomon the long life and riches for which he had not asked for in addition to the wisdom and understanding for which he had asked. Let us follow this same pattern as we consider resolutions--New Year’s or otherwise--in our lives. Let's focus first on loving God and loving others before moving on to ancillary issues. What Solomon understood is this truth: to serve well we need God's empowerment.

We should evaluate what needs to change this year through the lens of others-centeredness instead of self-centeredness. What will make you a better neighbor, a more joyful employee, a more faithful ambassador for Christ? Any of these categories may or may not require physical or financial alterations in the coming year. But they will require Christ's work.

Edwards: Grounded By A Christian Approach

Our endeavors aren’t all bad, though. David Powlison has noted the profundity of some resolutions:

“[They] express a sensed need of moral reformation. Gluttony, laziness, drunkenness, overspending and debt, loveless isolation from others, joyless workaholism, peaceless anxiety, restless entertainment, sexual self-indulgence, bitterness and estrangement from kith and kin, slovenly disorganization…[resolutions] are not trivial matters…”

Resolutions are not trivial. They demonstrate an awareness that our hearts and lives are not as they should be--that we are in need of revival. We need transformation. Then, how should we make our resolutions and persevere in keeping them?

Perhaps the most famous set of resolutions made by a Christian were the 70 made by Jonathan Edwards. His resolutions, penned in 1722, were prefaced with this sentence:

“Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake.”  

Not only did he write them once, but Edwards meditated weekly on these 70 resolutions. Praying this same prayer, he asked for and sought after God’s glory.

In this simple introduction, Edwards offers find several tips for how a Christian should make resolutions.

• First, there should be a humble approach that recognizes it is God’s strength that we rely on for resolve and victory. Resolutions are not for the purpose of self-salvation; they are for Christ’s sake and his glory. When we assume self-salvation, or sola bootstrapa, we are in dangerous territory. To confess Christ means we have stopped trying to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Instead, we rely on Jesus raise us.

• Second, we must yield to his will. Health and wealth isn’t promised to any of us. God may want you to have a more prosperous year. Then again, he may not. To confess Christ is to submit our will to his. Not only does this become our posture in resolutions but for daily life. We make resolutions by asking, “God, what do you want to do in and through me this year?”

• Third, our goal should be the glory of Christ. If our impetus in resolution making is self-glorification, then we are beginning with improper motives. Time and again, the posture of self-glorification leads to either personal pride or despair. However, seeking God's glory brings peace.

• Finally, just as Edwards did, we must review our resolutions on a consistent basis. We also need to seek accountability.

Get Started!

What are some areas of life where God might be calling you to re-focus? What could God grant you that would allow you to serve and love others better? What victories over sin might God want to give you for his sake? Are your resolutions for Christ’s sake and glory?

Also, get around others who share a common passion. You can't run this race alone. Undoubtedly, there are some wonderful people at your local church who would love to see you grow in numerous areas this coming year. Community calls us to remember Christ and our commitment to him. They remind us we are doing it through Christ’s power when we are foolishly trying to act in our own. Christian community reminds us of our need for repentance and heart change we chase our own will. They don’t hold the mirror up to us; they hold Christ up. If you are going to change in 2013, it will be through Christ and his people.

May 2013 be a year when you resolve--by God’s strength and for his glory--to make some serious life change both spiritually and physically.

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Jason Seville (Th.M) lives in Memphis, TN with his wife, Kim, and daughters, Sydney & Sophie. They are members at First Evangelical Church, and Jason is on staff with Downline Ministries, where he writes curriculum, teaches, and heads up Downline Builder. You can follow him on Twitter @jasonCseville. 

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Read Winfield Bevin's book, The Holy Spirit.

Read more free articles:  The Daily Gospel by Matthew Simms and Rethinking Devotion by Matt Manry

Four Keys to Better Blogging

Over the past six years, I've served as a designer, editor, administrator, and marketer for a number of blogs, including this one. If you know me personally, you know some of the sites I manage. I currently have my hands on about 6-8 sites per week and edit, post, or shape around 50 posts per week. As you can tell by the lack of frequency of my posts here, it leaves little time for me to write much of my own content. However, it does allow me to see what works—and what doesn't—when it comes to blogging. So what works?

I've narrowed it down to four basic principles:

• Content
• Connection
• Consistency
• Community

Content

People start blogging thinking it will be an easy task—they just need to go in and write every day. Then when they begin, they realize how difficult it is to come up with something to write out of thin air. Even if they have a specific topic, it becomes difficult to regularly produce original ideas and thoughts.

The most important thing about your blog content is for it to relate to what you're already doing in life. If you write about what you live, you will always have content for your blog.

The content is already there to write about. You simply need to see it that way. Since I work mostly with pastors and Christian authors/leaders, I encourage them to take adifferent perspective on their work as a way to find content for their blog.

Here is a simple example for pastors: Pastors typically generate several thousand words every week for their sermons. If you gave me a thirty-minute sermon, I could show you at least five blog posts in it. Take your 3 main points along your introduction and conclusion and condense them into 300-500 words. There are your five blog posts for the week after the sermon. Add in a quote or section of reading that you used in studying for the sermon and you have another post for Saturday. And you haven't even touched on the content available in your life moments of ministry, family and leisure time.

As for the non-pastor types out there, be intentional about seeing content in your everyday life. Use a journal or your smart phone and jot down ideas as they come. The content for your blog is all around. It's just a matter of seeing it as such. It takes discipline, but once you start it will become natural.

