Life

The Gospel for Rich People, According to Jesus

Warning, if you are wealthy, you may not want to read this. But then again, if you have a computer and access to the internet, you are probably wealthy. Just about everyone reading this is wealthy – certainly in the wealthiest 20 % of the world's population. I'll tell you what. I'll call a truce. This will not be a rant about the evils of riches.

 

Twice, we get front seats, as we see Jesus interact with rich people who want to get to heaven. First, in the story usually named, “The Rich Young Ruler.” (Mt. 19:16-30, Mk. 10:17-27, Lk. 18:18-30) And second, in the story of Zacheus. (Lk. 19:1-10)

 

Neither story uses the word, “gospel.” Yet both stories fit the parameters of my study because they carry explicit reference to obtaining eternal life. The rich young ruler asks the question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Zaccheus is a conversion story, with Jesus saying, “Today salvation has come to this house.”

 

The rich young ruler is particularly poignant for me because he baits me right up front. The first time I studied this in depth was in the early days of wanting to take a fresh look at the gospel. When I came to his question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” I thought, “Aha, I've found it! The question can't be clearer than that. What Jesus says here, will settle it for me.”

 

You can imagine my horror, when Jesus says, “You know the commandments, 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and Mother.'” (Mark 10:19) Jesus was obviously not trained as an evangelical, because the answer to that question is, “You can't do anything. Salvation is a free gift. All you can do is receive it!”

 

The rich young ruler's response -- “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” What will Jesus do with that?

 

When I was in Bible College we did Field Ed. by going into a small Canadian city and stopping strangers on the street in order to initiate a conversation that we would turn into a gospel presentation. I vividly remember getting to, “You are a sinner and your sin separates you from a Holy God,” only to be stumped. More than once the response at that point was, “No I am not. I am a good person.” I would find myself trying to prove to a stranger whom I did not know, that he was in fact a bad person.

 

I expected Jesus to say, “No you haven't, you just think you have.” “Ever lusted after a woman!” “Ever called someone a fool.” (Cf Mt. 5:21-22, 27-28)

 

Instead, Jesus accepts the sincerity of the man's testimony.

 

I use Mark when I teach this story because he alone gives us a window into the heart of Christ at this point. “Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him.” (10:21)

 

The man's question is sincere. He is not one of the skeptics, looking for proof, or one of the antagonists trying to trip Jesus up. He has been watching and listening and recognizes in Jesus a “good teacher.” His soul is insecure, in spite of spending his entire life zealously obeying the law. He wants to know that he will obtain eternal life. And Jesus loves him.

 

“One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me.” There it is! That's the gospel – the good news.

 

Oh, Oh! He is walking away, heart heavy. He owns much, and he loves what he owns. The cost is simply too high. (vs 22)

 

Jesus turns it into a lesson for his future evangelists – the disciples.

 

“How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” (vs23)

 

And again:

 

“Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

 

I have heard that there was a gate in the wall of Jerusalem, that was a small gate -- so small that to get a camel through it you had to get it to go down on its knees. I don't know if that's true or not, but I know what Jesus meant, because He unpacks it.

 

When the disciples hear this, they are doubly astonished and ask, “Then who can be saved?” (vs 26)

 

Jesus answer: “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” (vs 27)

 

The change of heart that's required can't be had by human effort. It takes a work of God!

 

So what do we make of this? Is Jesus really saying that one must become poor – literally sell all your possessions and give the money away, poor – in order to obtain eternal life?

 

Obviously that's what He said to the rich young ruler, but would he say that to every wealthy man or woman? No, He wouldn't. Would He say that to us? Maybe He would.

 

Why aren't Abraham, David, and Solomon told to get rid of all of their wealth?

 

A look at Zaccheus might help.

 

What Zaccheus is famous for, is being short. But he was also very wealthy. Luke tells us that he was “a chief tax collector and he was rich.” (19:2)

 

The story is short on detail. Did Zaccheus climb the tree because he had already had a change of heart, or did he climb the tree just because he was curious? Perhaps news of Jesus healing the blind man (Lk. 18:35-43) had come to him. All we know is that Zaccheus was short, and resourceful, and not too embarrassed to climb a tree, in order to see Jesus. Perhaps it was the shocking generosity of Jesus – “Today I must stay at your house.” (Lk 19:5) Accustomed to being judged a sinner, scorned and avoided, this desire for relationship would come to him like cool water to a parched throat.

 

We can't pinpoint when the change of heart happened, but it's obvious that it did.

 

“Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”

 

Jesus could've said, “Half will not do! You must sell it all.” Then we could make a case for a formula for rich people.

