“You have made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”  (Augustine, from Confessions)

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV)

“Take away the cross of Christ, and the Bible is a dark book.”  (J.C. Ryle)

“A cheap Christianity, without a cross, will prove in the end a useless Christianity, without a crown.” (J.C. Ryle)

“The best of men are only men at their very best. Patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, church fathers, reformers, puritans – all are sinners who need a Savior.” (J.C. Ryle)

“It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”  (1 Timothy 1:15 – 17 NASB)

“Calvary shows how far men will go in sin, and how far God will go for man’s salvation.” (H.C. Trumball)

“When Satan tells me I am a sinner he comforts me immeasurably, since Christ died for sinners.” (Martin Luther)

“It is easier to cry against one-thousand sins of others than to kill one of your own.” (John Flavel)

“But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14 NASB)

This Is How Jesus Died (warning: very graphic)

“Shredded flesh against unforgiving wood, iron stakes pounded through bone and wracked nerves, joints wrenched out of socket by the sheer dead weight of the body, public humiliation before the eyes of family, friends, and the world — that was death on the cross, ‘the infamous stake’ as the Romans called it, ‘the barren wood, ‘ the maxima mala crux. Or as the Greeks spat it out, the stauros [Greek word for the cross]. No wonder no one talked about it. No wonder parents hid their children’s eyes from it. The stauros was a loathsome thing, and the one who dies on it was loathsome too, a vile criminal whose only use was to hang there as a putrid decaying warning to anyone else who might follow his example. That is how Jesus died.” (Greg Gilbert, as quoted in “The Gospel: God’s Self-Substitution for Sinners” in Don’t Call It a Comeback, by Kevin DeYoung – Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2011 – Page 72)

“At the cross, the love of God and the wrath of God shake hands; the mercy of God and the justice of God embrace; and the holiness of God and the sinfulness of humanity appear in stark contrast.” (William P. Farely, from his book – Outrageous Mercy)

 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” (Titus 2:11-12)

 “There is a history full of grace behind us, and a prophecy full of glory before us.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”  (C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity)

“The effect of the cross is…we are silenced by the severity of our sin and we are stunned by the glory of our God.” (Is. 52:13-53:12) (David Platt)

“The law discovers the disease. The gospel (the cross and resurrection) gives the remedy.” (Martin Luther)

 “…the gospel tells us that we’re far worse off than we ever imagined . . . and far more loved than we ever dared to dream.”  (Tim Keller)

“…but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:13 NASB)

“…He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12 NASB)

“…having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13b-14 NASB)

 “Every time we look at the cross, Christ seems to say to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.” (John R. W. Stott, from his commentary, The Message of Galatians (London, 1968), page 179.

“Either He bore all our sins, or none; and He either saves us once for all, or not at all.” (Charles Spurgeon)

 “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:9 ESV)

“Ransomed men need no longer pause in fear to enter the Holy of Holies. God wills that we should push on into His Presence and live our whole life there. This is to be known to us in conscious experience. It is more than a doctrine to be held, it is a life to be enjoyed every moment of every day.” (A. W. Tozer)

“I’m forgiven because You were forsaken, I’m accepted, You were condemned.

I am alive and well, Your spirit is within me, Because You died and rose again.

Amazing love, How can it be That You, my King, should die for me?

Amazing love, I know it’s true. It’s my joy to honor You, In all I do, I honor You.”

(From Amazing Love – by Chris Tomlin)

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV)

“Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.” (Martin Luther)

“Entrust the past to God’s mercy, the present to His love, and the future to His providence.” (St. Augustine, from Confessions)

Over the years, I’ve heard many popular objections to Christianity. Recently, I came across a brief article by Matt Smethurst on The Gospel Coalition’s website that answers four of the most common objections to Christianity, which I’ve shared below. Enjoy!

Don’t impose your exclusive views on me.
How can you believe in a God who’d allow so much senseless evil and suffering?
On what basis do you believe Jesus rose from the dead—besides blind faith, of course?
No religion has the whole truth—including yours.