Connection

Content alone might make a blog, but it won't necessarily make for a good one. That takes connecting to the audience. You have to present the content in a way that it connects with the reader. It's like baking. You might make the best homemade cupcakes and icing, but you'll have a tougher time getting people at work to try them if they look like they've been dropped in your car a few times on the way to work than if they are presented well.

Once you have your content, you have to make it appealing. Be timely with your posts. Tie in your topics with current events. If during the week of the Super Bowl you're blogging about where the MLB All Star Game will be played, you're not going to get the traffic you would if you were blogging that same topic in early April when the MLB season begins.

Another key point of connecting with your audience is making your content fit the web. I've noticed that pastors tend to struggle with this at times. They are so used to having an introduction to set the stage for their points, that their posts come out that way almost by default. When it takes 4 paragraphs to get to the first point, the reader is either bored or has moved on. You have, at most, 15 seconds of reading time to connect with the reader. If you haven't made your point in the first two paragraphs, you've likely lost your audience.

Here are a few bonus tips on writing for the web:

• Use bulleted lists (like this one)
• Use headers or subheadlines to separate longer bodies of text
• Incorporate graphics if possible
• Use correct grammar and punctuation
• Try to include short, pithy statements in the post that can be tweeted by readers

Consistency

This might be the most difficult part of blogging. We all have a work capacity. There is only so much we can get done in a day. And when we think we have extra time, something usually comes up and fills that time slot too.

That's why having a structure or plan for your posts is helpful. Also calendaring your writing and blog time is beneficial. If your blog is related to your job, carve out time at work. Make it part of your work day. If it's not part of your job, then it's like anything else you have to find time for. If that weekly round of golf or time spent fishing on the lake can make it into your calendar, so can your writing time.

I have a routine for working with the different websites I manage. I know how long it takes to complete certain tasks over the last year, that time has decreased because it's part of my routine now. The same will happen for you. A post that takes you an hour to start will likely be one that takes 20 minutes later down the road.

If you want to be successful at blogging, it will take time. But no one has more time in their day than you do. We all have 24 hours. How will you use that time to make your blog successful?

Community

Of the four principles for successful blogging, this might be the easiest. Why? Because if you're actually blogging, you will want to connect with readers. Talking about what you've written will come naturally.

So get to know your readers. Connect with them on social media platforms.

Also, connect with other bloggers who write on the same topics. When they have good content, share their posts. They will start to take notice and likely reciprocate the favor when they see something from you that they like.

Two of the blogs I manage saw incredible growth in 2012. One grew by 67%. The other saw a remarkable 178% increase in traffic. But the difference in the workload from the previous year wasn't anything big. It was these four small steps.

These four steps have worked with these bloggers and many more. And they can work for you. But remember, it's not an overnight thing.

In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell shares his principle of the 10,000 hour rule. Gladwell wrote that greatness requires not only a great amount of talent, but a great  amount of time as well. The 10,000 hours rule claims that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours.

I'm not to the 10,000 hour mark yet with blogging, but I'm getting close. And I can tell the difference. You will be able to as well.

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If you're interested in a book to help you with the basics of setting up your blog or to grow the one you already have, there is really only one book I would ever recommend: Platform by Michael Hyatt. It is the best resource for bloggers I have ever seen. Even for someone who works with this every day, I found loads of helpful information in the book. If you're starting at square one, make this book your first purchase.

If you have any specific questions about blogging or social media, or if you would like to book a in-person consultation for you or your group, feel free to email me at jonathan@howeoriginal.com.

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Jonathan Howe serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives at LifeWay Christian Resources, the host and producer of Rainer on Leadership and SBC This Week. Jonathan writes weekly at ThomRainer.com on topics ranging from social media to websites and church communications.

Be Strong and Courageous (and Not a Boy-Man)

I recently had the opportunity to see The Bourne Legacy, which is way better than the critics had made it sound and totally worth seeing for adults. The critics, by the way, often don’t like a movie that skews traditional, as Legacy does. It was a fantastic action film filled with the intelligent intensity you expect from the Bourne series. No, Jeremy Renner is not Matt Damon, but he’s quite convincing in his portrait of a Bourne-like character. Go see the film. It’s a blast.

Anyway, it struck me afresh how impressive the lead character of the Bourne movie is as a man. He’s in control, assertive, aware of others, physically fine-tuned, and one who meets any challenge in front of him. This kind of man is strikingly different than another avatar of modern cinema, the boy-man, who pops up repeatedly in the films made or led by Judd Apatow, Adam Sandler, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, and many others.

The boy-man is selfish, young, immature, addicted to games, immune to responsibility, foul-mouthed, and weak. He’s overwhelmed by adulthood, so he chooses to stay in some sort of boyish fantasy. He doesn’t want to build big things, meaningful things, like a family, a six-decade marriage, a socially and personally profitable career, or a gospel-driven church or missions effort. He wants to make music, play games, follow sports, flirt with girls, loaf through life, bend the rules so he’s not accountable or inconvenienced in his selfishness, and ignore the need to help others.

I want to suggest that wherever you can as a young man or one involved in any way in training young men, you point them toward manhood, maturity, adulthood, responsibility, ambition, strategy, vision, focus. Yes, it can be fun to be boyish. But you know what’s far more satisfying? Becoming something. Becoming something greater than you are. Becoming a man. Building stuff.

