Tag Archives: Gospel

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The Art of Persuasion (Video)

How do we share the gospel with people who are not willing to hear it? What does it look like to be creative and imaginative in how we engage our secular and skeptical culture? One of my favorite authors Os Guinness shares about the art of persuasion in this video.

The Apostle Paul on our “rules of engagement”:

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.” – 2 Timothy 2:24-26

If you found this post helpful, you would enjoy How To Break Free From Skepticism With One Simple Question

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The Good News Remembered By An Eyewitness

Read the powerful 1st century words of one who was there…

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

—The Gospel of John 1:1-14

Merry Christmas from Think Christianly!

*Have you signed up for the Think Christianly Podcast? You won’t want to miss our next podcast of a conversation I had with a leading NT scholar addressing the challenge of Bible contradictions.

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The True Story of Christmas

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place whilea]”> Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:1-14)

Merry Christmas!

Think Christianly with Jonathan Morrow
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A Theological Conversation Worth Having: A Response to Brian McLaren by Al Mohler

“We are talking about two rival understandings of the Gospel here — two very different understandings of theology, Gospel, Bible, doctrine, and the totality of the Christian faith. Both sides in this controversy understand what is at stake.”

Read the rest of Dr. Mohler’s response to Brian McLaren



Theology matters. Be bold. Think Christianly…
“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” – Jude 3

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More Thoughts On Preaching the Simple Gospel

Is apologetics, philosophy, and worldview training really necessary? After all, shouldn’t we just preach the simple gospel and leave all that “intellectual stuff” to the academics? Nancy Pearcey offers good insight here that I agree with:

“The ultimate goal is to preach the gospel. But the gospel is not simple to those whose background prevents them from understanding it. Today’s global secular culture has erected a maze of mental barriers against even considering the biblical message” (Saving Leonardo, 15).

Recently I spoke at our church on Is Jesus the Only Way to God? There are few statements that are more politically incorrect than that one. But Jesus did not shy away from making culturally unpopular statements, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Among other things, Christianity teaches the exclusivity and uniqueness of Jesus (cf. Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5).

But according to a Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life study (2009) based on interviews with 35,000 adults and out of a sample size of 9472 Evangelicals, a startling 57% of Evangelical adults agreed with the statement “many religions can lead to eternal life.” That is not good soil for the Gospel to take root in!

There are many observations to make here, but I want to highlight just one. When Christians say that Jesus is the only way to God, what our culture hears is “We think Butterfinger is the best candy bar and consumers of all other candy bars are going to hell.” And that would be a ridiculous claim. Many think Christians are imposing our particular religious preferences on others.

But that is not why Jesus is the only way to God. As my friend Brett Kunkle has pointed out, Jesus offers both the diagnosis and the cure. Jesus is the only way because he is the only medicine that can cure the spiritual disease that is killing us…sin (John 8:24). That is the claim and it’s either true or false.

The simple Gospel is getting lost in translation because of the background beliefs people have today about faith, God, religion, and morality—these are no longer considered objects of knowledge in our culture. Now more than ever, we must help people see that faith is reasonable, Christianity is a knowledge tradition, and that belief in God is not religious wishful thinking (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Christianity can be investigated with eyes wide open (Luke 1:1-4). So boldly proclaim the simple Gospel but also do the hard work necessary so that others can understand what Jesus is actually claiming.