 

But He doesn't!

 

Instead: “Today salvation has come to this house...” ( 19:9) It can't be more clear than that! “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (vs 10) Jesus has accomplished what He set out to do. Zaccheus's heart has changed! He is going to live upside down to the way he used to live.

 

The point of both of these stories is that there is a space in the human heart in which Jesus wants to dwell. That is the space of our utmost allegiance. If we have something else in that space,  Jesus can't live there, and He won't live in any other space. Some of us have girlfriends or boyfriends in that space. Others, spouses and children. Still others, businesses, or professions, or even a well ordered life, or a clean and tidy house, or the respect of our fellow man.

 

In order for some rich people to be free of the hold money has on their heart, they will actually have to become poor, in order to receive Jesus. Other's will be able to give their riches to Jesus internally -- removing it from the place of worship in their hearts, becoming stewards of His money instead of being mastered by their own.

 

This also becomes true of all the other loyalties that have a hold on us.

 

It's interesting that the commandments recited by Jesus to the rich young ruler are all the horizontal man to man commandments. Probably because Jesus knew the vertical one that the rich young ruler wasn't following: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me!” His money was his god!

 

In all of this, we discover that the gospel according to John the Baptist, and the gospel according to Jesus are, so far, perfectly consistent. Both call for a changed heart leading to a life lived upside down to what it used to be. John hints at the need for a Holy Spirit baptism, Jesus explicitly says receiving Him is impossible apart from God working.

 

Again it could be that this is an Old Testament gospel, that will change after the cross. But it doesn't change between John and Jesus. It's hard to imagine that Jesus is training His disciples in a gospel that they will need to drop as soon as He dies. And what is the church supposed to do with this, if it's not a paradigm for us to follow?

 

More, next time. Ya'all come back now ya here!

 

(Sorry, I lived in Dallas for 4 years)

The Gospel According to John the Baptist

When the angel of the Lord is telling old man Zacharias that he and his also old and barren wife Elizabeth are about to have a baby boy, he describes John as follows:

 

And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. (Lk 1:16 New Living Translation)

 

Jesus Himself tells us that us that those who “receive” Him get to be children of God, and those who don't, don't. (John 1:12) John is miraculously born, just to prepare the people of Israel to receive Him. For the most part, even with John the Baptist's preparation, they didn't get it. (John 1:11) But perhaps, for those of us who want to get it – to receive Him – starting with John the Baptist would be a good idea.

 

What does it look like to be prepared to receive Christ? What does John actually say and do? What does he call on the people to do?

 

The first hint comes in the angel's announcement before John is even conceived. “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.” (Lk 1:17b) Preparation for the coming of Christ involves a change of heart. A change of heart that is characterized by a softness towards children and a love of submission.

 

The second hint comes at his birth through the prophetic words of the Baptist's till then mute dad in Luke 1:76-79:

 

“And you, my little son,
will be called the prophet of the Most High,
because you will prepare the way for the Lord.

You will tell his people how to find salvation
through forgiveness of their sins.
Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.”

 

Here preparation involves news. News of forgiveness. News of a tender hearted and merciful God. News of light for those who live oppressed, in a dark world. And news of the path of peace. So preparation involves receptivity to God. God is breaking in, in the birth of His son, on a rescue mission to save His people from their sins, and to guide them onto a path of peace.

 

This “little son” of Zacharias – John the Baptist, is of course only the messenger. The real news is Christ. The end result of His coming, says Zacharias , is that His people can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness, for as long as they live. (Lk 1:74,75) This little son is coming to announce the way back to God.

 

Before John the Baptist opens his mouth to speak. Before Jesus is born. Already it is clear that what is coming is grand and glorious and absolutely life transforming. But I run ahead of myself.

 

What does John actually say?

 

“You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” (Lk. 3:7b,8a NASB)

 

According to Luke, those were his opening words. And when pressed as to what that repentance should look like, we have the following:

 

And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.” (Lk 3:11-14)

 

John's words represent an about face, a radical change of heart.

 

We can assume that we are getting the abbreviated version. What he actually said was probably longer and more involved, but clearly Luke is trying to give us the gist of his preaching. His introduction says that John came, “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Lk 3:3)

 

“A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins!” Boiled down, forgiveness of sins was for those who had a radical change of heart. This change of heart was signified by being baptized by John in the Jordan, and then by going home and living upside down to the way they used to live. And that made them ready for the coming of Christ.

