gospel

Catalyst 2009 Compassion Moment from Catalyst on Vimeo.

This is the gospel.

I witnessed the testimony of Jimmy Wambua at Catalyst this year. He was a child that was supported by Compassion International for 19 years. Our family supports a little boy in Peru and they’re a great organization.

His testimony starts around the 3:45 minute mark. It’s an great testimony, but that was only the half of it. They united him with his sponsor for the first time. All they could do was embrace and weep. It was a beautiful moment. And there wasn’t a dry eye in the whole conference.

This is powerful. This in unbelievable. This is the gospel.

“We have to give up the small gospel that simply confirms what C.S. Lewis called ‘our congenital preference for the safe investments and limited liabilities’. The freedom of grace grants us many gifts, including that there is ‘therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus(Rom 8:1) This assurance of grace is meant to set us on the road of faithful discipleship, not just to assure us of grace at the finish line. Such freedom enables Christ’s disciples to love because we have first been loved (1 John 4:19). The grace that settles our account with God is meant to set us free from the self-interest for the sake of loving others with abandon.”

- Mark Labberton “The Lima Bean Gospel” in Christianity Today

A friend of mine sent me a note of encouragement that had this quote in it. It got me thinking (as most things do). Do I love others with abandon? And what does this abandon look like if it’s being walked out in my life? Either the gospel, or the way I’m living it, is bland like lima beans or vibrant like Christ. I just know I never want to be compared to lima beans…

Any thoughts?

I’ve written over the past few weeks about evangelism. And I’ve gotten a bit of flack back about it. A few stones have been cast my way, which I really like. It always leads to conversation and thought. Here’s my question for my current stone throwers:

When was the last time you were face to face with a non-believing person, invested your life in theirs and shared the Gospel with them?

Often times I feel like I’m arguing theory or theology with people who have no practical knowledge of it at all. Much of what was argued was my method. I believe that for people care to know about Christ, they must first know what Christ has done in your life. Otherwise we are talking about mere words, facts, and theory. So first of all what is the Gospel. The Gospel as I believe it is the good news that Jesus Christ, God’s son, came to this earth, lived a sinless life, and died to pay the penalty for our sin so that we might become the children of God through faith alone in Christ alone. If we accept and follow Jesus we are become a people ransomed and redeemed from judgment. Secondly we have the Great Commission (take the Gospel to others). So this message goes for all of us. We have the Gospel. We have the Great Commission. What are we doing about it?

Are we out and amongst the people? Are we offering a remedy to a hurting and broken world?  Are we sharing not just the message, but also our lives? There is a cost to this. It’s not easy. But I can promise you one thing… it will never be boring.

The other day I posed a quote by Rob Bell, “When people think about changing the world, they do not think of the church.“ Then asked the follow up question, “Why do you think that is?“

Virgil had a great response:

“My guess would be that it is because the church has decided to only care about the afterlife. The mentality is that you get as many of em in as you can” – who needs to change the world?”

You know, I really think he’s on to something here. I had a conversation with a student who told me, “Do I care about where I go when I die? Why should I? That’s for old people like you to think about.” Evangelism has changed. The message hasn’t, but what matters to people has. Americans never want to think of themselves as old. Death isn’t something that’s thought about very often – it’s just not sexy.

And is eternity the only message behind the gospel? Isn’t there a here and now to Christ? Why is that so hard for us to convey? Here’s the one thing that you can do to evangelize effectively everyone you know: tell them what Christ has done for you. That’s what they want to hear. We are the “what’s in it for me” society. Really think and articulate what having Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior has done for you. Don’t give them the, “he’s forgiven my sins!” answer.

How has knowing and walking with Christ changed your existence in this world? Answer that question, honestly and from your heart… and people will listen. That is what evangelism is about. Not saving souls. Not packing them down the aisles. It is our job to simply share the good news of what Christ has done for us. It’s about changing the world one life at a time. That is what people need to hear.

Today we are hosting our annual YD (Youth Dynamics) fund-raising banquet. It is our major fundraiser for the year that provides for scholarships, ministry support and program costs. It has been a tremendous journey leading up to this event. We’ve really felt God’s hand upon us as we’ve seen the community rally around. My heart is to see people come, enjoy the fellowship and learn more about our ministry. We are praying for financial and prayer partners.

I am asking for your prayers to cover this event and the people involved.

It’s been an amazing journey to put this together, and I’ll be excited to report tomorrow on how it went.

I know this event can have great significance towards reaching youth for the Lord and it will be opposed by the enemy – so lift us up in prayer today!  

This is a simple game. Each week I’ll display a scene from the Bible featuring Legos First to guess wins! I’ll keep a cumulative score going and the winner will receive a prize after a few months (it will be a REAL prize and I’ll ship it out to you wherever you are!) So post your answer in the comments box.

So guess! Win!

 (And for bonus nerd points, put down the scripture reference)

For last weeks (and past winners go here)

Oh and if anyone is wondering [Ben Huge] the game will end at the end of the year. The person with the most wins… wins! The prize will be of actual value (gift cert. or something of the like). So play and win!

I blogged a while back on Hollywood pursuing the Christian dollar. And after hearing about it again this morning on the news, I’m just mad. What have we done as Christians to be viewed as a dollar demographic of people?

Is it even good that we’re viewed as a demographic. It makes us sound more like lambs for the slaughter than roaring lions. We are no longer viewed as dangerous individuals tirelessly pursuing Christ and giving our lives over to saving a lost world. No, we’ve become a buying class of people. Are we dangerous? No.

How does the world percieve us? Well, we’re PG and family wholesome. We buy nice clean things that make us feel nice and clean. We have let ourselves become stereotyped and neutered.

Where are our Christian testicles!?! They were lopped of long ago. I want to be a scary hairy smelly man crying out in the wilderness like John the Baptist. I don’t want be Ned Flanders.

Hollywood sees us as just another group to market and milk for cash. They don’t fear the message we have to offer. The smile, nod their heads and then give us what we want as we call it a victory for Christians!They set the trends (take the cash) and we dutifully follow.

The guys at the XXXchurch.com website use the phrase, “If Satan’s a pimp, don’t be his hoe.” Well are we hoe-ing ourselves out for a better life? To fit in? To be comfortable?

What has been lost? Too much.

How do we get it back? That’s something I’m trying to figure out, seeking it in prayer and practice.

So how about you? How does this make you feel?