Whether couched as questions or assertions, we’ve all encountered objections like these. Perhaps you’ve even voiced a few yourself. For some, of course, they’re smokescreens. For many others, though, they sincerely express confusion, frustration, uncertainty, and unbelief. As Christians, we seek to prompt unbelievers to “doubt their doubts,” as Tim Keller puts it, but we must do so with patient love (2 Tim. 2:24-26). Our friends—and their objections—deserve to be treated with fairness and respect.

In the spirit of those old “Choose Your Own Adventure” stories, James Anderson utilizes a creative approach in his new book, What’s Your Worldview?: An Interactive Approach to Life’s Big Questions (Crossway). In it, he leads readers on an “interactive journey of discovery” aimed at helping us identify, understand, and evaluate our various worldviews. At a little more than 100 pages, What’s Your Worldview? would make for a winsome, non-threatening conversation starter with that skeptical friend or family member you love.

I posed four popular objections to Anderson, professor of theology and philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, in light of his new book.

***********************************************************************************************

How can you say your perspective on truth is any more valid than anyone else’s? Truth is a personal and social construct, and it’s intolerant to impose your exclusive views on me.

Certainly everyone has their own perspective on the truth, but it doesn’t follow that all perspectives are equally valid or valuable. A neurosurgeon’s perspective on the gray stuff inside your head is different from mine, but which of us would you rather have performing brain surgery on you? If anyone’s perspective is just as valid as anyone else’s, it would make no sense for us to talk about “experts” or “specialists” in different fields.
 
The claim that “truth is a personal and social construct” is self-defeating, since it would mean the claim itself is merely a personal and social construct—in which case it doesn’t have to be universally true. It also appears to be an “exclusive view” since it excludes other views of truth.

As a Christian, I don’t seek to impose my views on other people, but I do try to explain the reasons why I hold those views, reasons I hope they’d also find persuasive. Knowing the truth is important to all of us, in all areas of life, and it would actually be quite selfish to keep our reasons to ourselves if they might help others in their pursuit of the truth.

In his Pulitzer Prize-winning play J.B., Archibald MacLeish nails it when his character Nickles declares: “If God is God, he is not good; if God is good, he is not God.” How can you believe in a God who would allow so much senseless evil and suffering in the world?

Nickles gets it exactly backwards. God is by nature good; if God isn’t good, he isn’t really God. Or to be more precise: if there’s no good God, there’s no God at all. I agree that there’s horrific evil and suffering in the world, which can strain our faith in God to the limits, but as a Christian I have to reject the assumption that it’s senseless. It may appear senseless to us, but we don’t have God’s comprehensive perspective on events. If there is an all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful God, then he must have good reasons for permitting the evil and suffering that exists—whether or not we ourselves can discern those reasons. The Bible gives us some insight into God’s reasons for permitting evil and suffering, even if it doesn’t answer all our questions.

In the end, the reality of evil and suffering actually reinforces my belief in God, for if there were no God there would be no ultimate basis for distinguishing between good and evil. How could anything be literally evil in a godless, purposeless, ultimately meaningless universe? If humans are just one of the many accidental products of mindless natural processes, why would our experiences have any special significance? The universe neither knows nor cares—but God does.

On what basis do you believe Jesus actually—physically—rose from the dead (besides blind faith, of course)?

I have faith that Jesus rose from the dead, but it isn’t a blind faith, because there’s good reason to believe he did. I believe Jesus rose from the dead primarily because of the eyewitness testimony of people who knew him and claimed to have spoken and eaten with him days after he was publicly executed—testimony that was written down and has been faithfully preserved over the centuries in the books and letters of the New Testament. These eyewitness accounts have what C. S. Lewis called “the ring of truth.” They come from multiple independent sources, and they’re too early and unembellished to be legends that developed decades after Jesus’ life.