What else is cool? Winning a woman’s heart and keeping it for years, decades, a lifetime. Raising children to know the Lord. Giving tons of energy to a church plant or a church undergoing revitalization. Leaving everything to go to the mission field as a single young man. Mentoring at-risk youth. Creating a company that employs others and advances the common good. Pushing past laziness and whining and getting yourself in shape, fine-tuning your body so that you’re no longer a boy in the way you eat and take care of yourself.

The Bourne series is of course fictional. But if you read the stories of real-life elite soldiers, you see that they become something greater than they naturally are. See the gripping American Sniper, for example. The stuff that a Navy SEAL must do to enter the program is stunning, frightening. It’s also awesome. Emulate that as a Christian.  Become a SEAL follower of Christ. Become something greater than you are and that this culture trains you to be.

You’re not an idiot by nature as a guy. You’re not a goofball. You’re not addicted to silly things. If you are a boy-man right now, there is tremendous hope for you, and there is forgiveness for your sins. If you haven’t been trained well, if you haven’t had a father at all, there are gospel-preaching churches led by godly men who will train and help you. Seek them out. In the power of the Spirit, leave your boyish ways.

Hear Moses’ words to Joshua as he passed on the mantle of leadership in Joshua 1:9.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

And, we might say by way of contextualization today, do not be a boy-man. Be a man, period.

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Cross-posted from Owen's personal blog.

Show Them What He’s Like

Before we ask how or what we are supposed to do, we must ask why. Why do we interact with the world? Why are we on mission? Questions like these can be dangerous because they can bring clarity--life-changing clarity. I experienced it myself in a powerful way two years ago. The Spirit used a question to change my life.

It happened in May of 2011 while I was visiting my friend, Seth McBee, in the Seattle area during a Soma School. Seth and I spent one day in Seattle just walking and talking while he showed me the sights.

Seth was already familiar with the "dangerousness" of asking the right question at the right time. Asking the Spirit, "What's next?" has been as life altering for Seth as it has for me (read more about Seth's experience in this GCD article). However, there was a question I needed wrestle with before I even got to "what's next?" I needed to struggle with the question: "Why am I interacting with the world?"

It's a question that asks "Why am I missionary?” You see, the "what's next?" question is about how and it is a good question. Before the "how" we must ask the "why". Two years ago I thought I had a pretty good answer for why I was a missionary. My answer was to make disciples for God's glory. Pretty decent answer, right? At least it sounds right.

Two Christians Walk into a Muslim’s Smoke Shop

Seth and I’s trip to Seattle had took us to Capitol Hill in search of a cigar shop. We walk into a smoke shop owned by a Pakistani Muslim and engage in conversation with the owner. Quickly our conversation moves from business to religion as the shop owner shares his views about who God is and what we have to do to be right with him. Neither Seth or I say much of anything, we just listen. While the owner shares lots of rules with us, another customer comes in to buy a pack of cigarettes but stays to eavesdrop on our conversation. Seth looks to him and asks, "What do you think about all of this?" Keith, the tall, African-American man with dreadlocks says, "Man, I just don't know how you guys go on like that. Why do you keep trying to convince people about God? I'm Native American and think you guys cause more problems trying to convert people than if you lived at peace, man. Besides, how do we even know if there is a God?"

Before Seth or I could respond, the shop owner began to explain the evidence he had as a Muslim of why there is a God. He used lots of arguments we've heard before and drew upon his own experience. As he was sharing, I watched the newest member of our conversation, Keith, listen and look completely disinterested. It was as if he had heard it before and was totally unmoved. His reply was something like, "So, I've gotta believe that this God I can't see is real so that I can obey his commands and be accepted by him?"

I could sense the Spirit challenging me at that moment. "Gino, does your telling others about me sound like this? Does it sound like a burden to people or does my gospel look and sound like good news to the people around you? Are you pointing to God’s commands or God’s love?” Conviction came over me like a cold shower. I was speechless.

Immediately after the conviction was my repentance to God. "Forgive me Father. Please, I don't want to burden people. I want to show them the hope found in you. I want them to find joy in the gospel. Spirit, show me how to do that."

All of this happened quickly as if time stopped around me because the next thing I heard was Seth's response to our new friend. It went something like this:

"What if we weren't trying to convert you or anyone else but just loved you regardless of your beliefs? What if we just loved you and others because we've been loved by God and want you to see what he is like?"

Keith had a wide smile on his face and the look of happy disbelief. "Well, I guess we'd hang out a lot and get to know each other," he said.

"Yep," Seth replied, "we could have meals together and just share life without any barriers."

Keith said he had to run and thanked us as he left. I'm really not sure if the questions had much of a lasting impact on him or not, but they opened my eyes.

What if we didn’t try to Convince People?

The rest of the afternoon, I must have driven Seth crazy, because I just kept thinking and saying, "We don't try to convert people, we just show them what the Father is like." I may have heard those words before but I had never heard those words before.

God is so gracious and faithful to teach us. He didn't just leave me convicted that I was in danger of burdening others rather than sharing good news. Instead, he met me there and used my brother to provide an answer for why we are missionaries: we aren't here to convert people, that's the Spirit's work. We are here to show the world what God is like through our words and our actions.

