The sovereign God of the universe said, “This one is Mine.” Over and against all the prerequisites I had invented for placing my faith in God, the Father had placed His Spirit in me.
Remember that everyone you meet is eternal. You have never met someone who will cease to exist one day, and you have never met someone who does not bear God’s image. So care about and take an interest in those you run across.
We’re using the gifts of God as if they themselves are gods.
Often the question of, “Who am I?” should be answered with, “Whose am I?
We need to let God get down underneath what we think needs changing, so that He can bring full restoration and redemption to us where we truly need changing.
Lazy people are some of the most exhausted, dissatisfied, and ill-tempered folks around because the joy-backed promises of laziness our lies.
Longing for something fresh, for something no one else has said often leads to bad exegesis.
Even though every identity marker I have can be taken from me, the grace and peace of the Trinity overflows into the life of the believer.
But let’s be honest. Real good can come from never missing Sunday-morning worship. Real good comes from guarding what you watch. Good can come from guarding your life in these ways. But as a means to or measure of our righteousness? These things will always fall short.
The context of the gospel message is not our benefit or our salvation; the context of the gospel is the supremacy of Christ and the glory of God. This story of the good news is personal, but it is also cosmic.
Abram, the first Jew was actually an Iraqi.
This is the question: Are you using God to get something from Him? Or is God Himself the goal of your striving?
Why is it that so few “pretty people” without checkered pasts are used mightily in the Scriptures? Because the Bible is primarily about God’s grace, not about human cleanliness.
Guilt is more about what you do. Shame is more about who you are.
The God of the Bible is not an ambulance driver who shows up after the wreck and hops out and thinks, Okay, let’s do some triage here. The God of the Bible does not show up after the accident and try to fix it. That’s not what He does.
Jesus is the culmination of the greatness and the goodness of God.
Dating becomes a lot about hiding who you really are, hiding you imperfections and in many cases, unfortunately, displaying and making primary what ought to be reserved only for marriage.
We are saved, sanctified, and sustained by what Jesus did for us on the cross and through the power of his resurrection. If you add to or subtract from the cross, even if it is to factor in biblically mandated religious practices like prayer and evangelism, you rob God of his glory and Christ of his sufficiency. Romans.
If you know EVERYONE, you don’t know ANYONE.
So, relational evangelism? Go for it, as long as it turns into actual evangelism. You hanging out having a beer with your buddy so he can see that Christians are cool is not what we’re called to do. You’re eventually going to have to open up your mouth and share the gospel.