God would certainly have the power to raise Jesus from the dead. And the resurrection wasn’t a random, freak event; it fits perfectly into a storyline that began thousands of years before Jesus’ birth. When I consider the broader historical context, I find the alternative explanations (e.g., the witnesses were lying, hallucinating, or simply mistaken) far less credible than the idea that Jesus really did rise from the dead, just as he himself predicted.

It’s narrow-minded and intolerant to claim Jesus is the only way to God. No religion has the whole truth—including yours.

If it’s narrow-minded and intolerant to claim that Jesus is the only way to God, then Jesus himself must have been narrow-minded and intolerant, because that’s exactly what he claimed about himself (see, for example, Matthew 11:27 and John 14:6). Jesus also claimed to be the Son of God from heaven and that only those who believe in him will have eternal life. Yet when we read the four Gospels, we don’t encounter a narrow-minded, intolerant, arrogant man. Rather, we see a wide-hearted, selfless, and humble man, full of grace and compassion toward others.

When you say, “No religion has the whole truth,” I have to ask: How do you know? How could you know? Have you thoroughly investigated every world religion? And wouldn’t you need some kind of access to the whole truth yourself in order to make the judgment that no religion has the whole truth? The more pertinent question isn’t whether any religion has the whole truth, but whether the central and defining claims of any particular religion are in fact true.

Christians don’t claim to possess the whole truth. Only God could make that claim! But we do believe God has revealed the most important truths through Jesus, and that Jesus has more credibility than anyone else in his claim to know—indeed, to be—the way to God. Is there anyone in history who has a more credible claim to know God? Is there anyone who showed greater insight into the human heart and our deepest spiritual needs? Don’t take my word for it. Study the Gospels for yourself and draw your own conclusions!

Matt Smethurst serves as associate editor for The Gospel Coalition and lives in Louisville, Kentucky. You can follow him on Twitter.

As my wife and I wrap up a month-long trip throughout the Middle East and South Asia, I wanted to share a few thoughts that have been on my heart for some time … and have only been deepened on this trip meeting Christ-followers from all types of backgrounds, denominations, churches and cultures.

One of my deepest passions is to see the larger body of Christ expressing and demonstrating genuine love, support and encouragement for one another.

One of the ways this is demonstrated is by local churches genuinely loving, respecting and encouraging other churches throughout their community. Including churches that may not be in their particular “tribe” (or denomination / affiliation).

Recently I came across a great blog post by Thabiti Anyabwile on The Gospel Coalition website. Here are a few excellent excerpts from his post.

I’m continuing to read Anne Ortlund’s Up with Worship. It’s been a surprisingly convicting book. Ortlund “writes tight.” She squeezes a great deal of insight and heart provocation in short space. I’ve been pricked–helpfully pricked!–in nearly each of the chapters so far.

Take, for example, these words describing the Ortlund’s ministry over the decades:

Ray and I have ministered for more than thirty years in four pastorates. (Is it wrong for a wife to state it like that? I’ve had a subordinate role, but I’ve been there!) We’ve been in an old country church, a young suburban one, a downtown city one, and one that’s new, experimental, and “beachy.” We’ve been in mainline denominations and independent fellowships. We’ve worked with budgets of thirty thousand to millions of dollars, and with congregations ranging in size from one hundred to thirty-four hundred members. We’ve pastored formal and informal churches, traditional and untraditional. We’ve loved them all. 

During the last twenty years, God has also commissioned us to an umbrella ministry of conferences to churches, pastors, missionaries, and denominations all over the world. Under the auspices of Renewal Ministries, we’ve spoken to several of the largest Southern Baptist churches in the world; to Episcopal churches with chants and incense; to Mennonite groups in their bonnets and plain clothes; to Free Methodists and United Methodists and “G.A.R.B.s” and Presbyterians; to charismatic churches and anti-charismatic. Ray has preached in lace beside an enormous crucifix in Lutheran Germany; he’s shed his wolf-skin long enough to preach beside a potbellied stove to seven hundred Eskimos. He’s served shorter pastorates in Kabul, Afghanistan, and suburban London. 

