Missional-Life

In recent posts I’ve written about Nene Family Church becoming a gateway to the nations and God’s passion for his own rainbow-like, multi-coloured family, made up of people from every nation, tribe and tongue. Today I read the following excellent quotation from D.A. Carson…

What we need, then, are world Christians—not simply American Christians or British Christians. By “world Christians”, I am referring to Christians, genuine believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the following things are true:

• Their allegiance to Jesus Christ and his kingdom is self-consciously set above all national, cultural, linguistic, and racial allegiances.
• Their commitment to the church, Jesus’ messianic community, is to the church everywhere, wherever the church is truly manifest, and not only to its manifestation on home turf.
• They see themselves first and foremost as citizens of the heavenly kingdom and therefore consider all others citizenships as secondary matter.
• As a result, they are single-minded and sacrificial when it comes to the paramount mandate to evangelize and make disciples.

The church, of course, is the only institution with eternal significance. If anyone ought to transcend the limitations of merely temporal allegiances, then those who constitute the church should.

The Cross and Christian Ministry(Pg. 116-117)

⁸ Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! ⁹ For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, ^wlike men sentenced to death, because we ^xhave become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. ^{10 y}We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ^zyou are wise in Christ. ^aWe are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. ¹¹ To the present hour ^bwe hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and ^cbuffeted and ^dhomeless, ¹² and we ^elabor, working with our own hands. ^fWhen reviled, we bless; ^gwhen persecuted, we endure; ¹³ when slandered, we entreat. ^hWe have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, ⁱthe refuse of all things.(1 Cor 4:8-13, ESV)

“… part of the reason why Paul’s stance (see above) seems alien to many of us is that we have unwittingly become more like Corinthian Christians than like like Pauline (that is, biblical!) Christians. Many of us are well-to-do and comfortable, with little incentive to live in vibrant anticipation of Christ’s return. Our desire for the approval of the world often outstrips our desire for Jesus’ “Well done!” on the last day. The proper place to begin to change this deep betrayal of the gospel is at the cross–in repentance, contrition, and renewed passion not only to make the gospel of the crucified Messiah central in all our preaching and teaching, but in our lives and the lives of our leaders as well.” (D.A. Carson, The Cross and Christian Ministry, p. 108)

THE DIFFICULT DOCTRINE OF THE LOVE OF GOD

With only 103 pages this book at first glance looks lightweight. Do not be deceived! This book deals with some mammoth theological challenges!

D. A Carson opens the book by saying…

“On learning the title of this series, ‘the difficult doctrine of the love of God’, you might well be forgiven for thinking that the 1998 W. H. Griffith Thomas lecturer has taken leave of his senses. If he had chosen to speak on ‘The difficult doctrine of the Trinity, or ‘The difficult doctrine of predestination’, at least hi title would have been coherent. But isn’t the doctrine of the love of God, well, easy compared with such high-flown and mysterious teachings?”(p9)

Carson goes on and shows how the love of God is at the very centre of some monumental and humungous theological challenges. He also demonstrates so clearly that to have a deficient theological framework for understanding the love of God will inevitably lead to a domino effect of distortion on other massive theological issues such as the sovereignty of God and a right understanding of the wrath of God.

There are four chapters in the book:

1. On distorting the love of God
2. God is love
3. God’s love and God’s sovereignty
4. God’s love and God’s wrath

This book is short but every page is a sirloin steak of theological brilliance!

Please visit my amazon site to purchase a copy… buy now