https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/the-perils-of-preaching-an-implications-free-gospel

An interesting read. Imperatives. Indicatives. Implications. Big words.

The more the Church is distinct from the world in her acts and in her maxims, the more true is her testimony for Christ, and the more potent is her witness against sin.

We are sent into this world to testify against evils; but if we dabble in them ourselves, where is our testimony? If we ourselves be found faulty, we are false witnesses; we are not sent of God; our testimony is of none effect.

I do not hesitate to say there are tens of thousands of professing Christians, whose testimony before the world is rather injurious than beneficial. The world looks at them, and says, ‘Well, I see: you can be a Christian, and yet remain a rogue.’

‘Ah!’ says another, ‘you can be a Christian, I perceive; but then you will have to be doleful and miserable.’

‘Ah!’ cries another, ‘these Christians like to drink sin in secret behind the door. Their Christianity lies in not liking to sin openly; but they can devour a widow’s house when nobody is looking on; they can be drunkards, only it must be in a very small party; they would not like to be discovered tipsy where there were a hundred eyes to look at them.’

Now, what is all that? It is just this,—that the world has found out that the Church visible is not the unmixed Church of Christ, since it is not true to its principles, and does not stand up for the uprightness and integrity which are the marks of the genuine church of God.

Many Christians forget that they are bearing a testimony: they do not think that anybody notices them. Ay, but they do. There are no people so much watched as Christians.

The world reads us up, from the first letter of our lives to the end; and if they can find a flaw—and, God forgive us, they may find very many—they are sure to magnify the flaw as much as ever they can.

Let us therefore be very watchful, that we live close to Christ, that we walk in his commandments always, that the world may see that the Lord hath put a difference.

But now I have a very sad thing to say—I wish that I could withhold it, but I cannot. Unless, brothers and sisters, you make it your daily business to see that there is a difference between you and the world, you will do more hurt than you can possibly do good.

The Church of Christ is at this day accountable for many fearful sins. Let me mention one which is but the type of others.

By what means think you were the fetters rivetted on the wrist of our friend who sits there, a man like ourselves, though of a black skin?

It is the Church of Christ that keeps his brethren under bondage; if it were not for that Church, the system of slavery would go back to the hell from which it sprung.

If there were no slave floggers but men who are fit for so degrading an office, if there were not found Christian ministers who can apologise for slavery from the pulpit, and church members who sell the children of nobler beings than themselves, if it were not for this, then Africa would be free.

Albert Barnes spoke right truly when he said slavery could not exist for an hour if it were not for the countenance of the Christian Church.

But what does the slaveholder say when you tell him that to hold our fellow-creatures in bondage is a sin, and a damnable one, inconsistent with grace?

He replies, ‘I do not believe your slanders; look at the Bishop of So-and-so, or the minister of such-and-such a place, is not he a good man, and does not he whine out ‘Cursed be Canaan?’ Does not he quote Philemon and Onesimus? Does he not go and talk Bible, and tell his slaves that they ought to feel very grateful for being his slaves, for God Almighty made them on purpose that they might enjoy the rare privilege of being cowhided by a Christian master. Don’t tell me,’ he says, ‘if the thing were wrong, it would not have the Church on its side.’

And so Christ’s free Church bought with His blood, must bear the shame of cursing Africa, and keeping her sons in bondage.

From this evil, good Lord deliver us.

If Manchester merchants and Liverpool traders have a share in this guilt, at least let the Church be free of this hell-filling crime.

Men have tried hard to make the Bible support this sum of all villanies, but slavery, the thing which defiles the Great Republic, such slavery is quite unknown to the Word of God, and by the laws of the Jews it was impossible that it ever could exist.

I have known men quote texts as excuses for being damned, and I do not wonder that men can find Scripture to justify them in buying and selling the souls of men.

And what think you is it, to come home to our own land, that props up the system of trade that is carried on among us?

I would not speak too severely of Christ’s Church, for I love her; but because I love her I must therefore utter this.

Our being so much like the world, our trading as the world trades, our talking as the world talks, our always insisting upon it that we must do as other people do, this is doing more mischief to the world, than all our preachers can hope to effect good.

‘Come ye out from among them; touch not the unclean thing, be ye separate, saith the Lord, and I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters.

-Charles Spurgeon

Today I went to Willow Downtown for Praise Night with Bridges International. There was a small crowd, and the execution was very rough, but the worship was real. I guess it is true that God uses us most effectively in our failures and weaknesses.

For some reason, the lyric "who the Son sets free, oh is free indeed" really resonated with my heart today. I also didn't realize it is directly from scripture, John 8:36. Guess I learned something new today too.

I think it was good for my heart to worship in musical praise 3 nights in a row in 3 different settings. Thank you Jesus for all these opportunities to worship with so many believers across Chicago.

"Is the Gospel simple?"

"Shouldn't it be? Isn't that the point?"

"If it is simple, then why do so many people get it wrong?"

The Gospel is not primarily about the Salvation of man. Salvation is only the means (where both means and end are important). We are saved so we may have a right relationship with God, and glorify God through Christ, for that was mankind's original purpose before the fall. The Gospel is about restoring our very purpose of existence, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. The Gospel ultimately isn't about us, it is about Christ and always has been.

I guess it is simple, but we've looked at it the wrong way for so long.

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11 NASB

Analogy: Think of it this way. Imagine one day you get water on your computer, or accidentally dropped your phone into the lake, or your car breaks down. Your phone, your computer, your car can no longer function as intended. Jesus comes and fixes your item. He is the electrician, the technician, the mechanic, the carpenter, the healer, the savior. He gives you back your phone, your computer, your car. But if all you do is proclaim "ah! It is now fixed!" but never go and start using your phone or computer, or drive around your car, then whats the point? Is there that much difference from before when it was broken? The Gospel tells us that it is our very soul and spirit that was broken, and Jesus healed our spirit. But was there a purpose for that spirit before it was broken by sin? The Gospel should say (and does) something about that too.