I was reading along enjoying the tour, imagining lace in Germany and Eskimos in wolf-skin. I was recalling my friendships across denominational lines and theological lines. I was reminiscing about the churches I’ve had the privilege of being a member of and the churches I’ve had the privilege of serving. Then she concluded the section with this:

We’ve loved them all and wished they loved each other! 

Yes; I’ve loved all the churches I’ve known and the friends I have in other “camps.” But the second part–”and wished they loved each other!”–struck me like lightning. It wasn’t her main point, but it pointed mainly at my heart.

I’ve loved every church I’ve ever had the privilege of being a part of. But I can’t say I’ve wished they loved each other. Oh, I’ve wished churches could get along, stop fighting, speak kindly of one another, assume the best, engage their differences respectfully or even stay in their corners if they couldn’t find a better way of coexisting. But my ambitions and desires have fallen woefully short of longing that all God’s churches might love one another. I certainly haven’t thought of that as part of my worship of God. Ortlund exposed a gaping cataract in my heart.

Then I heard the Savior say: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). Seems this “one another” might be thought of on both the individual and the corporate levels.

Do you long for the Lord’s churches to love one another?

“What! At peace with the Father, and at war with His Children? It cannot be.” (John Flavel)

Encouragement for the Discouraged

“The storms of life no more indicate the absence of God than clouds indicate the absence of the sun.”  (John Blanchard)

“God is our portion, Christ our companion, the Spirit our Comforter, Earth our lodge, and Heaven is our home.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“The church is a school for sinners, not a museum for saints.”  (Anthony Thiselton)

“God’s design in our pain enables us to look back and say: He loves me enough to take me where I would have never wanted to go in order to produce in me what I never could have achieved on my own.” (Paul David Tripp)

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” (C. S. Lewis)

Spiritual Depth

“You can be as straight as a gun barrel theologically—and be as empty as one spiritually.”  (A.W. Tozer)

“Every command in holy writ is only a covered promise.” (John Wesley)

“There can be no peace between you and Christ while there is peace between you and sin.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“Love is not maximum emotion. Love is maximum commitment.” (Sinclair Ferguson)

“Teach me to treat all that comes to me with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all.” (Elisabeth Elliot)

“No one expects to attain to the height of learning, or arts, or power, or wealth, or military glory, without vigorous resolution, strenuous diligence, and steady perseverance. Yet we expect to be Christians without labor, study, or inquiry.”  (William Wilberforce)

“The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray.” (George Muller)

Prayer

“It is a reading age, a preaching age, a working age, but it is not a praying age.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“Prayer and praise are the oars by which a man may row his boat into the deep waters of the knowledge of Christ.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

The Cross of Christ

“Your approval before God is woven into the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, not what other men and women think about you.” (Matt Chandler)

“The Son of God came to seek us where we are in order that he might bring us to be with him where he is.” (J.I. Packer)

“The essence of apostasy is changing sides from that of the crucified to that of the crucifier.” (John Stott)

“Look, the memory of your sins is no cause to beat yourself up and wallow in guilt. Instead, it should lead you to rejoice in the redemption you have in Jesus. […] And in remembering these sins, you hold fast to Jesus. This remembrance does not encourage you to shrink back from God but to draw near, seeking him because of the hope of the gospel. When you remember your sins, you learn humility, love Jesus, and make much of the gospel.” (Joe Thorn – from Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself)

Caring for the Lost

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and un-prayed for.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

Trusting God

“When we reach the outer limit of what Scripture says, it is time to stop arguing and start worshipping.”  (J.I. Packer)

“Don’t believe everything you think. You cannot be trusted to tell yourself the truth. Stay in The Word.” (Jerry Bridges)

Christian Living

“We need to be reminded more than we need to be instructed.” (G.K. Chesterton)

“Our sense of humor is a gift from God which should be controlled as well as cultivated.” (Oswald Sanders)

“Christianity can be summed up in the two terms faith and love…receiving from above [faith] and giving out below [love].” (Martin Luther)

Sam Storms defines legalism: “the tendency to regard as divine law things that God has neither required nor forbidden in Scripture, and the corresponding inclination to look with suspicion on others for their failure or refusal to conform.”

