FOOLS FOR CHRIST

Don’t Let Super-Spiritual People Hurt Your Church

Reflections on My “Break Up” with The Gospel Coalition POSTED ON  MAY 30, 2014  BY  TULLIAN TCHIVIDJIAN What we’re talking about here is not just our tendency to lurch and stumble and screw up by accident, our passive role as agents of entropy. It’s our active inclination to break stuff, “stuff” here including moods, promises, relationships we care about, and our own well-being and other people’s… Francis Spufford Dear Friends, It’s been a much quieter week for me. Last week was loud and exhausting. And (other than Miami Heat games, Dallas Cowboy games, Ultra Music Festival, and the music in my car) I’m not a fan of either loud or exhausting. Not many are. So, I’m grateful that God has granted me a quieter week. Still, the very public “break-up” between The Gospel Coalition and me weighs heavy on my heart. And I want to say just a few things about it now that I’ve had some time to reflect. First, I want to say that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for saying things in my own d

William Twisse (1578–1646), the first prolucutor (moderator) of the Westminster Assembly (1640s), which gave us the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, wrote in 1633: How many ways does the Word of God teach us to come to the Kingdom of heaven? Two. Which are they? The Law and the Gospel. What says the Law? Do this and live. What says the Gospel? Believe in Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Can we come to the Kingdom of God by the way of God’s Law? No. Why so? Because we cannot do it. Why can we not do it? Because we are all born in sin. What is it to be born in sin? To be naturally prone to evil and …that that which is good. How did it come to pass that we are all borne in sin? By reason of our first father Adam. Which way then do you hope to come tot he Kingdom of Heaven? By the Gospel What is the Gospel? The glad tidings of salvation by Jesus Christ. To whom is the glad tidings brought: To the righteous? No. Why so? For two reasons. W

Max Lucado points out: No other world religion offers such a message. All others demand a rigid performance, the right sacrifice, the right chant, the right ritual, the right séance or experience. Theirs is a kingdom of trade-offs and barterdom. You do this and God will give you that. The result? Either arrogance or fear. Arrogance if you think you have achieved it; fear if you think you haven't. Christ's kingdom is just the opposite. It is a kingdom for the poor. A kingdom where membership is GRANTED, not PURCHASED.  You are placed into God’s kingdom. You are adopted. And this occurs not when you do enough, but when you admit you can't do enough. You don't earn it; you simply accept it. As a result you serve, not out of arrogance or fear, but out of gratitude .

It's Not Your Party Back in my early days of ministry, I was a kindergarten teacher at a Christian school. Those were the four longest years of my life...actually, that's not true. They were four great years, because I was finally with an age group that I could relate to! During that period of time, one of the mothers came to me and asked if she could have a birthday party for her daughter. As long as you invite everyone in the class, I said, that's not a problem. The next day, Suzie's mom turned my room into birthday kingdom. There was a long table going down the middle of the classroom, and at the end of the table was Suzie - birthday girl. She had an amazing pile of presents in front of her, stacked so high you could barely see her face. All her classmates sat around the table, admiring Suzie's stack of presents while looking at their own little sandwich bag of party favors. One of the boys in the class wasn't pleased. He began to harrumph. As Jo

Theological Dictionary: Passive and Active Righteousness  BY  JONO LINEBAUGH “This is our theology, by which we teach a precise distinction between these two kinds of righteousness, the active and the passive” (Martin Luther,  Lectures on Galatians  1535). There are “two kinds of righteousness” because human beings live in two kinds of relationships: 1) creature with Creator and 2) creature with creature. Before God ( coram Deo) , people are  passive , receiving righteousness by grace through faith on account of Christ (Rom 3:21-24; 5:17; 10:6; Phil 3:9; cf. Rom 3:28; Gal 2:16). Before the world ( coram mundo ), people are  active , serving their neighbor in love (Rom 13:8-19; Gal 5:13-14). This distinction is essential because, as Luther put it, it ensures that “morality and faith, works and grace … are not confused. Both are necessary, but both must be kept within their limits” ( Lectures on Galatians  1535). To be human is to be two-dimensional: passive (i.e. receptive) b

Today I had a spiritual conversation with my 10 year old son, and as it is my habit I found it as an opportunity to share the gospel with him. I know my son understands the gospel theoretically, so I had to scratch the surface of his faith in order to see the heart of his theology (thoughts about God). It all started as he came in my room to ask if he can lead the family devotions tonight. And if yes, then I must share any verse so he can read tonight. I saw that as a wonderful time to have a one on one conversation with my future assistant pastor. I began by asking him what does he know about the Christian faith? As I said earlier the young man is not ignorant of the Christian tenets, he is even able to outline the gospel. But when he told me that, if he can commit a sin and Jesus comes or he dies without him having time to repent and confess that sin, God has no choice but to send him in hell. I wasn't surprised because I have heard hundreds of people answering the way and I on

There some people who think just because they became christians at an early age, or they never committed "big" sins, unconsciously they become boastful of these things. If you are a " spiritual veteran" and still blind to the gospel, how miserable is that. It is not about our experience, it is Jesus alone on the Cross. How long we have been a christian, or how trivial the sins we have committed are, will not count on that day, it is a question of whether you believe in Christ alone or Christ plus something else. No wonder the self righteous always finds the gospel offensive, because it strips them of the grades they have foolishly awarded themselves. I am afraid a lot of people who are called Christians, are completely mistaken about the truth of the gospel. Why is it hard for people to understand that they can never deserve nor earn right standing with God? The gospel is simply (good news, it is not something that we have done, it is outside of us. It is complete

BONO ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KARMA AND GRACE. “It’s a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the Universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma… You see, at the centre of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics – in physical laws – every action is met by an equal or opposite one.  Its clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe.  I’m absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that “As you reap, so will you sow” stuff.  Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff. That’s between me and God. But I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep shit. It doesn