Sharing the Gospel is as easy as 3-2-1

 "If I could sit with an unbeliever today and watch a gospel presentation, we would watch this." -- John Piper on the 321 Gospel presentation

As believers, we are all called to "Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15). Sharing the gospel is never easy, but this is a wonderful tool that makes the gospel very accessible and easy to understand. Hope you enjoy this and are able to use it to continue to advance the gospel and His Kingdom (Col. 1:5-6). 

Find out more about The Story of God, The World, and You at 321.



321 from Jeremy Poyner on Vimeo.

Ants Before Everest

"Even at our best we are ants at the foot of Mt. Everest pantomiming how big our God is. We are tiny specks on a roller coaster swinging through the galaxies, surrounded by millions of stars. We are children with tongues stuck in our cheeks scrawling with crayons. We are so small." -- Toby Sumpter, from his blog Glory Dust

It doesn't take long to figure out that this world isn't about me. I don't want to accept the fact, but my wanting doesn't make it any less true. Every bone in my body shouts "me, me, me." I want the glory. I want to be made much of. It's this pride that is the root of all sins, and root cause of all sins (Proverbs 8:13, Proverbs 16:18, Ezekiel 7:10, 1 John 2:16). We all secretly want to be God. But, this is foolishness because we know we aren't. In fact, we aren't even close. Step outside as the day gives way to night, and stare upon a sunset. Stand at the shoreline and feel the power of the ocean crashing against the sand. Look up and out at the stars that cancel out the night sky and begin to see who you really are. In those moments, I'm not so impressive. In those moments, God reminds me of how finite and small I am. I am thankful for these moments, because only at the end of me, will worship begin.

We are Small

"A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever." (Eccl. 1:4)

One of the most clear and harsh pictures of the stark reality of our utter smallness is in the book of Job. Job goes through unbelievable suffering and in the midst of heartache, he gives into temptation and begins to complain against God. Not only does God respond, but he takes several chapters to bring Job to a better understanding of who he really is: not God (Job 38-41). What is Job's response?

"Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.";
"I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know." (Job 40:4; 42:3) 

God is not like us

When the Bible portrays men coming face to face with the living God, the reaction isn't one we would expect or ever hear preached in our friendly God culture. We see from the life of Job, that coming face to face with God is something that is terrifying. Isaiah helps illustrate why being in the presence of God can be so terrifying: 

"In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!' And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" (Isaiah 6:1-5)

When Isaiah sees God face to face, he doesn't break into song or start giving hugs. He realizes how small he is, not just in size, but in nature. Isaiah sees God's perfection and begins to understand his sinfulness. God is not just bigger than us, he's in another ball park. The minute we begin to think that we are the same as God, is the minute we leave reality and stop living by truth.

Brought Near

We are small. God is not. If we think about these simple and basic truths it poses a significant problem. We can't get to God or have a relationship with Him because we are too small, too sinful, and too worldly (Psalm 14:2-3, Psalm 58:3, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:23). This is what makes the Gospel so amazing. God sees our smallness and our unworthiness and he sends the Son:

"Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the coventants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 1:12-13)

It's good for us to remember that we are nothing more than ants before Everest. But also remember, that God is bringing us to the top of the mountain, not because of our greatness, work effort, or own doing, but because Jesus carried our sinfulness up another mountain at Calvary and crucified it on the Cross. Hallelujah. What a Savior.

Music for the Soul: Joshua James

Joshua James

"The 25-year-old songwriter already has the wisdom to know that if you're going to serve up a blood-drenched biblical allegory, you best have an old soul's voice to sing it with. Every line rings with desperation and a desire for salvation" -- ESQUIRE

As a prelude to to his new release: 'From the Top of Willamette Mountain,' out November 6th, Noisetrade is offering his critically acclaimed album, 'Build Me This' for free. Check out one of the best albums from last year as a little foretaste of the upcoming album.

Get his critically acclaimed album 'Build Me This' for free on Noisetrade.

Here is his single from 'Build Me This' entitled Coal War. Enjoy.

Studying the Bible with Tim Keller

Tim Keller is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, New York and the author of several books including, The Reason for God: Belief in the Age of Skepticism, The Prodigal God, and Counterfeit Gods.

Here is a list of 5 questions that he asks as he reads the Bible daily that I found extremely helpful:

1. How can I praise Him?
2. How can I confess my sins on the basis of this text?
3. If this is really true, what wrong behavior, what harmful emotions or false attitudes result in me when I forget this? Every problem is because you have forgotten something. What problems are you facing?
4. What should I be aspiring to, on the basis of this text?
5. Why are you telling me this today? 