“Not even in this world does sin pay its servants good wages.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“The safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” (C. S. Lewis)

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” (C. S. Lewis)

“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.” (C. S. Lewis)

“A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” (C. S. Lewis)

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” (C. S. Lewis)

“Whatever and whenever God blesses, Satan curses. What God creates, Satan counterfeits.” (Sam Storms)

“Kindness makes a person attractive. If you would win the world, melt it, do not hammer it.” (Alexander MacLaren)

“Man is indeed lost, but that does not mean that he is nothing. We must resist humanism, but to make a man a zero is not the right way to resist it … [The] Christian position is that man is made in the image of God and even though he is now a sinner, he can do things that are tremendous – he can influence history for this life and the life to come, for himself and for others…From the biblical viewpoint, man is lost, but great.” (Francis Schaeffer)

Leadership

“The passionate leader is driven by the knowledge that the right beliefs, aimed at the right opportunity, can lead to earth-shaking changes.” (Dr. Al Mohler)

John Wesley’s Rule: “Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all times you can, to all the people you can, As long as ever you can.”

To Encourage

“Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.” (Martin Luther) 

“This darkness is very deep, but our God has gone deeper still. When you have been to Calvary, even Ravensbrook [Concentration Camp] looks small.” (Corrie Ten Boom, quoted in Peter J. Kreeft, The Philosophy of Tolkien (San Francisco, 2005), page 186.) 

“True faith is man’s weakness leaning on God’s strength.” (D.L. Moody)

“There is a history full of grace behind us, and a prophecy full of glory before us.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”  (C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity)

“We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us.” (2 Corinthians 6:8 NLT)

“God’s sovereignty does not negate our responsibility to pray, but rather makes it possible for us to pray with confidence.”  (Jerry Bridges)

“Life is not measured by length but by depth. Birthdays tell us how long we have been on the road, not how far we have travelled.”  (Vance Havner)

One of my favorite prayers in the Bible: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12 ESV) (posted by Justin Taylor)

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart,…” (Jeremiah 15:16 ESV)

“On these pages you will find the living Christ, and you will see Him more fully and more clearly than if He stood before you, before your very eyes.”(Erasmus’ preface to his Greek New Testament, quoted in Earl D. Radmacher, editor, Can We Trust The Bible? (Wheaton, 1979), page 92.)

To Challenge

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” (C.S. Lewis)

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.” (C.S Lewis)

“Before the world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him. We will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts.” (C.T. Studd – Great Missionary Statesman to Africa who founded World Evangelization Crusade)

“Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” (C.T. Studd)

“Make my life a prayer to You 

I wanna do what you want me to 

No empty words and no white lies 

No token prayers no compromise 

I wanna tell the world out there 

You’re not some fable or fairy tale 

That I’ve made up inside my head 

You’re God the Son and You’ve risen from the dead”

(Keith Green – from his album No Compromise)

“There is no healing a man till the law has wounded him, no making him alive till the law has slain him.” (C.H. Spurgeon)

“Grace leads to rest, not complacency.” (Scotty Smith)

“The effect of the cross is…we are silenced by the severity of our sin and we are stunned by the glory of our God.” (Is. 52:13-53:12) (David Platt)

Evangelism & Discipleship

“I simply argue that the cross should be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church.  I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles but on a cross between two thieves; on the town’s garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan they had to write his title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek, . . . at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble.  Because that is where he died.  And that is what he died for.  And that is what he died about.  That is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen ought to be about.” (George MacLeod, quoted by Richard C. Halverson, Perspective, 6 January 1988 as quoted by Ray Ortlund Jr. on his blog) 

