The difference between religion and The Biblical Gospel

What is the Gospel? The word gospel simply means “good news.” The central message of the Bible is the gospel, or good news, about the person and work of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:1–4, Paul provides the most succinct summary of the gospel: the man Jesus is also God, or Christ, and died on a cross in our place, paying the penalty for our sins; three days later He rose to conquer sin and death and give the gift of salvation to all who believe in Him alone for eternal life.

The great reformer Martin Luther rightly said that, as sinners, we are prone to pursue a relationship with God in one of two ways. The first is religion/spirituality and the second is the gospel. The two are antithetical in every way. Religion says that if we obey God He will love us. The gospel says that it is because God has loved us through Jesus that we can obey.

Religion says that the world is filled with good people and bad people. The gospel says that the world is filled with bad people who are either repentant or unrepentant.

Religion says that you should trust in what you do as a good moral person. The gospel says that you should trust in the perfectly sinless life of Jesus because He alone is the only good and truly moral person who will ever live.

The goal of religion is to get from God such things as health, wealth, insight, power, and control. The goal of the gospel is not the gifts God gives, but rather God as the gift given to us by grace.

Religion is about what I have to do. The gospel is about what I get to do. Religion sees hardship in life as punishment from God. The gospel sees hardship in life as sanctifying affliction that reminds us of Jesus’ sufferings and is used by God in love to make us more like Jesus. Religion is about me. The gospel is about Jesus.

Religion leads to an uncertainty about my standing before God because I never know if I have done enough to please God. The gospel leads to a certainty about my standing before God because of the finished work of Jesus on my behalf on the cross.

Religion ends in either pride (because I think I am better than other people) or despair (because I continually fall short of God’s commands). The gospel ends in humble and confident joy because of the power of Jesus at work for me, in me, through me, and sometimes in spite of me.

*copied from off of Mars Hill Church website.

A few quotes

"Christian faith does not grant immunity from sadness and sickness, from bereavement and disappointment. At least not now! Those who suggest that it does mean the present enjoyment of health and wealth and peace and prosperity appeal to the general desire for wellbeing that marks our culture. But such a story is neither true to the Bible nor to human experience" -Alistair Begg

"The truth is that more spiritual progress is made through failure and tears than success and laughter" - AlistairBegg

"Ease and luxury, such as our affluence brings today, do not make for maturity; hardship and struggle however do" - J.I. Packer

Whatever happened to the gospel?

It's obvious to this church has no clue. How much further can this kind of nonsense can go on? Sadly I have a feeling that it's only going to get worse

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths" -2nd Timothy 4:3-4 NASB

Family vacation in Virginia Beach & D.C

Last week we took a little family vacation and went to Virginia. The weather was perfect and we stayed a block away from the beach. This was Ronnie's first time flying, he did a great job! We all had a great time... enjoy the pics.



Ronnie & me on a pier in Virginia Beach



Here we are at the White House



Ronnie playing on the lawn of the Capital



Marcy & me at the Washington Monument















Ronnie & me making a sand castle-it doesn't get any better than this!















Ronnie at the Lincoln Memorial















Ronnie at Virginia Beach, he really enjoyed himself.
He loved playing in the water and picking up sand!

Revival? I don't think so

I've been hearing about this guy for months now, his name is Todd Bentley and he's been leading the so called"revival" down in Lakeland Florida. Masses of people are traveling from around the world to come and be part of these meetings. Todd boasts not only of all sorts of healings that have taken place in his meetings but also of many people being raised from the dead. It's obvious from watching this guy that he has a fascination with Benny Hinn and pro wrestling. I suspect that there is some demonic activity going on here as well (you'll see what I'm talking about as you watch the clips) and it's blasphemous that this is touted as the work of the Holy Spirit. Hucksters like this dishing out this kind of crap are deceiving thousands of people by giving them a false hope and make Christianity look like a big joke to the watching world. As you watch these clips listen as the people laugh at this guy, how tragic! Sadly these people have no spiritual discernment and people like Todd Bentley prey on these kind of people. The end result is that these people don't get healed and may of them end up questioning God and blaming themselves for a lack of faith. It is obvious that the time has come when people no longer endure sound doctrine. Brace yourself as you watch these
clips...

Read Jeremiah 23 the next time you open your bible to see what the Lord has to say about false prophets.