They say...you meet a reaper when you are 29.

"I am afraid that every time I write, I will be reduced to my ideas. I am not my ideas. No one is their ideas, no one is their beliefs, and no one is their values. Because underneath all those things is a story, an experience, a place, a family, a relationship, a brokenness. Regardless of how much I may love or resent someone’s beliefs, I must acknowledge that if I take the time to look through those beliefs, I face another messy, broken, wounded, dream-filled, just-trying-to-find-their-way human being made in the image of Almighty God. Their beliefs are informed by the stories that, yes, God shaped, formed, and has given them. Especially now, when ideas come a dime a dozen, filling the facebook airwaves with pharisaic declarations about right and wrong, the Kingdom of God always sees and cuts through stories.  ||  To share ideas is cheap; they require of us no intimacy, vulnerability, or humility. But to share the stories underneath it all—the frightening, joyful, and messy things that make us who we are—that comes at a cost. Not all of us have the language or the courage to do it. I’ve definitely run away from it too many times. So instead of broadcasting our ideas and opinions, let us commit to telling our stories. And then let’s live those stories in the fullest, richest, and most courageous way possible. Because everyone can write a blog, and there are definitely people who are better at it than I am, but no one else anywhere in the history of any time has my story. To tell it again and again in a society that is persistent in its lies, that profits from my forgetting, to remind myself of who I am and the God who made me, well that might be the most dangerous, subversive, messy, humanizing thing I could ever do."

http://natejlee.com/

Some helpful good reads:

https://tollelege.wordpress.com/2017/06/05/you-can-make-him-do-nothing-at-all-for-long-periods-by-c-s-lewis/

https://tollelege.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/the-simple-tragic-fact-by-francis-schaeffer/

https://tollelege.wordpress.com/2018/05/05/from-this-evil-good-lord-deliver-us-by-charles-spurgeon/

Another Year (or 3), another VIA Strengths Test

See how I've changed since 2015 

Also my Myers-Briggs is ENFJ if you were wondering (you probably weren't)...helps with understanding my answers below.

"If we are both still running the race, we will bump into each other in the future for sure." - J. P.

Congratulations on graduating from Wheaton College and thanks for challenging and encouraging me over the last few years. Au Cheval was great. Hope to see you again soon!

J.I. Packer on Knowledge about God and Knowledge of God

“Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.”

― J.I. Packer, Knowing God 

“We must seek, in studying God, to be led to God. It was for this purpose that revelation was given, and it is to this use that we must put it.”
― J.I. Packer, Knowing God 

 “Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.”
― J.I. Packer, Knowing God 

“Knowing about God is crucially important for the living of our lives. As it would be cruel to an Amazonian tribesmen to fly him to London, put him down without explanation in Trafalgar Square and leave him, as one who knew nothing of English or England, to fend for himself, so we are cruel to ourselves if we try to live in this world without knowing about the God whose world it is and who runs it .The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfold, as it were , with no sense of direction, and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.”
― J.I. Packer, Knowing God

 “How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is simple but demanding. It is that we turn each Truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God.”
― J.I. Packer, Knowing God 

“A little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about him.”
― J.I. Packer, Knowing God

“Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God.”
― J.I. Packer, Knowing God 

“we must say that knowing God involves, first, listening to God’s Word and receiving it as the Holy Spirit interprets it, in application to oneself; second, noting God’s nature and character, as his Word and works reveal it; third, accepting his invitations and doing what he commands; fourth, recognizing and rejoicing in the love that he has shown in thus approaching you and drawing you into this divine fellowship.”
― J.I. Packer, Knowing God 

 “There is no peace like the peace of those whose minds are possessed with full assurance that they have known God, and God has known them, and that this relationship guarantees God’s favor to them in life, through death and on for ever.”
― J.I. Packer, Knowing God 

I think for me, going through this sequential list of quotes has helped me (at least today) see how reading the Bible points me to God, and how head knowledge ("knowledge about God") is converted into heart knowledge ("knowledge of God/Knowing God").

“Jesus never concealed the fact that his religion included a demand as well as an offer. Indeed, the demand was as total as the offer was free. If he offered men his salvation, he also demanded their submission. He gave no encouragement whatever to thoughtless applicants for discipleship. He brought no pressure to bear on any inquirer. He sent irresponsible enthusiasts away empty. Luke tells of three men who either volunteered, or were invited, to follow Jesus; but no one passed the Lord’s test. The rich young ruler, too, moral, earnest and attractive, who wanted eternal life on his own terms, went away sorrowful, with his riches intact but with neither life nor Christ as his possession…The Christian landscape is strewn with the wreckage of derelict, half built towers—the ruins of those who began to build and were unable to finish. For thousands of people still ignore Christ’s warning and undertake to follow him without first pausing to reflect on the cost of doing so. The result is the great scandal of Christendom today, so called “nominal Christianity.” In countries to which Christian civilization has spread, large numbers of people have covered themselves with a decent, but thin, veneer of Christianity. They have allowed themselves to become somewhat involved, enough to be respectable but not enough to be uncomfortable. Their religion is a great, soft cushion. It protects them from the hard unpleasantness of life, while changing its place and shape to suit their convenience. No wonder the cynics speak of hypocrites in the church and dismiss religion as escapism…The message of Jesus was very different. He never lowered his standards or modified his conditions to make his call more readily acceptable. He asked his first disciples, and he has asked every disciple since, to give him their thoughtful and total commitment. Nothing less than this will do” 
― John R.W. Stott, Basic Christianity

“Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.”
― John R.W. Stott