Please read that again. Let the words be an encouragement to your soul. If you, like I had been, are stuck trying to convince people of who God is and what Jesus has done, relax. Let these words ease your burden and remind you of your job description. We aren't here to convert people but to show them what God is like. The Spirit opens blind eyes to reveal the glory of the gospel in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). We show people what God is like through both demonstration and proclamation. We show our neighbors the gospel is real by experiencing it ourselves. There is great freedom in this! The heavy weight of trying to do more to convince more people of the truth is gone. That weight isn't ours to carry anyway. Jesus says,

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. -- Matt. 11:28-30

The work of a missionary is hard. Actually, impossible apart from the Spirit. Yet with the Spirit, this same hard work is filled with joy because the burden of "success" is carried by Jesus.

The Pressure is Off with the Gospel

The pressure is off when we make disciples in the Spirit's power. We are filled with God's love and we allow it to flow into others’ lives. We are freed up to enjoy people and love them rather than struggle to change them. Gone is the desire to control their beliefs and behavior. Gone is the pressure to convince them that God's ways are best. In its place is the desire to love them because we are convinced God's ways are best!

I said it before, questions are dangerous. They can lead to conviction and clarity which will necessitate change. God used the simple questions of my friend to call me to dramatic change as a follower of Jesus. If you are ready to see some Spirit-led change in your life, consider the question, "What if we aren't here to convert people but to show them what God is like?" Then, ask the Spirit, "What's next?" Watch the Spirit do his work. In your heart. In your family. In your neighborhood. All the while, praise God for it all.

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Gino Curcuruto is a disciple of Jesus, husband to Jill, and father of four. He is a chiropractor by trade and missionary by calling. Gino enjoys making disciples in the everyday: at home, at work, on the block, and within the church. Twitter: @ginoc

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Read Proclaiming Jesus by Tony Merida.

Continue reading on the topic: Mission is Where You Live by Jeremy Writebol and Missional Living in a Complex World by JD Payne.

Evangelism has Become a Dirty Word

Evangelism has become a dirty word. This is probably because of situations like my wife and I ran into in San Francisco a couple years ago. We spent a few days traveling up and down the Pacific Coast Highway before working at the Oracle Conference, a technology conference attended by more than 30,000 business people from all over the world. As we walked to the convention center from our hotel one day, I noticed a short, stalky gentleman on the street corner in the midst of all the hustle and bustle. Suddenly, the man on the street corner began to scream. It was not your average yip or yell. It was a high pitched, throaty kind of scream, one that would cause you to lose your voice within a few minutes of unleashing it. He began to wave his Bible back and forth in the air. Between his gasps for breath, I could tell he was saying something about Jesus, repentance, and God. The crowds quickly skirted around him, crossing the street as fast as they could, adding one more reason to their dislike of the “E-word.”

As I’ve gone back over this experience in my mind, my main deduction is that this stalky street preacher was using the wrong bait.

Jesus talked to his first followers about “fishing for men.” I’m not much of a fisherman myself, aside from the occasional sunny day in Minnesota (we have 10,000 lakes in here, so it’s almost a sin not to do all that fun lake stuff). If fishing has anything to do with the “E-word,” we can easily assume that “different strokes work for different folks.” It doesn’t take a brain scientist to discover that screaming at a businessman (or 30,000 of them) is among the most unsuccessful sales pitches in the history.

I get it. I understand why evangelism has become a dirty word, but I want to believe God can do something different with it through my life. If I don't scream the gospel, what can I do? How can I care about people more authentically, and love people more unconditionally, share the gospel more faithfully?

So What Do We Do?

We have to put ourselves in the apostles' shoes. When they traveled with Jesus, what did they say? What did they do?

I’ve done my fair share of street evangelism. It took me many years to realize something profound: the first followers of Jesus did not witness to every person they met on the street. In my mind, I had somehow come to the conclusion that the more we witness to strangers, the holier we become. I used to think if I could just witness to literally every person I came into contact with throughout my day, I would have made it into Kingdom greatness (I seriously thought this).

It took some time and some years to understand Acts 17:2: “As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.” What did Paul do on the days in between? We don’t exactly know, but we see on every church day, he took opportunities to speak of Christ, proclaim Christ and call men and women to Christ. Paul wasn’t rabidly evangelizing every single person he met throughout the week (although he did personal evangelism at times), yet in the power of the Spirit, the spread of the gospel was the driving force of his life.

The gospel frees us from the notion that the evangelization of the world falls on our shoulders alone.

I believe in reaching the world. I believe that God has placed each of us in the time we live in, growing up where we grow up for a reason (see Acts 17:26-28). But it is God alone who draws men and women to Himself (John 6:44), and it is the Church collectively that is called to reach the world. Not me. The Church together. With every part working its unique strength (Ephesians 4:16) that God can use for his glory.

We can play a small part in God’s grand story:  the rescue and redemption of the world. Our role is led by the Spirit and focused on Christ. We carry it out by setting apart Christ as Lord within our own hearts, to give an answer to anyone who asks for the hope we have received, and to always share of Christ with gentleness and respect for our hearers (1 Peter 3:15). Our role is to be faithful to the leadings and promptings of the Holy Spirit in the large and small stages of our lives. If we are to “do the work of the evangelist,” we must study the life of Christ, and also the story of Philip the Evangelist in Acts 8. He was led at key moments by the Spirit, where to go, what to do, what to say. He was prepared with a proper understanding of the Word of God and how to point a seeker towards Jesus.

We Don’t Go Alone

Evangelism becomes a dirty word when it is done religiously out of human motivation (often guilt and aiming to earn God’s pleasure by works) and attempted to be accomplished through human strength. The antidote comes from understanding our proper role as simple tools in the hands of God.