“Discipleship: When Jesus said to make disciples, the disciples understood that to mean that they should make out of others what Jesus has made out of them.” (Don Whitney – Professor at Southern Seminary, Louisville, KY)

“Jesus sends the church into the world to do his will, just as the Father sent the Son into the world to do his will. The church is sent in a similar way Jesus was sent, though with a different mission. Jesus was sent by the Father (incarnated) to save a people for himself, and with them all of creation (Lk. 19:10; Col. 1:20). Jesus sends the church into the world in like manner (cultural immersion, relational identification, divine purpose/agenda) to make disciples of all nations. Jesus fully incarnated, taking on flesh in order to rescue the world from sin, death and hell. Following his example and command we, obviously to a lesser degree, ‘incarnate,’ in order to make disciples as we make his excellencies known (Mt. 28:18-29; 1 Pet. 2:9).” (Ed Stetzer)

 The Holy Spirit

“Without the Spirit we can neither love God nor keep His commandments.” (Augustine)

“The church becomes irrelevant when it becomes purely a human creation. We are not all we were made to be when everything in our lives and churches can be explained apart from the work and presence of the Spirit of God.”  (Francis Chan)

“Trying to do the Lord’s work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.” (Corrie Ten Boom)

Selah!

Global Training Network – “Church Arise” from Paul Madson on Vimeo.

“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’.” (Matthew 9:37-38 ESV)

God continues to open many new doors for ministry around the world. Our 70+ staff are now involved in 50+ countries bringing quality biblical and theological training to indigenous pastors and leaders throughout the Majority World.

Above is our latest video that provides a brief overview of the ministry of Global Training Network. The song in the background is “While We Sing” by the Christian band Leeland (used with permission). The lyrics are…

Here are a few Scriptures / Thoughts / Quotes to encourage you and give you hope this week…

“We stand in the present but dwell on the past in order that we can be steadfast for the future.”  (Dale Ralph Davis)

“Small numbers make no difference to God. There is nothing small if God is in it.”  (D.L. Moody)

“Grace and truth are both necessary. Neither is sufficient. Christ’s heart is equally grieved by grace-suppression and truth-suppression, by grace-twisting and truth-twisting. ‘For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ’ (John 1:17).”  (from The Grace and Truth Paradox by Randy Alcorn)  

“An honest preacher’s prayer: Lord, by your Spirit, may your people hear a better sermon than the one I am about to preach.”  (Kevin DeYoung) 

“The truths that I know best I have learned on my knees. I never know a thing well, till it is burned into my heart by prayer.” (John Bunyan)

“…as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”  (2 Cor. 6:10 NASB) 

“What people need is to see and feel our indomitable joy in Jesus in themidst of suffering and sorrow. We commend our life in ministry by afflictions … it means that Christ is real to us, more precious than sleep, health, money, life… Wouldn’t you want a Christ that precious?”  (John Piper – from his final sermon as Pastor of Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN) 

“I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, You are my servant; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:9-10 NIV)

“It is easier to cry against one-thousand sins of others than to kill one of your own.” (John Flavel)

“…judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” (James 2:13 NIV) 

“Take away the cross of Christ, and the Bible is a dark book.” (J.C. Ryle) 

“I have but one passion – it is He, it is He alone.” (Count Zinzendorf) 

“Only once did God choose a completely sinless preacher.” (Alexander Whyte) 

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” (James 3:13 NIV) 

“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” (Martin Luther) 

“(1) Do you see what this means-all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running-and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.

(2) Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed-that exhilarating finish in and with God-he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.

(3) When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That willshoot adrenaline into your souls!”

