Religion vs the Gospel

 

What is religion? What is grace?

Religion - You earn god's favor by good works, which classifies most world religions

Christianity (Grace) - This is what makes Christianity different, we are accpeted by God because of what Jesus did

Enjoy this collection of Religion vs the Gospel by Pastor Mark Driscoll

• Religion says, if I obey, God will love me. Gospel says, because God loves me, I can obey.

• Religion has good people & bad people. Gospel has only repentant and unrepentant people.

• Religion values a birth family. Gospel values a new birth. 

• Religion depends on what I do. Gospel depends on what Jesus has done. 

• Religion claims that sanctification justifies me. Gospel claims that justification enables sanctification. 

• Religion has the goal to get from God. Gospel has the goal to get God. 

• Religion sees hardships as punishment for sin. Gospel sees hardship as sanctified affliction. 

• Religion is about me. Gospel is about Jesus. 

• Religion believes appearing as a good person is the key. Gospel believes that being honest is the key. 

• Religion has an uncertainty of standing before God. Gospel has certainty based upon Jesus’ work. 

• Religion sees Jesus as the means. Gospel sees Jesus as the end. 

• Religion ends in pride or despair. Gospel ends in humble joy.

3 Reasons Why We Don't Sing Romance Songs to Jesus

I know many times I will turn on the radio and be enjoying a song which I believe is about a guy and girl in love. I am not afraid to admit that, however as the song ends, horror washes over my face as I hear the radio station announce itself as Christian. Christian worship songs can often get a little out of hand with the touch me, hold me tenderly Jesus lyrics. We want to view Jesus as he really is - a King and Lord. There is nothing OK about singing overly romanticized songs to Him.

Here are the 3 reasons why:


1)  Men will not stand for it:

    Men do not want to worship someone they could beat up. Most pictures of Jesus makes him out to be a cuddly cute sissy. Men are leaving the church and one factor could be church is rather feminine and they are saying things like "now don't you hit or wrestle." Men do not want to sing love songs to Jesus. Men do not want to hear about being tenderly held by the king of Kings. Shirts such as "Jesus is my boyfriend," just will not fly with us.

2) Theology Matters:

    Having a correct view of Jesus is imperative to how you live your life. If you read through the New Testament, the same thing is presented in the scriptures: Theology first, then call to action. Paul always will talk about your standing then what to do. If you think of Jesus as soft or your romantic lover, your walk with Jesus will be impacted negativity because you will be worshiping the wrong Jesus!

 3) We want to Worship Jesus:

      In 2 Corinthians 11:4 Paul says “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached...” Paul is saying is that people will try and present a different kind of Jesus to you. The best and most clear picture of Jesus is in Mark chapter 4 and then chapter 5. We see Jesus, in chapter 4, as a strong, authoritative leader who would not back down from a fight. In chapter 5, however, we see Jesus being tender, compassionate and loving toward a little girl and a sick women.

     Jesus is both the Lion - strong, and the Lamb - compassionate. We need both for our Christology - Jesus has to be seen as a warrior king and as a one who offers amnesty, who abdicates for us.

The Problem is Inside of You

It is pretty frustrating doing what you know is wrong or doing what you hate doing and not being able to stop. Getting mad at a spouse, cheating at work or school, or harboring jealous thoughts. Something inside of us tugs at us and tries to tell us to stop. Maybe you can join in the same lamenting as Paul does:

Romans 7:17-20 - As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Paul struggled with being a Christian and having these conflicting desires. One side wanting to do good and one side wanting to do what pleases self. This is the old devil and angel on your shoulder. Some people call this the conscience.

This same idea is played out in the famous short story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this story Dr. Jekyll, literally tries to separate the sinful side of himself from himself. Mr. Hyde is the "sinful" side of him, which he transforms into when he wants to blow off some steam and release his sinful desires. In the end Dr. Jekyll dies and learns that you cannot separate the two, he was flawed from the inside. 

But I was still cursed with my duality of purpose; and as the first edge of my penitence wore off, the lower side of me, so long indulged, so recently chained down, began to growl for license. Not that I dreamed of resuscitating Hyde (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by :Robert Louis Stevenson)

 Dr. Jekyll wrongly assumed you could separate the two sides, visit the sinful side for a short while and then transform back and have altruistic motives.

The sin problem is inside of you, and Jesus is the person who can deal with it. You cannot separate them but you can kill the one.

Romans 6:6-7 - For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.  

Jesus, lived and died in place for your sins because your sins are not just pricks against your conscience. They are actually crimes against God. Jesus died to pay the penalty on your behalf for those crimes. He offers himself and new life to anyone who comes to Him in faith.

The problem is inside of you and the solution is outside of you in Jesus.

Guilt or Gospel?