“One says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.” - 1 Corinthians 3:4-8

The message of evangelism is not just “go,” but also, “I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:19-21). It is Christ’s presence that heals. It is Christ’s presence that saves. It is Christ’s Presence that delivers. We are needy of his Presence every day in every way. Unless God moves, and does through us what he loves to do best, hearts will remain darkened to the light of the gospel.

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Matt and Michelle Brown are evangelists and founders of Think Eternity, an evangelistic nonprofit. Matt is the author of several books, including Revolutionaries: Men and Women in Every Century Who Advanced Christianity and a frequent blogger. You can connect with them on twitter @evangelistmatt and @Thinke

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Read Unbelievable Gospel by Jonathan Dodson (available as e-ebook and in print).

More free articles: Being Ministers of Reconciliation by Brandon Smith and A Jesus-like Church by Scott Sauls

The Sufficient Strategy

This is the time of year when we traditionally look back and reflect on where we've been. We celebrate victories and try to learn from mistakes. It is also the time we look forward to the coming year and make plans, resolutions to change ourselves, our organizations, and even our churches. We try to fix our problems and figure out how we can do it better. Pragmatism is tempting. The temptation is: "if I can learn how to do this best, then people will grow, disciples will multiply, and the church will grow." However, when we continually apply this line of thinking, we end up more dependent on strategies and programs than the gospel of Jesus. To be sure, programs and strategies are not bad, but they are bad at for injecting authentic community and real mission into the church. Only the gospel is sufficient for that. Paul said the gospel is of first importance, and that he decided to know nothing but Jesus crucified (1 Cor 2:2, 15:1-4).

A common misconception is that the gospel of Jesus is only for salvation and not sanctification. What I mean is that people think the gospel is the 'intro class' to the Christian life. Instead, the gospel is the whole Christian life--it is the whole program. Tim Keller describes the gospel this way: "We are so sinful that Jesus had to die for us, yet so loved that Jesus was glad to die for us." The gospel not only makes me a disciple of Jesus but also brings me into a community of people (i.e., the Church) who are also experiencing this life-giving offer of Jesus' grace.

When we experience Jesus's love for ourselves, we naturally want to tell others about it. Think about the first time you fell in love with someone. Your heart was so captured by their beauty and love that you couldn't help but tell others about them. When the gospel captivates our hearts, our only natural response is to proclaim Jesus (2 Cor 5:14-21). This is a gospel sufficient enough to make disciples, form community, and ignite mission.

The Gospel Makes Disciples

After Jesus' victorious resurrection he visited his disciples one last time. "Go and make disciples," he told them. Jesus called his disciples to be disciples who multiply by going, teaching, and baptizing. They were sent by Jesus, under his authoritative rule, to go. They were sent by the 2nd person of the trinity, who rose from the dead and accomplished salvation for his people. Jesus called them to teach the good news. Jesus told his disciples that the gospel is enough to make disciples. Proclamation of this good news makes disciples (Acts 2:14-41). We proclaim the message of Jesus' sinless life, atoning death, and victorious resurrection. We then call and persuade people to repentance and faith in Christ ( 2 Cor 5:18-20). Then we baptize. Baptism is a tangible representation of the work of Christ in his death and resurrection (Rom 6:1-6). Being on Jesus' mission is all about the gospel. The gospel is enough to make disciples.

The Gospel Forms Community

Revival breaks out in the book of Acts. In the beginning of the book Jesus told his followers to be his witnesses to the world. The disciples were a small group of about 120 people. Peter then proclaimed the message of the gospel to many who were gathered at Pentecost. The Lord added 3,000 disciples that day as a result of the preaching of the gospel. The very next part of the narrative we see those couple thousand disciples with different backgrounds meeting together scattered throughout the city (Acts 2:42-47). Luke records for us that "they had everything in common."

How is that possible? Think about it. These people from different cities and backgrounds all of a sudden have everything in common. Why? Because of the gospel. They had Jesus. They experienced his grace. The gospel created and formed a vibrant community of people. You may ask, "How does the gospel apply to our communities today?" Take pride, for example. If someone in our community is struggling with pride, the answer is not to try  harder to be more humble. Behavior change will not last. At best we will lie about the pride deep within our hearts and become discouraged. At worst we will become more prideful, doing acts of humility simply for ourselves. The gospel gets to the heart. The gospel teaches us that Jesus became a servant (Mark 10:45). As God in the flesh, he came humbly (Philippians 2:1-8). As we behold the humble servanthood of Jesus, our prideful hearts are changed. The gospel grows us in humility--forming a counter-cultural community, radially transformed by grace.

The Gospel Ignites Mission

The Holy Spirit changed the disciples. They became bold followers of Christ after he rose from the dead and gave them the Spirit. The gospel is enough to ignite Jesus' followers to be on his mission of going and making disciples of all nations. We don't have to manipulate people or guilt them into being on mission. That sort wouldn't last anyway. The only way people will be motivated to be on mission and stay on mission is by a heart that is saturated and transformed by the gospel. Charles Spurgeon said, "Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor." Disciples of Jesus, made alive by the gospel are by nature missionaries. It is their very identity (1 Peter 2:1-10). The gospel gives us the identity of children of God. It also gives us the identity of a redeemed people-- empowered by God's Spirit, and on God's mission of making disciples.

The Gospel Sends Help.

