What Does the Gospel Do?

What does the Gospel do?

The Gospel

Makes the blind see

The deaf hear

And cleanses the leper

Heals the wounded

Raises the dead to life

And sets the captive free

The Gospel

Redeems and saves

Pardons and forgives

Delivers and liberates

Reconciles and restores

Justifies the ungodly

Makes the enemy a friend

The Gospel

Renews and recreates

Giving new hearts

With new desires

Giving new motives

Also aims and goals

The Gospel

Changes everthing

Turning things

Upsidedown and insideout

Transforming lives

Hearts and minds

Communities and relationships

The Gospel

Humbles us

As children

God's children

And exalts

Our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ

The Gospel

Does all these things

And much more

All to the

Praise, glory, and honor

Of our GREAT God



This Freedom Song is Marching On!

 There's another line in Chris Tomlin's song "White Flag", that has got me thinking of the Cross, the Gospel, and Scripture. The line is, I believe, is the 2nd prechorus of the song; which goes like this: This Freedom song is marching on! Now, what is the freedom song, I would strongly believe that it is the Gospel itself! Here are some passages of Scripture that come to mind when I here that line in the song:

"And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jeruselem, and the were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, the apostles.....Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word."~ Acts 8:2&4

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of  of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life."~ 2 Corinthians 2:14-16

"and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation,"~ Romans 15:20

"because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing--as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,"~ Colossians 1:5-6

 Yes this word of truth, the gospel, is being advanced to this day liberating those who are bound by the chains of their sin and depravity! It is "delivering people from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of Christ." (Colossians 1:13). Yes, to this day this freedom song is marching on!

All I Need is Jesus

Take me to a place

That is new

And unfamiliar to me

That is fine

Because all I have

Is Christ

Take away my

My sight

My hearing

Or even the ability

To use

My arms and legs

That will be alright

Because all I have

Is Jesus

When darkness surrounds me

And my enemies

Have me against the wall

With no allies

Or friends beside me

That will be okay

Because all I have is Christ

If my family

And dear friends

Were to ever be taken

From me

And I left

As it may seem

All alone

I will have no worries

Because all I have

Is Jesus

Go ahead

Take anything

And everything from me

I will not

Lose heart

Or wallow in despair

For all I know

And all I have

Is Christ Jesus

My Savior & Lord

He's all I need

He's more than enough

He is sufficient

All satisfying

My treasure I've found

Hidden in the field

My reward

For fighting

The good fight

My prize

For finishing the race

Yes!

All I have is Christ

All I need is Jesus

We Lift High the Cross

Now I'm not too big on Chris Tomlin to be honest. I mean yes, there are songs of his that I enjoy like "Our God" and "Jesus Messiah", but he's not among the artist and bands that I love listening to. He's not among those who's next album I look forward to listening; though his recent song "White Flag" has got me putting it on repeat as I drive to work or church.
 White Flag was performed live at the 2012 Passion Conference down in Alanta, GA, but I didn't hear it until it first came on the radio. Oh my my1 Let me tell you! I'm definitely hooked on the song! It's not a deep theological song really, and that's one thing that really gets me hooked on a song. Yet, there are some songs that I like simply because of one line. Now with Chris Tomlin's White Flag, the whole song, to me, is sweet goodness, but there is one line that gets me. It's the bridge or.....refrain....whatever you wanna call it. It goes like this- "We lift the cross, lift it high, lift it high! ". What truth!
 I don't know if this is out of sync of the whole message of the song, but what I think about as that part of the song come up is the whole idea of what the body of Christ, the church, is all about. The Gospel.
 Yes, when you boil it down to its essence, we, the body of Christ, is all about Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

"Only let your manner be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel."- Philippians 1:27


 As the body of Christ, the church, the bride of Jesus, we are called to, not only individually, but also together to lift high the Cross, to advance the Gospel, to represent Jesus or Savior and Lord! To be sure that all we do as the body of Christ lifts high the Cross and serves as a means to advance the Gospel! All to the Glory of the Author of the Gospel!


http://youtu.be/e1jgD69WzMY

Powerful & Convicting: The Best Sermon on Missions Ever!