 

The last surprise in Luke's telling of the story comes in Luke 3:18: “So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.” “Gospel” means, “good news.” “You brood of vipers,” just does not sound like good news. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” sounds like good news. “Jesus died for you,” sounds like good news. But a “baptism of repentance...” not so much! Yet from Luke's perspective John was preaching the good news.

 

The beloved disciple John, (not the Baptist) highlights the story differently. His interest is not in what the Baptist called for as a response. He is all about who Jesus is. Higher rank, pre-existent Son of God, full of grace and truth, making the Father visible – these are the thoughts that matter to John.

 

The Baptist was the forerunner, the herald, the guy who ran out in front announcing the arrival. Preparing the way at it's essence involved the simple task of pointing to Him and shouting, “He's here!” so what does he actually say when Jesus arrives at the Jordan.

 

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34 NASB)

 

“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” is unique to the Gospel of John.

 

Huge sigh of relief! If Matthew, Mark, and Luke had been more sensitive to evangelical sensitivities they would have included it as well, but at least we have it in John. In all that we have of the gospel according to John the Baptist, this one sentence in the gospel of John is the only mention of the Atonement. There is talk of forgiveness of sins, but this is the first we hear of sacrifice.

 

The average Israelite could not hear “Lamb of God who takes away sin” without thinking sacrifice. It points to Him as the fulfillment of their sacrificial system. John is describing Jesus as the atoning sacrifice, who will take away the sins of the world. “Of the world,” was likely a surprise, even a shock to those listening, accustomed as they were to thinking of Yahweh as the God of the Jews, and of the coming Messiah as the Messiah of the Jews. So this is grand too! It's atonement. And for those of us who have reduced the Gospel to forgiveness of sin through the death of Christ, it's comforting to know that the Baptist didn't miss the point altogether.

 

One of my favorite phrases in the New Testament is, “the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” The reason I like it, is because of the meaning of, “of.” It means the same as “of” in the “City of Winnipeg”. That's not the city that belongs to Winnipeg, or the city that comes from Winnipeg. It's the city which is Winnipeg. “City,” is the broad category, and “Winnipeg” narrows it down to only one. So Jesus Christ is the good news! “He's here!” Now that's good news indeed, but I am jumping way ahead.

 

One last thing, before we make some closing remarks.

 

When the people came to John the Baptist they were filled with expectation and wondered if he was the Christ. His answer according to Luke:

 

“As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:17 NASB) In the book of Acts, the same Luke records the words of Peter. He is preaching his first sermon. The occasion is Pentecost. The sound, a mighty rushing wind. The sight, Tongues of fire resting on the apostles heads. Everyone hearing the messengers speaking in their own tongue. Into this, Peter says, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.” (Acts 2:33)

 

So the gospel of John the Baptist includes a call to a radical change of heart and a hint at the provision to live out a radical change of heart. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Forgiveness for those whose hearts have changed, and power to live upside down to the way they had lived before. All because they have heard the news, “He's here!” and received Him.

 

Now for some closing remarks.

 

The differences between our gospel (eg. Steps to Peace with God) and the Baptist's gospel are stark. Our's centers on the Atonement, His on the person of Christ. The call in our's is to trust in what Jesus did on the cross, The call in His, to live upside down to the way they had lived.

 

There can be lots of reasons for this. Jesus has not died yet. “This was the gospel for them, but for us it's different.” Their expectation of the Messiah was to deliver them from their enemies, and the whole idea of the cross and the atonement was as of yet quite unclear. For John to announce, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” was itself prophetic. There was no way they could get, “Steps to Peace with God.”

 

Over against this is the fact that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not written for the people on the edge of the Jordan. Each of them writes after Christ's birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost. They are written for the church.

 

If the argument is to hold, that the Baptist's gospel is a different gospel because it was for a different time, then we will expect to see the proclamation change. As we move towards the cross and beyond, the focus of the Gospel should change until we see the cross at the center.

 

The temptation is to jump ahead and see what the disciples and Paul said in Acts. But we will restrain ourselves and look next at what Jesus said in the rest of the gospels.

 

PostScript

 

After my last postscript, I nearly apologized. I am not wanting to become purely academic, and I hope my heart will stay transparent in these blogs. If you have found this harder to read, I pray that you will still keep reading. This is way more important than what I've said till now. I believe that what I am saying here has huge implications, and therefore need to keep it very thoroughly Biblical. The downside of constant interaction with the Scriptures is that it reads heavier. But it is not light stuff.

 

I will intersperse these posts, with posts interacting with the perceived irrelevance of our current gospel. Those posts will be lighter and easier to read. So stay tuned!

 

Bombshell

I start by giving you excerpts from four Christian leaders that I have read this past week.