(Hebrews 12:1-3 The Message) 

Selah 

As I watched the video, I was reminded of what Scripture says in James 4:13-15…

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” (NASB)

As the video montage scrolled through so many well-known people the world admired, I couldn’t help but think about those that didn’t make the“Nightly News” list who served Christ faithfully and used their life to influence others for the glory of God.

One of those individuals was a dear friend of mine, Dr. Roland Niednagel, who just went home to be with Jesus on Christmas Day.

Roland, and his wife Patricia, were one of the first couples to come on staff with GTN back when we were just getting started.

Roland served Christ faithfully and fully right up to the last year of his life. He had a deep impact upon me personally, as well as our entire organization. He will be deeply missed.

“The best use of one’s life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” (Oswald Sanders)

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”  (Jesus) (from Matthew 16:26 ESV)

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” (Jim Elliot)

“Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.”  (Anonymous) 

“I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all. But whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”  (Martin Luther)

As you enter 2013, may you remember the promise of God’s “steadfast love”…

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV)

P.S. Thank you to all of you who have so faithfully prayed for Lisa and I and the ministry of Global Training Network this past year. We are eternally grateful! Please continue to bring us and our staff before God’s throne in 2013. The longer I live, the more I realize how deeply I need the prayers of fellow believers in Christ! Thank you!  

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12 NIV) 

“All of us would be wiser if we would resolve never to put people down, except on our prayer lists.”  (D.A. Carson)

“It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

(1 Timothy 1:15 NASB)

Recently I sat at my desk listening to the song “It Is Well With My Soul” recorded live at the 2008 Together for the Gospel conference. Thousands of pastors gathered to learn from God’s Word and worship Him together (I have to say that there’s nothing quite like the experience of worshiping with thousands of pastors who are robustly praising God with all that is within them). When it came to the verse that says…

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

…I was overwhelmed with the deepest sense of gratitude for God’s grace and mercy.

Do you really believe (I mean really believe) that Christ paid it all – when He hung upon the cross in payment for your sins?

“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:9 ESV)

One of the keys to walking in greater holiness in the future is believing the truth that your sins have been forgiven and paid for – completely – through the atoning sacrifice of Christ’s death on the cross.

Eternal life doesn’t start when you die-it starts the moment Jesus saves you from your sin. Here are ten things that happen at salvation:

1. You are reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18-20).

2. You are forgiven for all of your sins (Col. 2:13).

3. You become a child of God (John 3:3, 7).

4. You are accepted by God (Eph. 1:6).

5. You are justified by Jesus Christ (Rom. 4:1-5:1).

6. You are brought close to God (Eph. 2:13).

7. You are delivered from the power of darkness (2 Cor. 4:3-4; Col. 1:13).

8. You join the people of God (1 Pet. 2:9).

9. You are granted access to God (Heb. 4:16; 10:10-20).

10. You receive an inheritance (Eph. 1:14; Col. 3:24; 1 Pet 1:4; Heb. 9:15).

 (This post is adapted from Pastor Bill Clem’s Re:Lit book, Disciple: Getting Your Identity from Jesus.) 

“And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.” (Colossians 2:13 NASB)

One of my all-time favorite hymns of the faith is Before the Throne of God Above. Let these words sink deep into the far recesses of your soul:

Before the throne of God above

I have a strong and perfect plea

A great high Priest whose Name is Love

Who ever lives and pleads for me

My name is graven on His hands

My name is written on His heart

I know that while in heaven He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart

No tongue can bid me thence depart

When Satan tempts me to despair

And tells me of the guilt within

Upward I look and see Him there

Who made an end to all my sin

Because the sinless Savior died

My sinful soul is counted free

For God the just is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me

To look on Him and pardon me

“Either He bore all our sins, or none; and He either saves us once for all, or not at all.” (Charles Spurgeon)

“At the cross, the love of God and the wrath of God shake hands; the mercy of God and the justice of God embrace; and the holiness of God and the sinfulness of humanity appear in stark contrast.” (William P. Farely, from his book – Outrageous Mercy)