grace

"I have been writing this volume while residing in Germany for a teaching trip. I am humbled by penning these 95 theses in the same country as Martin Luther did many years ago. I submit these to the evangelical church of our day and pray that God would allow anything of truth in these pages to bend and change men's hearts back to God." - Greg Gordon - http://www.sermonindex.net **

“It is useless for large companies of believers to spend long hours begging God to send revival. Unless we intend to reform we may as well not pray. Unless praying men have the insight and faith to amend their whole way of life to conform to the New Testament pattern there can be no true revival.” - A.W. Tozer

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I don't even know how to start this... but please, know that I am writing this not to prove that I am right or to demote anyone's role in ministry or any such thing, although I think I will make some bold statements. I think... I don't understand this approach that some people have to the propagation of the gospel. That approach being... we get to know someone, and then introduce it to them gradually as they become more comfortable with us. I have nothing against it, at least at the surface. I do the same thing myself! I don't always tell people about the wonderful gospel the first time I meet them. But when I think about it... something stinks about that scenario. The gospel is the very testimony of Jesus Christ, around whom my life pivots, but even more He is the Axis Of History, the One for Whom the universe was created. The very being of anyone on earth is directly related at all times to the Person of Jesus Christ. The gospel should be one of, if not the first thing that we share with someone we meet, should it not? But... we don't... I don't. Why not?

Well... I was writing an email, and this really got stirred up in my heart. Probably partly to do with finishing Tozer's book, too. Anyways... I was sitting in bed and considering the books I've read in the last five years, or so, and two in particular jumped out at me that actually both encourage and sadden me.

Oh gosh. I'm watching the end of "The Da Vinci Code". So dumb! It's entertaining if you can watch/read it as a mere story... but the assertions and deceptions contained therein regarding the nature of Jesus are ridiculous! On a different subject altogether, isn't it funny how people can try disprove God, but cannot? At the same time, neither can we prove the existence of God? Ahh, but I am not, cannot be agnostic, either. I experience God, every single day. How could I deny that?

Ahh, I began to write this blog in an entirely different way, but scrapped it. Today I have been absolutely blown away, once again, by the incredible complexity and depth of the Bible. Have you ever tried explaining a Biblical doctrine to somebody? I love it. I love teaching. I love imparting new things to people, challenging what they believe. Sometimes I am scared to do so, not wanting to offend them, or just afraid that someday I will recognise my error. Still... I think teaching is in my blood.

Hey friends! Sorry it's been so long since I have blogged, I don't really have much of an excuse! I'll record a video update sometime this week, though, let you know what I have been up to. Let's get to it! Lately, our desperate need to pursue God has been heavy on my heart. A friend told me the night before last that she, in essence, sensed that something was wrong with the Church. For all we do (and I'm including my present occupation in Youth With A Mission) at times, there seem to be relatively few new people being converted. Why?

You know, theology. No... I do not have it all figured out, actually, I do not have all the answers. Not by a long shot. As I've said to Aidan several times over the last few days, there as been dozens, probably hundreds of authors... theologians and philosophers... that have written thousands of volumes on philosophy and theology. In the end, doesn't it seem that no one ends up "winning"? This has been going on for thousands of years.

Have you considered, friend, the unbelievable gift that the Bible is to us? Here we have in one canonical volume 66 books, written by 40 authors, over 1500 years. As I continue my study of this book, the breadth of the book continually astounds me. We see some of the same concepts engrained all throughout this Scripture, sometimes the author not even realising that the stories they wrote fit into a much larger picture... things like Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, the doctrine of the Bride of Christ, the characteristics of God (which do not change from Old to New testaments)... it goes on.

The other day, I was thinking about our faith, about how we come about to having faith, grace, what that all actually means. I've now dwelt on one thought for a few days, something that just kind of struck me, and it is as the title of this blog: election is actually necessary. When I say election, this is what I'm meaning: God elects those whom He saves, and He does all the saving: no human can save themselves. I will refer to it as predestination too, likely, as Scripture tells us that God made this choice before we are born.

Man, I don't even know where to start. The last few days have been interesting. We've gone full-on into the design of another website (this not for us specifically). There are many pros and cons when designing websites, and you kind of have to decide what is and isn't more important, and then make a decision. Then, Dean Sherman has been here teaching about Spiritual Warfare. Which is brilliant, really.