Also, here is a video from Tim Keller explaining what the Bible is basically about. Enjoy:

Music for the Soul: Young Oceans

Young Oceans

I have been hearing a lot lately about this band. Here's a little about Young Oceans from indie vision music:

"Young Oceans is a modern worship band from Brooklyn, New York. The band also leads worship at Trinity Grace Church in New York City, which is where the ideas for this album were incepted. They describe their music as a “neo-alternative worship project that evolved from hymns penned and arranged within the Trinity Grace Church community.” This self-titled album is full of songs that resemble classic hymns sung in churches everywhere."

You can get their album free at the bottom of their website.

Here is one of their singles "Come Holy One"

Faith & Sports: Brandon Marshall

To the churches of Corinth and Colossae, Paul writes that all of life is worship (1 Cor. 10:31, Col. 3:17). All of life would include sports, which luckily for me is one of the things I really enjoy. I love to see when athletes, by the grace of God, realize that their gifts in athletics are for the glory of God and ultimately for worshiping Him. On ESPN First Take this morning, Brandon Marshall, a wide receiver for the Chicago Bears, discusses his conversion, convictions, and faith:

The Tools of a Living God

I was having breakfast with a retired missionary from our church by the name of Dick Bailey and he was graciously teaching me about the joys, pains, and processes of international church planting. He was taking me through experiences he had  and knowledge he gained over his many years of ministering to the Muslim people. During our conversation, he mentioned 3 tools that God uses by the power of the Holy Spirit to bring people closer to Him by saving and/or sustaining. Those 3 tools were very helpful to me in my own personal evangelism and prayer life with nonbelievers and believers in general.



The 3 Tools

1.) The Word of God

"God's Word is the most powerful force in the universe. God created the universe through His Word (Gen. 1:3). He is recreating it through His Word (2 Cor. 4:6). And He sustains all things by His Word (Hebrews 1:3)" -- Jonathan Leeman in his book Reverberation

• "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• "Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:21, emphasis added mine)
• "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10-11)

2.) The works of God in the life of a believer

All throughout the Bible, God uses his people to spread His grace. Starting with God telling Moses to go to Pharaoh to let His people go (Exodus 3), to the prophets in the Old Testament, and into the new testament with the 12 disciples and of course Paul. He reconciles us to reconcile others and pours into our lives so we will pour out into others from a grace and love overflowing.

• "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)
• "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us." (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)
• "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10)

3.) Suffering and Adversity

Sorrow is given as gift to save and sustain men (Ecclesiastes 6:10-7:14). Suffering and adversity is designed by God to constantly reveal who we really are (Romans 5:1-5) and who we really worship (Exodus 9:14-17). In Christ, its always designed and allowed by a loving Creator to discipline us and loosen our grasp from the things of the world and cling to Jesus evermore (Hebrews 12:5-11).

• "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
•  "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4)

This is not an all inclusive list of the tools that God uses to bring people closer to Himself through his Son. Feel free to comment and share any tools that you've seen God use in your life or the lives of others to bring you closer to Him. 
                       

God's Glory & Our Joy -- From the Lives of C.S. Lewis & John Piper

John Piper's life and ministry is based on the idea of God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him. In his most recent sermon he goes into greater detail on what this means and explains how God wanting His own glory is not at odds with our joy. On the contrary, living for God's glory matches up with our deepest joy. So to try to sum that up: when God is most glorified in our lives is when we have the most joy in him alone. God looks the most glorious when we praise him out of joy just for who He is and not out of begrudging submission. God's glory and our joy crash together in a beautiful exchange expressed beautifully by C.S. Lewis in his Reflections on the Psalms:

"The most obvious fact about praise — whether of God or any thing — strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless . . . shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise — lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game — praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars. I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, minds, praised most, while the cranks, misfits and malcontents praised least.…

I had not noticed either that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: “Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?” The Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. My whole, more general, difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value.

I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not  merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is it’s appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed." (C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, pg. 93)

This page changed John Piper's life and ministry. If we listen close enough it might just change ours. Here's a link to the full sermon by Piper.

Thankfulness is next to Godliness

"Thankfulness is the joyful and humble response of a heart that has been transformed by grace. Does gratitude characterize your thoughts of God? Thankfulness is a good test of your faith. Its absence demonstrates that your faith is more lip service than experiential knowledge." -- Joe Thorn

I received this quote via text from my pastor at Christ Fellowship Church and it got me thinking about the connection between the pursuit of holiness and thankfulness.


Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.

It seems as we grow in our christian walk, the less and less thankful we become. This is what David was crying out during his repentance of adultery and murder in Psalm 51:12: "Restore to me the joy of your salvation." As the years were added to his life, he lost sight of the gospel that brought him so much joy at the point of his salvation. He lost sight of God's grace; lost sight of his thankfulness; and he lost sight of the pursuit of holiness. The same could be said of us. The glory of God shines in our heart and joy overflows. As we continue in our faith things don't move as quickly as we want them too. Holiness is a lot harder than we thought and we wonder why we are still struggling with a lot of the same habitual sins that we hate. The joy that once was so abundant in our christian lives is now desert dry.

As we grow in our walk with the Lord, we have a tendency to move on from the gospel and leave what makes us most thankful. The gospel encourages us in our pursuit of holiness by making us thankful. Why are we thankful? Because in our sin, we have rebelled against the perfect holiness of God. Now, because God is perfectly just, all we deserve is his wrath and punishment, but through Jesus life, death, and resurrection all we get is grace. It is impossible to look at what Jesus has done for us, and thankfulness not occur. It's also impossible to look at what Jesus has done for us, and not want to fight the sin that sent him to the cross. So thankfulness leads to fighting sin. Thankfulness leads to pursuing holiness. Thankfulness leads to an awakening of the gospel in our lives and the lives of others.This is not a thankfulness for only what God does, but also for who he is. We are a thankful people because we have Jesus. He is the gift, not just the giver.

Grace & Gratitude

The theologian John Stott gives us some insight into this when he states, "It is not by accident that in Greek one and the same noun (Charis) does duty for both 'grace' and 'gratitude.'' Grace and gratitude are inseparable from each other. You can't have one without the other. Grace should always bring gratitude and gratitude should always bring about holiness. As we become more and more thankful for Christ and what he's done, we want to look to, submit, and ultimately become more and more like him.  The proper response to God's grace to us shown in his Son is always going to be thankfulness and progressive sanctification. I'm not claiming perfection here. I am claiming a serious pursuit for the things of God (Romans 6, Colossians 3:1-17, Hebrews 12:1-2).

This is Paul's advice to the church at Ephesus on pursuing holiness in light of what Christ has done:

"And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among the saints. Let there be no filthiness no foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving." (Ephesians 5:2-4, emphasis added)

The remedy Paul gives the church for their sinfulness is thanksgiving. I love how he doesn't just leave them with questions of what to be thankful for. As Christians, we should have thanksgiving oozing out of us, because "Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." If we want to take holiness seriously, we need to take the grace given to us through Christ's perfect sacrifice seriously. May that grace always lead to a life of gratitude and may God always restore us to the joy of his salvation.

Music for the Soul: Page CXVI / Stephen Miller

Hymns
Hymns have always held a special place in my heart and nothing makes me worship the greatness of God more than an old hymn. A lot of bands are returning to hymnals and renewing the love of older music with a new generation. Here are two artists that have albums completely focused on the classical hymns: 

Page CXVI 

From their website:

"Page CXVI is a project started with the idea of making hymns accessible and known again. They are some of the richest, most meaningful, and moving pieces of music ever written."

You can get some of their music free here:

Stephen Miller

Stephen Miller is a pastor and musical artist who has been in the game for a long time. Here are some of his thoughts and prayers from his blog behind his new album released today entitled Hymns:

"I really pray that God uses it in his church and it is a contribution to all generations, especially the next. I really pray that non-hymn lovers would fall in love with these texts, and that hymn lovers would fall in love with them over again. And at the end of the day, I really pray that God receives all the glory for it because he has been gracious to have allowed such passionate men and women to write these songs and has preserved them for his name’s sake."

You can buy his album on Itunes today. 

Around the Globe

 "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nations shall worship before you" (Psalm 22:27)

Libya (Africa)

Libya is all over the news right now, as well as a big issue in the presidential race. Here is a website that gives a country profile to learn more about Libya and what is going on in North Africa.