 

By David Wilkerson

 

“The church in America is far from what God envisioned it to be. For the most
part, entire denominations today operate without the Holy Spirit. They are
devoid of the presence of Jesus and bankrupt of all spiritual gifts. They
practice a form of religion without any power, conviction or saving message...

The New Testament church made devils tremble! It drove legions of demons into
the abyss, prayed prison doors open, made rulers cringe in fear. Those early
believers had such faith and power that cripples rose up leaping and beggars
became evangelists. They believed in the supernatural and they opened blind
eyes, unstopped deaf ears and healed all manner of diseases. They even raised
the dead!

I am not saying God’s last-day church will be a repeat or copy of the
first-century church. No—I am saying it will be even greater than that! It
will be mightier, stronger, with an ever greater revelation of Jesus. It will
have greater unction from the Spirit than ever—greater even than at
Pentecost! God always saves His best wine for last!”

 

From: http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/11/26/is-it-time-to-close-our-churches/

 

“As usual, A.W. Tozer had it exactly right: 'If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.'”

 

From: Christianity Today, October 2009, Cover Story

 

“Evangelicals desperately need moral and spiritual renewal – on that everyone agrees.”

 

From: Francis Chan, “Forgotten God,” page 31

 

“I think the worst part is when you get outside the church's walls and interact with believers and nonbelievers in the same sphere. Can you really tell a difference? If you didn't recognize their faces from church, would you know from their actions and lifestyle that they were followers of Jesus? Honestly, sometimes I am embarrassed by some of my “Christian” neighbors because my unbelieving neighbors seem more joyful, welcoming, and at peace. Why does this happen? And how is it even possible?”

 

This paragraph by Francis Chan was published in 2009, but for me, its sentiments are 25 years old. Fresh out of seminary, in my first church, I walked the streets and asked myself exactly that question. Two houses, same street. One house belongs to people from my church, the other to unbelievers. What's different inside the house? What's different about the church going people from the non church going people, apart from the fact that they go to church?

 

25 years has softened me. I know church people in whom God is alive and well, and I know that even in the NT the church was in a mess. (Take a close look at the church in Corinth). It's not all bad, or all good. Nevertheless, if I step back and look at the church as a whole, the question is still valid. The answer still disturbing. There are a lot of people in church, and a lot of churches, in whom God is not alive and well.

 

25 years ago, Chan's question (mine then, his now) launched a study that has become a life work for me. I was very concerned by what I saw, or better, by what I didn't see. I asked, “Why?” My first thought was that it had to be a general failure of Christians to live Christianly. But instead of starting with what the Bible says about Christian living, I started with a study of what the Bible said about becoming a Christian. I suppose it was because I was a keener, fresh out of seminary, and committed to being thorough. I needed to do a review of the one before I could dig into the other. Kind of like, “I better make sure I have this right, before I go into that.”

 

I laid out some ground rules. I would begin with passages of Scripture that were about becoming a Christian, or that would speak explicitly to the essential difference between Christians and non Christians. I was looking for a starting point that was solid. At that point I fully expected to discover that the gospel I had been taught, was the NT gospel, and that the church people who didn't have the heart or values of Christ were Christians who needed a revival.

 

As I read the NT with fresh eyes, I was surprised and frightened to discover that Jesus and the apostles did not preach the gospel like we (evangelicals) do. Try as I might, I could not find a gospel presentation anywhere in the NT that looked remotely similar to the gospel presentations to which I was accustomed. And this wasn't just a subtle thing or a question of style. There were elements deemed essential to us that weren't in the NT presentations. Conversely there were elements consistently in the NT, completely missing from ours.

 

Fearful then, confident now, I concluded that the church failing to manifest Christ was a product of a gospel robbed of most of its power.

 

The word “gospel” is a translation of a Greek word that means “good news.” The disciples were commanded by Christ to “preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)

 

Obviously, most of the Bible can be read as good news, but for our purposes here, we are talking about something narrow. We are talking about the message evangelicals proclaim to unbelievers in the hope that they would respond and become Christians. Currently there may be a thousand minor variations of this message, but they are close to identical in their substance. This is true across the evangelical spectrum and into some main line Protestant denominations.

 

This gospel is well illustrated by the brochure, “Steps to Peace with God.” I pulled this off of the Billy Graham Evangelistic association web site. The following link will get you to the full text.

 

http://www.billygraham.ca/spiritual-help/steps-to-peace.aspx

Step 1: God's Purpose: Peace and Life

God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life--abundant and eternal.

