What is the Gospel and how has it changed your life?

I was recently reading  an article in a journal about the number of college students who grew up in the church that were unable to answer the question, “What is the Gospel?”  The professor at this Christian university knew she might get a few different answers but expected to hear some similar themes but was surprised to hear some students answer this question with the simple “be nice to others.”  Now obviously Jesus did teach to be nice to others by stating love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39) but that is so far from the fullness of the Gospel and that knowledge alone would not be enough to bring salvation to the person.  So then I began to wonder how many of the parents of these students would be able to give a definition of the Gospel? 

At the beginning of the school year I spent a few weeks in our 9th and 10th grade Sunday school class unpacking the Gospel and was still a little surprised at how gun shy our students were to answer the question of what is the Gospel even after I had just given a definition.  Even right after I gave a definition (minutes after) the students were all still so gun shy to proclaim this gospel to a class of churched peers.  What is it about the Gospel that causes us to have a mental block to speak it out?  Why is our confidence in the Gospel so shaken?  Obviously there is a measure of spiritual warfare that tosses doubts our way but is there something more?

Now, if a person is unable to define the Gospel then how will that person live according to it?  Is there a sense of life change that needs to take place in order for the full understanding of the Gospel to take root?  Is there a sense that in our culture our students have not seen the life change in the adults around them to give them a sense of confidence that the Gospel is life changing and worth repeating or proclaiming?  If the Gospel has not made a change in my life then do I fully understand what the Gospel really is?  

This season of Christmas coming upon us is a celebration of the Gospel, the word, the begotten coming to take the form of a human to ultimately become our rescuer.  It is our sin that separates us from our God and it is our sin that causes us to need a rescuer.  The baby Jesus which is the Christ, the messiah, has come to bring salvation to those who believe.  He will experience birth, life, ministry, death and the resurrection.  All those who trust in him alone will receive life that is eternal and will get to be with Jesus forever.  This message of redemption and rescue should be life changing as we spend the rest of our lives doing our best to work out our salvation.  Once we see our sinful state and see the need for a savior and then receive this gift of salvation (Romans 6:23  ) our lives should be different after.  Are our lives any different?  Have we truly embraced the freedom that comes from salvation (Galatians 5:1).

I want to hear more about this from you so I have set up a blog for you to post how the Gospel has changed your life.  Let our students see it, hear it and learn how powerful (Romans 1:16) the Gospel really is so they will have the confidence to proclaim it and live it out.  How has the Gospel changed your life?

Other great links related to the Gospel
Awesome presentation of the GOSPEL

Incredible ministry training teens to share their faith

Founder of the Dare 2 Share organization

Distractions

A book that I am reading has this quote from Hans Hofmann, an artisan born in Bavaria, "If you want the necessary to stand out, you have to get rid of the unnecessary." This quote is shared in the shadow of a story about King Hezekiah and his actions of taking down all that distracted the Israelites from true worship of God the father (2 Kings 18 and following). Then I pondered the many things that are obvious in distracting me from growth and worship.

One fear that I have is that I spend so much time dealing with the large and obvious distractions that I have let creep in the subtle to ruin my growth.

Another fear is that what I have let creep in I rationalize as necessary to worship and growth.

then I am left with a week and stunted spiritual life without the stamina to withstand the struggles that are coming my way. How can I expect myself to grow if I am distracted? How can I remove the distractions if I cannot recognize them or identify them as distractions?

What is the first thing that King Hezekiah does when presented with potential war with the Assyrians? 2 Kings 19:1 "When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord."

Now, of course all of my struggles pale in the light of this potential distraction. I am not anywhere near pondering war, death, battles, surrender, captivity, or the like. I am instead dealing with the subtlety of the unnecessary that ruins my personal growth.

He of course wins in God's great plan and timing.

so, how necessary is the unnecessary? What is unnecessary?

I can point out the obvious. Then the more time I spend with the Lord the eaiser it will be to remove the unobvious and unnecessary.

Drive Safe