Pastor and writer Tullian Tchividjian reminds us we must preach the gospel to ourselves as an ongoing part of our Christian life. Tchividijian (2012) summarizes the gospel this way: "If God has saved you--if he's given you the faith to believe, and you're now a Christian, if you've transferred trust from your own accomplishments and abilities to Christ's accomplishment on … [Read more...] about Preach the Gospel to Yourself
Soul
Holiness
Where does holiness figure into your own spiritual walk? Holiness is a topic I bat around in my mind quite often. Obviously, I'm for it. But I'm not always sure what form it should take and by which path it should be sought. I've seen outside-in holiness from the fundamentalist's camp. I've seen inside-out holiness from the reformed camp. But both seem to lack … [Read more...] about Holiness
True Repentance
Of what does true repentance consist? We tend to focus on actions — sacrifice this, pray that, promise to read the bible every day for a month — and so we jump through our self-prescribed hoops trying to act out repentance. In some ways, action-oriented repentance is easier. We have something tangible to do. We can see our progress; we can check off a box and pat ourselves … [Read more...] about True Repentance
Wave Upon Wave
I sit in a borrowed car watching wave upon wave crush the rocky shore of Magnolia Beach. It's raining. The waves surge in and out of time with the windshield wipers. The rolling swells are endless, tireless, massive. The thought occurs to me: "No wonder shores are sandy." How could rocks ever resist such an onslaught over minutes and years? No one wave … [Read more...] about Wave Upon Wave
Unbelief
"'But there are some of you who do not believe.' (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)" - John 6:64 It's interesting here that John equates unbelief with betrayal. Unbelief betrays Jesus. Most people would probably agree with that at a certain level. It makes sense somewhat that an unbeliever is a … [Read more...] about Unbelief