Created To Be Cruciform

I highly recommend to you to read Created To Be Cruciform on Chuck Colson's Breakpoint. It is probably one of the best articles I have come across lately that deals with explaining the gospel and how to live it out as well. I regularly scour the internet for articles and blog posts on the gospel and I can say that as I read this one it felt like a breath of fresh air to me. Below are a few excerpts from the article.

The Christian life is all about being shaped by the cross into the shape of the cross. At least that’s the way I’ve come to understand it, and I am beginning to teach others to do the same. For the last 10 years I’ve been working to develop a Christ-centered, Kingdom-oriented worldview and practice it in my everyday relationships, roles, and responsibilities. With the help of a few friends and mentors along the way, I’ve found that what I’m calling “the Cruciform Life” is a helpful way to frame the life of faith. As I get the opportunity to teach others these concepts, I am pleasantly surprised to learn that this cruciform pattern helps them, too. In the next few issues of the Worldview Church, I’ll pass this framework along to you. Perhaps the Spirit will be pleased to use it to encourage you in your walk with Christ and equip you with a discipleship tool that will help your local church “build itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:16). . .

The description of Jesus’ life in the gospels, and the prescription for the Christian life in the rest of the New Testament, have led me to believe that there are two major ways in which cross-shaped disciples progressively become like their Master, Jesus (Luke 6:40). . .

First, a cruciform disciple is shaped like Jesus, the Son, who lived in complete awareness of and dependence upon His relationship to the Father as His Beloved (Matthew 3:17, 17:5; Mark 1:11, 9:7; Ephesians 1:6; Colossians 1:13; 2 Peter 1:17). . .

Second, a cruciform disciple is shaped like Jesus, the Servant, who lived in complete awareness and practice of His role as bondservant to God, people, and all of creation (Mark 10:43-45). Jesus’ confidence and contentment in His relationship with the Father enabled Him to lay aside His rights, pick up the towel and basin, and take the form of a servant by emptying Himself for the sake of others (John 13:3-5; Philippians 2:5-11). As we fill up on the love of the Father as it is offered in the Good News about Jesus and poured out by the Spirit, we overflow with love back to God and out to others, our lives taking the form of a cross-shaped servant. . .

Then, as we pursue by faith a life of Spirit-empowered obedience to God’s Law, we will come to find all the ways we still fall short of the Law. By faith we will seek God, only to find that we don’t seek Him well or worthily, and we will return to the cross with this new insight into our remaining sin (Romans 7:22-25). By faith we will shepherd our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, only to find out how selfish we still are and again see clearly our need to embrace the Gospel. By faith we will be sowers in our Personal Mission Field, only to discover how little we love our unbelieving neighbors, and we’ll be driven back to the cross for fresh grace to love them like Jesus does. By faith we will steward the resources God has given us, only to be convicted afresh by how we use them for our sake, not His, and we will run like the wasteful, prodigal son back to our forgiving Father and ask to be clothed with Jesus again. . .

If you are blessed by this article I would encourage you to email a link of the article to your family and friends. Also, be sure to prayerfully read and reread the article again and again. Spend time meditating on what is says and thinking about how you can apply it to your life. Then take specific steps and actions to make it a reality in your own life.

Why Be A Missionary

Basic Definitions of the Gospel

Here are some more basic definitions of the gospel that I have come across on the internet. What do you think of them? What would you add, subtract or change?

C. J. Mahaney
“The gospel is the good news of God’s saving activity in the person and work of Christ. This includes his incarnation in which he took to himself full (yet sinless) human nature; his sinless life which fulfilled the perfect law of God; his substitutionary death which paid the penalty for man’s sin and satisfied the righteous wrath of God; his resurrection demonstrating God’s satisfaction with his sacrifice; and his glorification and ascension to the right hand of the Father where he now reigns and intercedes for the church.

Mark Lauterbach
The Gospel is fundamentally a message that God has undertaken to accomplish by himself alone what the combined sweat and labor of the entire race of mankind has been unable to do -- to rescue us from the evil within us and its consequences.

Scott Mackay
The great news of the Bible, the gospel, is that God's dynamic rule has broken into history through the coming of King Jesus; the King who "died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, was buried, was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" and appeared to the apostles whom he chose to be reliable witnesses of these things.

FYI
You can see an updated list of all the basic definitions I have posted so far here on Google Docs.

Gospel Quote - The Beauty of the Gospel

Joshua Grimm
"The beauty of the Gospel is that in the midst of our continuing brokenness and sinfulness, our gracious God comes to us in Jesus Christ and offers us the loveliest gift ever: Himself. The Gospel is not about what we do, but what God has done for us. Whatever your circumstances, whatever your sins, come and see the surpassing "beauty of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The beauty of the Gospel is that this beautiful Savior is ours: He provides us with the righteousness we don't have as He took our sins upon Himself on His Cross (II Cor. 5:21), and makes us new creatures in Him (II Cor. 5:17)".

You can view the gospel quotes I have posted so far here on Google Docs.

Best Gospel Posts of the Week

Below are the best posts I came across this past week, August 23-29, that deal with the gospel message.

• A Multifaceted Gospel - Christianity Today Blog
  
• Dude, Where's My Gospel? - Jared Wilson on SearchWarp
  
• God's Glory in Creation (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) - A-Team Blog
• Series on the Resurrection (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) - The Gospel Life
• The Gospel: The Message - Coram Deo
• The Heart of the Gospel - Desiring God Community Church
  
• The Importance of Christ's Obedience - Gospel Driven Blog
  
• Verses: The Word of the Cross - Jesus Shaped Spirituality
  

Best "Living the Gospel" Posts of the Week

Here are the best articles and blog posts on living out the gospel that I found during August 21-27.

• All Things for the Sake of the Gospel to God's Glory for Our Joy - Gospel Prism
  
• An Introduction to the Glory of God (part 5) - A-Team Blog
• Gospel Sanctification 2 - What Is It? - eTreasure
• Is This Your Life? - The Gate
  
• The Need for Galatians - Gospel Driven Blog
  
• What Does Keeping the Gospel Central in Your Daily Life Look Like? - Gospel Driven Blog
• What Makes Us Distinct - six steps + Victoria veritatis est caritas
• Wise Decision Making in a Wicked World (part 5) - Between the Times

What Worship Is

Alan Knox - Here I Am to Worship
"To me, the key seems to be recognizing that worship is not about activity - whether individual or corporate. Instead, worship is a life lived in obedience to God. We can sing about loving God forever, but if we are not demonstrating that love through our lives then we are not worshiping. We can give every penny, but if that giving is not in response to the love of God and the love of others, then our giving is worthless, not worship. We can listen to Bible sermons, preaching Bible sermons, or read the Bible on our own, but without a life that demonstrates dependence on God and obedience to Him, then we are not worshiping. We cannot worship God without obeying what he has revealed to us. We cannot obey on our own what God has revealed to us. We are completely dependent upon God (the grace that he provides through his Spirit) to be able to worship God. Worship is not as much about doing things for God (an audience of one?) as it is about being in God, abiding in Christ, walking in the Spirit."

from His blog The Assembling of the Church