The Gospel

From the "Daily Thoughts" email that Mack Tomlinson sends out...

The Gospel

Let us be clear regarding the gospel. The gospel is not a thing. The gospel is not an event. The gospel is not a promotion. The gospel is not a work of man. The gospel is not a system. The gospel is not a method. The gospel is a proclamation of the person of Jesus Christ. The apostles proclaimed Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected from the dead, and in like fashion, the church of the 21st century ought to do the same.

The gospel is to be proclaimed. The gospel does not need a gimmick. The gospel does not need the wisdom of man. The gospel does not need any help from people who come up with cutting edge ideas. The gospel does not need additions. The gospel does not need subtractions. The responsibility of the church is to rightly proclaim the glory of the person, Jesus Christ, who is the gospel. Men, women, boys and girls, are to respond to Jesus. The proclamation of the gospel is for the glory of God and not the glory of man. To mix the gospel with other things is to detract from the person of Jesus Christ and ultimately to lead men to idolatry and damnation in hell. The apostles proclaimed the person of the gospel without gimmicks.

-- Randall Easter

Baby on the Brain

And I quote...

Danielle: [talking to Johnny about her Sonic gift card]...But that's supposed to be for diapers...I mean, Dr. Peppers.

Technical issues...video coming...and thoughts

For days now, I've been trying to upload a particular video on this blog. It's a great video of Ella cooing, jabbering and wiggling...but it's ridiculously long--4 minutes--and I think our internet upstream speed is just too slow. It never stopped or timed out or anything, but each time I gave up after seeing the "uploading" message for 2 hours or more. Soooo I hope either to clip that video (only the first minute is really that entertaining anyway) or to get another one that's equally good but SHORTER.

For now, I wanted to share a few thoughts. Today I picked up the book My King by Frances Ridley Havergal. I guess you would call it a "devotional" book, for lack of a better word; it's written in 31 segments or "days." Here are just some pieces from the first "day" which I found encouraging:

"Before the world began, God, that cannot lie, gave the promise of eternal life to Him for us, and made with Him for us 'a covenant ordered in all things, and sure.' The leading provisions of that covenant were, a Lamb for our atonement, and a King for our government--a dying and a living Saviour. This God the Father did for us, and His own divine interest is strongly indicated in the typical words, 'God will provide Himself a Lamb,' and 'I have provided me a King.' So the Source of the Kingship of Christ is God Himself, in the eternal counsels of His love. It is one of the grand 'thoughts of God.'

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Why has God made Jesus King? Who would have guessed the right answer? 'Because the Lord loved His people.' So the very thought of the Kingship of Christ sprang from the everlasting love of God to His people. Bring that wonderful statement down to personal reality,--'His people,' that is, you and me. God made Jesus King over you, because He loved you, and that with nothing less than the love wherewith He loved Him. Which is the more wonderful--the love that devised such a gift, or the gift that was devised by such love! Oh, to realize the glorious value of it! May we, who by His grace know something of God's gift of His Son as our Saviour, learn day by day more of the magnificent preciousness of His gift of His Anointed One as our King!"