"Libya, a mostly desert and oil-rich country on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea with an ancient history, has more recently been renowned for the 42-year rule of the mercurial Col Muammar Gaddafi."         -- BBC News




Prayer

i.) Libya's long isolation is ending - Sanctions have ended, foreign investment and trade are increasing and the government is becoming more moderate. Pray that these changes would open up opportunities for the gospel as it is shared sensitively. Pray also for Libya's future; its ruler will not live forever, and whoever succeeds him could shape the nation profoundly.
ii.) Large numbers of migrants pass into Libya - most of them are looking for economic opportunities and a significant portion are believers. Pray that they might have a powerful spiritual impact on Libyans and fellow migrants.
iii.) Libyan believers are increasing in numbers and faith - they still face many obstacles to fellowship, including fear of infiltrators. Libyans remain off-limits for evangelism, and approaches to them are risky for all involved. Pray for greater religious freedom so that more might hear the gospel and be able to follow Jesus openly.

All prayer information provided by the book Operation World by Jason Mandryk.

Blood Bought Beauty

From day one we are taught that our worth as humans is wrapped up in what we do. We say our first words and parents go crazy. We take our first steps and the video camera comes out and phone calls get made. We grow up and start doing chores in order to get rewarded with an allowance. We get good grades to get into a good college and we work to make money, have a family, and live out the America Dream. Our worth is inevitably tied into what we do and its killing us.

  

A New Definition of Worth

This isn't how it works in the consumer world. When we start thinking about the products we buy or what we give value to it works a lot different. Gold has fascinated and has captured humans like no other precious metal in the world. Gold is currently one of the most valuable and rare metals in the world and is priced accordingly at $1,761.10/oz. But, when we start thinking about how much gold is worth it doesn't make sense. Gold can't be used for any real practical uses, besides looking good and making others jealous. Why then all the value, worth, significance attributed to this otherwise worthless metal? Because worth is not determined by what something can do, but rather what someone is willing to pay to possess it. Gold is only valuable because people are willing to pay valuable prices for it.

A New Way of Thinking

So what can we do? We're all sinners (Romans 3:23) whose righteous deeds are infected and impure (Isaiah 64:6). If we're evaluating our worth by what we do, it doesn't take long to figure out we don't measure up. We fail over and over and over again. Day by day, the feeling of self worth decreases and shame continues to grow in us. What hope do we have at value and worth in this world? We have nothing but hope because worth, value, and beauty is not determined by some innate quality in a person, but by the length for which the owner would go to possess them.

"for you were bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:19)

"You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men." (1 Corinthians 7:23)

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us" (Ephesians 1:7-8)

"[Jesus Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.(Titus 2:14)

To redeem literally means to buy back or repurchase. We are ugly, worthless sinners who the God of all worth sent his Son to buy back for His glory and our joy. We are most valuable, not on anything we have done, but everything Jesus did. In His life, death, and resurrection He was achieving something that we could never achieve: worth. By his blood, we are made righteous (Romans 5:9). By his blood, God delights in us (Psalm 17:8). By his blood, we are His (Ephesians 1:3-14).

If only our generation knew they were bought with a price much more valuable than gold.

Music for the Soul: Monsters Calling Home

Monsters Calling Home

From their band page "We are Monsters Calling Home, a group of young Korean folk living in Los Angeles. Deeply into music and our maker, we hope to put on honest and heartfelt performances wherever we are asked. We dance thrice every night with bright eyes in a city of colour while arcades catch fire. We play loud and soft and sing about folks we know, we want to be, and we imagine in the dark."

Sounds good to me. Check out their new single Foxbeard and get their CD on Itunes.

The Global Study Bible

Francis Chan explains the vision and purpose behind the new global study bible from ESV:

"People all over the world want so badly to have and understand the Bible. The ESV Global Study Bible meets this desperate longing in a brilliant way."  

 

Find out more about the vision and need at http://globalstudybible.org/

Music for the Soul: Josh Garrels

Josh Garrels

Top Tracks: "Farther Along," "Anchor," "White Owl"  

Josh Garrels is an extremely gifted songwriter whose songs showcase real struggles, real sins, and a real grace that goes much deeper than anything you would hear on Contemporary Christian radio. You can get one of his albums free here. His latest album: Love & War & The Sea In-Between was voted album of the year by Christianity Today.

"Freak-folk singer-songwriter Josh Garrels spent more than a year crafting his seventh album, and he calls the process "the most rigorous mental and spiritual struggle I've known as an artist." Perhaps it was the extra fire that helped refine the project—Love & War & The Sea In-Between (Small Voice Records) 5 stars—to a brilliant, 18-song collection that grapples with and celebrates, well, love and war and all the gritty tension of a spirit forging its way through the shadowy intricacies of humanity."    -- Christianity Today

Here's a video of Josh Garrels performing his most popular song "Farther Along" live at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland, OR, July 30th 2010.