Finally, remember you have been given the Spirit. He has sent you on mission to proclaim his message of redemption. He has all authority. He calls his people to go and make disciples by telling them of his life, death for sin, and victorious resurrection. Jesus has given your community a new identity as a missional people (1 Peter 2:1-10).

The gospel is sufficient enough to make disciples, form community, and ignite mission. Before you implement better techniques, diets, or strategies in 2013, consider the power and purpose of the Gospel.

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Garrett Ventry is a church planting intern at Vintage 21 Church in Raleigh. He serves under the regional director of the Acts 29 Network’s southeast region. He is also a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife Megan live in Raleigh. Twitter: @GarrettVentry

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A helpful book: Gospel-Centered Discipleship by Jonathan Dodson.  

Read more free articles: A Story of Gospel Community by Seth McBee and Finding Christ in the Family Room by Luma Simms.

Top 10 Articles of 2012

It has been a great year at Gospel Centered Discipleship! As we look back at all that God has done and the way he has used us in making disciples, we wanted to share some of those highlights. Here is a look back at GCD's top 10 articles of 2012:

1.  Raising Gospel Centered Children by Luma Simms

When Jesus instructs us to go out and make disciples of all nations, that includes our children—our closest disciples. Of course, discipleship should not end in the home, but our families are our most naturally-authentic relationships. Everyday, the gospel compels us to ask: How are we discipling our children?

2.  What to Say When Someone Says, "The Bible Has Errors." by Jonathan Dodson

Most people question the reliability of the Bible. You’ve probably been in a conversation with a friend or met someone in a coffee shop who said: “How can you be a Christian when the Bible has so many errors?” How should we respond? What do you say? Jonathan Dodson offers his insights into this common scenario.

3.  What to do with prayerlessness by Jonathan Dodson

Prayer. Often the word triggers guilt. For some, it sparks warmth, and for others, nothing. No warmth, no guilt. Flat. It’s a vaporous word that appears and vanishes without meaning. "Prayer, " Jonathan Dodson writes, "is about love not about lists" in this helpful article on overcoming prayerlessness.

4.  Five Ways to keep the church discipline from seeming weird by Jared Wilson

As God has built his church, his church leaders have not always kept up with what makes a church a church. So even to mention the idea of a church disciplining its members strikes tenderhearted and undereducated Christians as weird, mean, and legalistic. Jared Wilson offers five answers to this question: "how do we work at keeping church discipline from seeming weird?"

5.  Finding Christ in the Family Room by Luma Simms

Scripture does not give us an imperative for family worship. This is important to say at the outset so that we are not laying down “sanctification” markers for each other. Having said that, however, we still need to acknowledge that God’s Word does command us to teach our children how to love the Lord (Deut. 6) and train them in his discipline and instruction (Ephesians 6:4).What does it look like to place Christ at the center of family life and worship?

6.  Gospel Centered Parenting by Will Walker

Gospel centered parenting is filled with complexities, mysteries, and endless situations that call for practical advice. Parents often get so bogged down in questions of what to do that we lose sight of why we’re doing what we do and how we should do it. In this article, Will Walker helps disciples step back and look at the big picture of parenting.

7.  How Jesus Made Disciples by Winfield Bevins

Reproducing disciples is the result of selecting, training, and empowering leaders who will in turn reproduce themselves in others. This begins locally with the church and then can take place on a larger scale through reproduction of church plants regionally and internationally. You can be part of a 21st century disciple making movement that can change our postmodern world for Christ. Winfield Bevins thinks through how Jesus multiplied disciples.

8.  Be Fruitful and Multiply by Seth McBee

Historically, movements have stopped because they were primarily leader-led information dumps. Information isn’t a bad thing, but information-driven movements are limited in influence. Why should we create disciple multiplying movements? How can we create them? Seth McBee writes about the fundamental multiplying nature of discipleship and how to create space for that to happen in your context.

9.  The Neighborhood Mission Start-Up by Seth McBee

With so many folks trying to find the right methodology to reach neighborhoods, cities, and nations, Seth draws upon two core teachings of Jesus as a principle for mission: love your neighbor as yourself and the Spirit empowers us for mission to be his witnesses. Seth demonstrates how those two missional principles are applied in the everyday life of disciple making.

10.  Domain of Influence by J.R. Vassar 

Those who have been laid hold of by Jesus Christ have the same mission. Jesus gave it to us. He gave us his gospel, his Holy Spirit, and his commission to make disciple-making disciples of all peoples. We are called to take the gospel of Jesus into our neighborhoods and into the nations. However, one’s specific involvement in that mission is unique with regards to one’s role and one’s reach.

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Also see our ebooks from this last year.

Some Links for the Week

As we take the Christmas week off, we wanted to provide you a little entertainment for the week. Though our contributors write often and in a lot of places, here is a link to an interesting article (some are oldies but goodies) by each of our contributors on another site. Enjoy!

Brandon Smith

"Beyond X-Mas" at For Christ and Culture.

Jonathan Howe

"New Research: Are Women Happy at Church?" at Howe Original.

Logan Gentry

"Community on Mission with Depth of Intimacy" at The Gospel Coalition.

Micah Fries

"Multi-Site Mistake?" at Baptist21.

Owen Strachan

"Does God Care Whether Tim Tebow Wins on Saturday?" at The Atlantic.

Seth McBee

"Satan in the Suburbs" at Gospel-Centered Discipleship.

