I Love It!

August 29, 2006

Lar,

So I have been a little MIA the last few days, been running around as you can imagine. But I was definitely excited to see your post today. I’ve never done a word study on the word, but I must say, I was by no means surprised by your findings! And I am so thankful that that is what you found!

With every passing day, the conviction grows stronger and stronger that our one great need as a church is the proclamation of Jesus Christ–His kingdom, His work, His gospel! Is it not true that we are languishing simply because we are so focused on peripheral issues? I believe so. We have to ask ourselves the question today–is Jesus Christ enough? Is proclaiming the crucified and risen and reigning Savior enough to strengthen the church and bring many to faith in His name? We have to be honest here, I’m not sure how many of us really believe it. I mean, if you think about it, can we honestly say that we are constantly bombarded with Jesus in the church today? Sadly, this is not the case.

To be frank, I think one of our underlying assumptions is that Jesus is not enough–probably b/c He is boring or will grow boring the more we search Him out. We surely won’t say it that way, but our actions speak louder than our words. We are desperate to see His glory as revealed throughout the whole of Scripture–that is, the glory of Jesus Christ–for He is what the Holy Spirit has written about through human agents. He is the One whom the Holy Spirit aims to exalt in the world to the glory of God the Father. Never can His infinite riches be exhausted. Forever and ever we will enjoy searching out His glory. O what a joy it is and forever will be! There is surely no greater happiness.

As far as ministry is concerned, I think it should be said simply that Jesus works. Preaching the crucified and risen and reigning Savior works. We lift Him up and He draws all people to Himself. We marginalize Him and then we have to come up with a thousand gimmicks to get people into our assemblies. Then we have to teach (yes, teach

But I’ll leave with one thing: we don’t proclaim Him and His gospel unashamedly and powerfully and apologetically b/c we don’t really know Him. He hasn’t captured the inner reaches of our hearts. It is the naked truth, but it is reality that if our aim in life is anything but knowing God through Christ and making Him known, we haven’t really tasted of His goodness. We need a revival brother. We need new eyes to see the risen and reigning Savior! Preach it for me. Don’t be shy. The church and the nations await with eager expectation.

Seeking first His kingdom with you,

Joe

Posted by Joe | Filed Under Random Musings 

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