A Guilt Trip - You know it when someone does it to you. Sometimes its your boss, your roommate or your mom or dad who lay it on. You can hear it in their voice, you and feel it in your gut. Before you know it you hear yourself say, "Okay, Okay - I'll do it!"

Many churches and religions function on this same principle. They twist your arm, try to persuade your conscience, hammer you with guilt and shame - all with the hope of getting you to stop doing bad stuff and to behave how they want you to. “Don’t you know you shouldn’t do that?” “I can’t believe you would do such a thing.” “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Religious leaders are playing a great “wack-a-mole” game with your sins. But every time they wack one down - another pops up. The problem is the mallet that their using is guilt and shame - not the gospel.

If guilt is a mallet, the gospel is a stick of dynamite. What do I mean by gospel? The Gospel is the one word that describes the heart and soul of the entire Biblical story. It is one word that captures the heart of who God really is. It means simply: “good news.”

In the gospel Jesus shows up and says that He is not going to hold your wrongs against you. He wants to be restored with you. Because of His great dedication to you He has dealt a death blow to what was between you and Him - your sin & rebellion.

The bible says that Jesus nailed your record of wrongs to his bloody cross. The warrant for your arrest was sealed in his grave. He paid for your wrong - so you could go free. It cost him everything. It costs you nothing - just draw near, accept it & believe. No shaming, no guilt trip, no arm twisting, no yelling and screaming for you to behave yourself. You can’t earn it. You can’t buy it. He accepts you, cleanses you, and redeems you - when you simply come to him.

That’s the good news. That’s the gospel. It’s dynamite for your wack-a-mole games. When you come to Jesus and begin to understand how much He suffered on your behalf, and you see how He freely extends life and forgiveness to you - it will change the way your heart works. Not because of guilt - but because of the gospel. Then the moles will start dropping like flies.

Use Your Noggin' Series: Fallacies - Straw Man

Logical Fallacies

What is a logical fallacy?
It is a false or deceptive notion within a logical argument. It is an error in reasons while making an argument. It is not simply just being wrong about a statement, it is a statement where your premise does not provide sound logic or support for that conclusion. In other words, your statement that you make before you come to a conclusion is not grounded in logic.

Why learn them?
Because you want to be able to present and defend your faith and views with intelligence. The main goal ultimately being able to point people toward Jesus while gently helping clear some confusion about Jesus

Today we will be looking a fairly common and easy to spot logical fallacy. After this you can go impress your friends and look really smart when your sister is making fun of you.The logical fallacy is:

Straw Man

This logical fallacy is by far the most popular today. It is when a person makes a claim and then instead of attacking the claim it is ignored, misrepresented, distorted, or exaggerated. You will see many TV show pundits doing this or even comedians like Bill Mahr. This is because the claims that are made, when twisted or distorted can be very funny.

After a straw man fallacy is committed the original claim is often muddied in the mind of those listening. This is because when a claim is presented (claim A), the alternate claim or the straw man (claim B) is attacked and not the actual claim made (claim A).

Example:

Person A: I think we should have to raise certain taxes in order to help pay off new government spending

Person B: Why do you want to lead us into another depression?


Example 2:

Person A: I think the new fee for garbage removal is outrageous what do they expect me to do with my trash I have now? I just can’t eat my trash can I?


These types of fallacies cause a lot of headaches because it takes a good ear to hear for the twist or distorting of the original claim.

Identity in Christ

The Internet was ablaze last week with shocking news for anyone who follows zodiac signs closely. A Minneapolis astronomy instructor,Parke Kunkle, claimed that the earth's wobble had shifted the zodiac signs around. For those of you who do not know, Astrology is a belief that the sun's position relevant to certain defined constellations at the time of your birth date affect your personality.

Now I am not here to confirm or deny the claims of Astrology. The effects though could be felt in the quotes:

“Darn it, the whole time I thought I was an introvert, now to find out that I’m an extrovert. I’m going to need awhile to unravel my life.”

 “I’ve known myself to be a Sagittarius, I believe, since I was born. So to come up now with some new sign? It’s unacceptable!”

Some claim this may have just been a harmless joke by astronomers to pick on astrologist, but the effects still can teach us something. Peoples identities are inextricably tied into these signs. People will seek anything to identify or define themselves.

We at Life Church want to be defined as Christians, people who follow Jesus. If my identity is linked to that then I am where God wants me to be. If my job title is my identity, then I will be in despair if I do not get promoted. If my knowledge is my identity, I will be distraught when I am proven wrong. If my identity comes from a person or who I love, then my "life" ends when the relationship does.

 We love to label ourselves, it's how we feel valuable.

I want everyone to know Jesus and get identity from Him. At the end of the day rest easy and say "I'm in Christ and His child." I fight to believe that everyday and I always try to come back to the gospel. When the sun sets it does not matter my job title, my income, what I have done, or even how many people look up to me. I can rest easy knowing that I am accepted by God because of what Jesus did.