Who is Richard Dawkins? Dawkins is a professor at Oxford University and an outspoken atheist who considers most other atheists to be too soft. His arguments against religion and religious belief are something Christians should become familiar with in order to respond intelligently to those who hold similar views. Below are a few links to Dawkins related material.

• RichardDawkins.net - Dawkins’ website
• Richard Dawkins - Wikipedia.
• The Church of Nonbelievers - An article from Wired Magazine about Dawkins’ and others’ crusade against religion.
• BBC interview with Richard Dawkins (YouTube)
• The Root of All Evil? - Documentary originally aired on British television (Google Video)
• The God Delusion - Dawkins’ most recent book

[tags]atheism, religion, Christianity, faith, science[/tags]

Jesus saves sinners, not the righteous. Sometimes as Christians we don’t really believe that. We tend to be more like the Pharisee who attempted to impress God with his upstanding character and good works rather than the tax collector who could only hope in God’s mercy (see Luke 18:9-14).

Jollyblogger’s recent post “Giving Your Worst to Jesus” hits on this topic and David writes about experimenting with being honest with God about his own lack of godliness. I’ll let him tell you what he’s found.

Lately I have had the opportunity to do a little reflection and self-evaluation… during this time I have taken time to open up what is really in my heart to God, the good the bad and the ugly, but mostly the bad and the ugly.  There is something strangely freeing about that, to acknowledge the worst that is in me before God and to not get zapped is a great experience.  Most of the time, the me I try to present to God in prayer is me at my best, the spiritual guy, the guy who has it under control.  Which would explain the difficulties I have in prayer and other practices of devotion.  The me I try to present to Jesus is often an idealized version of what I hope to become, not the real me…It seems to me that if Jesus came to heal the sick, not the well, that He is far more attentive to those who can only give Him their worst, not their best.  And it also seems that if we come to Him honestly, with our worst, we might find Him to be closer than if we always tried to bring Him our best.

Amen and amen!!

[tags]spirituality, Christianity, Jesus Christ[/tags]

If I’m not mistaken, the Bible teaches that salvation is a gift from God to guilty sinners. It is given freely and fully to those who have faith in Jesus Christ. It is not the result of good works done by us.

Oddly enough many of those who are called to proclaim these wonderful truths often get it wrong. Too many preachers deliver a message that conveys the idea that we are saved through law keeping (good works). I’ve had enough of it! Give me the Gospel!!

Mark Lauterbach has been blogging about “The Measure of a Sermon” and his posts go into more detail on the issues I’ve mentioned. I encourage you to take a look at what he’s written so far.

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 1

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 2

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 3

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 4

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 5

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 6

The Measure of a Sermon: Part 7

The Measure of a Sermon: Disabusing Us of Self

[tags]Gospel, Law, preaching, sermons, salvation[/tags]

Often we think the Gospel is just for those who have not yet believed. Yet as you read the New Testament you find the Apostles consistently preaching the Gospel to those who have already embraced it through faith. As I began reading the epistle to the Romans again the other day I saw this so clearly in Paul’s introduction to the letter. Notice what he says in 1:15-17:

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Paul was eager to preach the Gospel to the recipients of the letter in Rome. Paul earlier described the recipients as those who are “loved by God and called to be saints”. In other words, Paul was eager to preach the Gospel to Christians!

You see, those of us who have already believed the Gospel need to hear it over and over again. We need the message of God’s forgiving and justifying grace through Christ just as much as those who haven’t yet believed. For more on this I highly recommend the latest edition of Modern Reformation. Be sure to read Jerry Bridges’ article “The Discomfort of the Justified Life”.

[tags]Gospel, justification, preaching, Modern Reformation[/tags]

Although the article Gospel-Driven Sanctification by Jerry Bridges appeared in Modern Reformation in 2003 I thought I would still link to it today. I’ve come across the article in the past, but had never read it until yesterday after a friend sent me a link to it. In this article Jerry Bridges seeks to show that the Gospel of God’s grace is just as crucial in sanctification as it is in justification. All too often we fall into a line of thinking and living that considers our performance to be the grounds of our continued acceptance with God after having come to Christ. From the introduction to the article:

Early in my Christian life I heard someone say, “The Bible was not given to increase your knowledge but to guide your conduct.” Later I came to realize that this statement was simplistic at best and erroneous at worst. The Bible is far more than a rulebook to follow. It is primarily the message of God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ, with everything in Scripture before the cross pointing to God’s redemptive work and everything after the cross–including our sanctification–flowing from that work.

Read the entire article here.

[tags]Law, Gospel, justification, sanctification, Modern Reformation[/tags]