Step 2: The Problem: Our Separation

God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him. God gave us a will and a freedom of choice. We chose to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God.

Step 3: God's Bridge: The Cross

Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people.

Step 4: Our Response: Receive Christ

We must trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and receive Him by personal invitation.

Where are you?

Will you receive Jesus Christ right now?

Here is how you can receive Christ:

• Admit your need (I am a sinner).

• Be willing to turn from your sins (repent).

• Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.

• Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive Him as Lord and Savior.)

The reason I choose this particular presentation is because it is about the best out there. It's wording is carefully thought through, and some of the excesses of other presentations have been avoided. It includes a kind of repentance, saying we need to be willing to turn from our sins. ( Some leave it out altogether.) It speaks of receiving Christ and giving Him control. (Some speak only of placing our faith in what Jesus did on the cross.) And it mentions that Jesus “rose from the grave.” (a point left out completely by some.)

 

Virtually all evangelicals would ascribe to this basic message in one form or another as “the gospel.” (The one we are called to proclaim to the ends of the earth.) This has been true for at least 50 years, and may even be seen as true in a less refined way, since the Reformation. The church that we grieve over is a product of this message.

 

That doesn't necessarily mean this gospel is flawed. There can be other reasons for the malaise of the church. But at very least we must admit that we hold this gospel in common. A positive response to this message is what gives us our confidence that we belong to God. So, if there is a widespread malaise in the church, at very least, it could be a trajectory that starts here.

 

I don't know of anything more sacred to us than this message. In blogs to come, I am going to say some challenging things – things that are likely to create insecurity and make people angry. It's not that I want to, in fact I will try not to, but I still know that I will. So let me start by making clear what I am not saying.

I believe that God loves us and wants us to experience peace and life--abundant and eternal.

I believe that apart from Christ I am a sinner and that my sin separated me from God.

 

I believe that in His death Christ paid the penalty for my sinfulness and removed the offense that separated me from God.

 

I believe that it is my faith in Christ that secures my place in the family of God.

 

So you see, I subscribe to the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. I am not trying to deny the cross or it's significance to our salvation.

 

On top of that, when I get to heaven, I expect that there will only be a few others there because of my life and ministry. On the other hand, I expect that there will be untold thousands there because of the ministry of Billy Graham, his association, and other like minded ministries and ministers. This fact almost shuts me down.

 

But then I return to what the church is.

 

That's not what it's supposed to be. If I think I have some idea why, how can I keep silent?

 

So in the next weeks and months I plan to say three things:

 

1. We have the gospel wrong. The gospel message that we preach is not the gospel we are told to preach in the NT.

2. The gospel message that we preach is failing to engage the unbelievers of our world – it's viewed as largely irrelevant.

3. The way we preach the gospel, robs it of much of its beauty and all of its integrity.

 

As to 1: The popular gospel is not untrue, and it's not that it's not good news, it's just that it's not the good news that people need to hear and respond to in order to enter into Christ. (I realize that this sounds like a contradiction. “If it's not what people need to hear, then how are thousands going to be in heaven because of it?” I'll answer this later – probably much later.)

 

As to 2: It's not that relevance trumps anything. If we had it right, and our world viewed it as irrelevant, we would just need to suck it up, and do our best to educate our world as to it's relevance. But I happen to believe that if we were more closely aligned with the NT, our world would find us relevant and engaging. Indeed, we would be as impossible to ignore as Jesus was.

 

As to 3: This one matters the most to me, and is the hardest to explain. For me, what one becomes by responding to the gospel is what one is for the rest of his/her eternity. There is no seam between becoming a Christian and living as a Christian. The gospel has integrity because living is integral to being made alive. Dedication is motivated by essence rather than obligation or gratitude. More later.

 

Postscript

 

I haven't posted anything for more than a month. I have come close to posting an apology a number of times. But I think I am backing away from the intention to post once a week. It will likely be that, or more, going forward, but from time to time it may create an artificial need to write something, when in fact I should be carefully reflective. Such has been the case for the last month. I now have a structure for the next months. What I need is the discipline to stay faithful, but not the pressure to produce.

 

So if you are praying for me, pray that I would be effective and disciplined in the use of my time, and that what I would write would be lifegiving to yourself, the church, and the world.

 

This blog also represents a shift. I sense that what I am now writing of has the potential to make a significant contribution to the theology of the gospel. I don't want to write at a level that average laypeople can't get, but I do want to be scholarly enough to engage and strengthen church leaders. I will probably need to work harder at showing how I arrived at my conclusions. We'll see how this works out, and I covet your comments to let me know how I am doing, particularly if I am unclear.