 This is the sermon that David Platt gave at T4G '12  (Together for the Gospel) in louisville, KY . Both John Piper and Ligon Duncan, who spoke at the conference as well said that it was the best and most powerful sermons on missions that they have ever heard, and I couldn't agree more. To me, it is one of the top 5 sermons I ever heard. So powerful and so convicting! For those who have a desire for mission, you "MUST" listen to this. Just take an hour out of your day to listen to it! It's that good!


Divine Sovereignty: The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions : Together for the Gospel

Nothing That My Hands Can Do

A Hymn by Horatius Bonar

VERSE 1
 There’s nothing that my hands can do
To save my guilty soul
I cannot cleanse my filthy stains
Or make my spirit whole
For nothing but the blood of Christ
Can all my sins erase
I dare not claim my righteousness
But hide within His grace
‘Tis Christ who saved me from the depths
God’s pardon I’ve received
I’m washed within His precious blood
My heart is sprinkled clean

VERSE 2
I’ll praise the God of holiness
Of justice, truth, and might
Who guides me by His mighty hand
To walk within His light
While Satan weaves his shallow lies
God speaks to me in love
Reminding me His only Son
Has bought me with His blood
And Christ dispels my every doubt
Through Him I am redeemed
I love because He loved me first
I live because He lives
VERSE 3
My life is but a fleeting sigh
A tear within the sea
But You are everlasting, Lord
And You’ve predestined me
To leave this fading world behind
Not fearing death will come
For then I’ll look on Jesus Christ
And to His arms I’ll run
And when I see Him face to face
What glory that will be
To look upon my Savior’s scars
And know they were for me

Growing Book List

 Earlier this week, Tues through Thurs I was down in Louisville, KY for a conference called Together for the Gospel. It's a biennial conference focused on.....the Gospel. Big name pastors and such spoke, like John Piper, C.J. Mahaney, David Platt, Mark Dever, Matt Chandler, and more. You can listen to the audios or watch the videos of all 9 main sessions here: http://t4g.org/
 One of the sweet things about the conference was a lot of free books! Now there were 2 bookstores at the conference. The Zero dollar bookstore was where you would get your free books at, and at the other bookstore you of course had to buy the books. Now you would think I would be content with all the free books I recieved, but....no I did buy some. So for those who asked here are all the ones I got, the free ones and the one's I bought:

The Gospel for Muslims by Thabiti Anyabwile

Health, Wealth, & Happiness (Has the Prosperity Gospel Overshadowed the Gospel of Christ) by David W. Jones & Russel S. Woodbridge

The Cross and Christian Ministry  by D.A. Carson

The Church (The Gospel Made Visible) by Mark Dever

What is the Mission of the Church? by Kevin DeYoung & Greg Glibert

The Pleasures of God by John Piper

How the Gospel Brings Us All the Way Home by Derek W.H Thomas

Fellowship with God by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Hudson Taylor (Gospel Pioneer to China) by Vance Christie

Turning to God by David F. Wells

Reformation: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow by Carl Trueman

Church Membership by Jonathan Leeman

Preaching & Preachers by Martyn Llyod-Jones

The Cross of Christ by John Stott

Then there are ones that I got before the conference that I either am currently reading or have yet to read:

The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler w/ Jared Wilson

In My Place Condemned He Stood by J. I. Packer & Mark Dever

To the Golden Shore (The Life of Adoniram Judson) by Courtney Anderson

The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink

A God-Sized Vision by Collin Hansen & John Woodbridge

Reckless Adandon by  David Sitton

Think by John Piper

The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul

The Kingdom of God by Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Justification and Regeneration by Charles Leiter

The Transforming Power of the Gospel by Jerry Bridges

George Whitefield by Arnold A. Dallimore

The Gospel Commission by Michael Horton


 I'm pretty sure I won't be buying anymore books this year. Yea, I'm set! Yet, I'm aiming to keep getting into the Sciptures. For all these other books are like appetizers, while God's Word is like the main course, more so, it's like a feast!