Between the Advents

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. - Isaiah 9:6

Six and Seven year-olds massacred in Newtown, CT. Others randomly shot in a mall in Oregon. Dozens of other headlines highlight less spectacular bloodshed in your hometown newspaper. It appears there is no end in sight. Random wickedness and brokenness are also your problem in your otherwise safe pocket of the world. Evil is local and apparently sustainable. It seems to be everywhere and affecting everything. Though the topic of evil is often suppressed and psychologized in our public discourse, it persists.

Less dramatic, but equally as personal, is your neighbor who actively dreads the holidays at the dysfunctional home of his youth. How do you avoid the curse on your hometown when every town is rife with the same brokenness and fear? The dread of the family that fell painfully short of the ideal: bitter divorce, fatherlessness, selfish people living selfish lives with deep wounds of rejection. Look around. This is where we’re from, but it’s not where we want to live. We find ourselves in grief and fear longing for peace and comfort. Like a hip out of socket we are limping. We are hurting.

Meanwhile, buried deep within the lines of a familiar carol springs:

"Fear not then," said the Angel, 

let nothing you affright, This day is born a Savior Of a pure Virgin bright, To free all those who trust in Him From Satan's power and might.

 O Tiding of Comfort and Joy

Comfort and Joy.”

The Tension between the Advents

Advent, or coming, is a less familiar latin term referencing the historical fact that God took on flesh and dwelt amongst us in the person of Jesus from Nazareth. He came to do battle with death. He came to reconcile predator and prey. He came, we are told, to bring peace, hope, joy, and love to the world. Impressively Jesus dealt with both the penalty and the power of sin in his first coming. We can be justified, are declared righteous, and are empowered to live righteously in the power of the Spirit he sent for us. However, we are not yet saved from the presence of sin.  Even the faithful are tempted to ask, "Must we continue to sing the songs of universal peace, a few days earlier each year, while their promise is still largely unrealized?"

Already/Not Yet

Advent is the first installment of two comings. The scriptures reveal that God will again inhabit earth in flesh. Jesus will come again and when he returns, comprehensive salvation is coming with him. In the early 20th century, Princeton Theologian Gerhardus Vos coined a helpful and scripturally consistent phrase to capture the present tension between the advents: “the already/not yet.” Vos observed that much of the good we seek is resident with believers after Christ’s 1st Advent. While at the same time, aspects of God’s promises are still future and won’t be experienced until the 2nd coming, or advent, of Christ and the culmination.

The ‘already’ looks like things put back in socket. New people come to faith and see their lives renovated by Christ. Marriages are restored. Kids grow up strong with parents that love them consistently and sacrificially. Gospel words are shared where there was once legalism or license. Communities rally to meets the needs of the vulnerable. Merriment and good cheer not only at Christmas but all year. Beauty all around.

But all is not as it should be, at least not yet. The ‘not yet’ is devastatingly tangible for the 40 parents of deceased 1st graders in Newtown. ‘Not yet’ is the unrest that all of us feel after such an event. Not yet are the masses who consciously live for self, forsaking the cost of love and community. Not yet are our cities full of single moms, shut-ins. sex traded children, and the scores of people who couldn’t care less.

Most Christmas seasons are a bundling of good news and bad news, celebration and mourning--the ‘already’ with the ‘not yet.’ We live between advents and we live in tension. With a good bit of joy and lingering pain.

Our waiting for the completion of joy and elimination of grief is filled with questions about closing the gap. What should we expect the pace of restoration to be like? Are we naive to wish for sweeping reforms and more comprehensive change in our lifetime? Is there anything I can do to make it come faster?

We are certainly too cynical if we assert “this is just the way life is” when we are privy to in the first Advent and the now massive fork it has created in the human narrative. The gospel is still the power of God to save all who believe and we know that God is competent and thorough (Romans 1:16). Peter reminds the believer of a living hope, a salvation ready to revealed in the last time. There is much more to come and it is better than what has gone before it (1 Peter 1:5).

Expect Bigger Government

Jesus. Messiah. Baby. Daddy. Prince of Peace. The King and his rule. A wonderful Counselor with the strength to pull it all off, forever.

The kings who conquered Jerusalem always began in Zebulun and Naphtali, in northern Israel, in route to Jerusalem. Jesus was no different. He began his kingdom reign in the north, in Galilee. He started his quest by calling men to himself, teaching with authority, casting out demons, and generally reversing everything that was broken in his little corner of the world all the way to Jerusalem. It was there he died for peace and rose again for everlasting peace.

Yet, the promise found in Isaiah 9 was for an increase of his government and of a peace without end. So, what started small like a mustard seed grew and turned one nation upside down before going viral through Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. His kingdom continues to expand. Jesus and his ever increasing government means more is “already” and less is “not yet.” While local tragedies devastate us and obscure our line of sight, we do well to span out and recognize the broader movement of God. Justice and righteousness is intermittently experienced and universal flourishing is coming.

Promises are made to be fulfilled. The God who makes them is more real than the present tragedy. His faithfulness in the past and his promises about the present age of the Spirit and the future age to come are enough to give us strength and perspective.

This past year, I have watched first-hand as two drug addicts came to know Jesus. From where they sit, the Kingdom has indeed come and is mostly ‘already.’ To contrast where they were with where they are now overwhelms them with optimism. The world is not as dark as it used to be. They are not as broken as they used to be. Things seem to be getting better. Christ’s rule appears to be expanding in all kinds of creative ways as they find themselves in God’s family and on his mission. They are contagiously hopeful in Christ’s work.

But who is right? The emotions we experience after the Newtown massacre or the hope of the newly redeemed? Life between the Advents argues they are both right. Christ brings comfort in the ‘not yet’ and joy in the ‘already.’

This Advent

Chances are your neighbors are struggling this holiday season with the stories on cable news, the obligatory visit home, or the broken stuff that they have just come to accept as normal human life. So, they might get drunk with more regularity. They might cry but tell no one. These are real people, across your street who see the massacre in Newtown turned way up, and any sense of tangible hope muted. If you know Jesus you have the opportunity to bring more balance to the conversation.

Be a hope-dealer this Advent. Hit the streets. Move some product. Get the word out. Because God did come softly to earth as a baby, lived obscurely as a servant, and died unjustly in our place, we have hope to deal. Because, his love is so capable and his Kingdom so forceful, we can hope for better--much better. We hope in the present and in the perfect future that the scriptures continue to insist are already a sure thing.

This is good news to your struggling neighbor. Will you invite them into the alternate narrative God is writing with your family? What will you give her? What will you say to him? Who will you hug? How well will you listen? What will you pray? How will you speak honestly this Advent to the reality of the pain and the reality of the resurrection?

Duke Revard (ThM) serves as an Elder and Equipper with Bread&Wine in Portland, Oregon. He is the vice-chairman of the board of Soma Communities. He equips his family, Portlanders, and church planters for the work of ministry. Duke is husband to Caroline and father to three daughters. Follow him on twitter @dukerevard.

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Read more articles on Advent: Incarnation in the City by Bethany Jenkins and Long Live the King by Jake Chambers.

The Image of God and the Life of Love

When Paul proclaims in Romans 3 that “no one is good, no not one,” he makes a bold statement. Indeed, the scope of sin's reach within creation is wide and its effects are devastating. In the case of mankind, it’s safe to say that we do not naturally compare to the original model of moral perfection. At the start, God created man and woman in his image, placed them in a garden, and assigned them dominion over everything that he had created and had called “very good” (Gen. 1:27-31). He marveled at his work, including the pinnacle of his labor, Adam and Eve. The beginning of the Bible portrays God and his masterpiece dancing in perfect harmony. As the story goes, this did not last (Gen. 3:24).

Though the first sin laid waste to the perfection of God’s creation, his glory still radiates from the skies (Ps. 19:1) and creation reveals his attributes for all to see (Rom. 1:20). Sin marred creation such that we can still clearly see the beauty of God’s handiwork in sunrises and ocean tides, but as those looking through a dim mirror (1 Cor. 13:12). Likewise, God’s image-bearers now reflect him in a rather distorted way, but reflect him nonetheless.

Love: the Divine Reflection

As the world around us drudges along in a perverted mirage, those redeemed by Christ have the unique opportunity to truly portray God’s beautiful design for his people. Though mankind’s image-bearing manifests itself in various arenas of life, it could be said that love is most practical way that we as God’s reflections can join in his reconciling of all things (Col. 1:20).

Jesus teaches that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love others (Matt. 22:37-39). John tells us that God is love and that those who claim to love God had better show it through love (1 John 4:8). These statements are not trite; they are monumental.

Sin brings death, destruction, and a mighty chasm between God and man. If love is a defining attribute of God, then his image-bearers should be distinctively known for their love. This means that we counter grudges with forgiveness, harshness with gentleness, abuse with tenderness, and derision with encouragement. Satan pushes us into self-absorption but God pushes us to radical acts of service. As Jeff Vanderstelt so aptly charges, “We should live a life that demands a gospel explanation.”

The natural bent of the human heart is to play the role of king. Whether it’s belittling others, stock-piling material goodies, griping at other drivers on the road, or working hard to reach maximum success in personal endeavors… people will find a way try and manipulate for themselves a world to their liking. When God’s people respond to such urges with unexplainable selflessness, they take part in the reconciliation of creation. Every time Satan’s lies are met with the character of God, things look much like they ought to. Love forges more paths than violence.

And let’s be clear, love is not always warm and fuzzy. It is paramount to remember that love is often displayed in hard truth. When Peter argues against the plan of God, Jesus uses strong language: “Get behind me Satan!” (Matt. 16:23). In the next verse, he reminds his disciples that they must be willing to give up everything to follow him. Now, this is not to say that we should liken everyone to the Prince of Darkness, but it is a reminder that sometimes the most loving thing to do is to rebuke others in order to point them to something better: Christ.

Albeit Imperfect

As previously stated, we are imperfect carriers of the divine image. We are not pre-Fall Adam and Eve, but we are still the apex of God’s creation. This is significant, life-changing.

Wayne Grudem rightly reflects: “This realization will give us a profound sense of dignity and significance as we reflect on the excellence of all the rest of God’s creation: the starry universe, the abundant earth, the world of plants and animals, and the angelic kingdoms are remarkable, even magnificent. But we are more like our Creator than any of these things.”

As we assess our own purpose and reason for existence, may we remember that God is renewing us into his image (Col. 3:10) and that he wills for us to be conformed into the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29). This gives us hope in the fight to love him and those around us. Though it will not always play itself out perfectly, God’s people can know that the gospel is powerful enough to overcome their weaknesses and propel them into service for his eternal Kingdom.

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[Portions of this article originally appeared at Servants of Grace.]