Are You Normal?

“I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

“But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’ (Malachi 3:6-7 NLT)

Were they serious?! How could God’s people be so blind? Could they not see how far they had wandered from God?

The truth is that we are in the same boat as Israel in these verses and don't know it. We don’t realize how far we’ve drifted away from God. Could it be that what we think is “normal” Christianity is “normal” at all?

Vance Havner once said, “The church is so subnormal that if it ever got back to the New Testament normal it would seem to people to be abnormal.”

Let’s take a look at where we are.

The Normal Christian Life:

1.       Intimate fellowship with God. – Are you as close to God as you’ve ever been? Are you as close to God as you want to be? When our fellowship with God is broken it’s because of our choices.

2.       Joy in God’s presence. – Psalm 16:11 says, “In His presence there is fullness of joy.” Do you have a quiet time with God out of duty or pure joy. Are you aware of God’s presence? In church? When you get alone with Him? Do you long for His presence?

3.       Sense of Peace. – Are you worried all the time? Complaining? The normal Christian lives his/her life with an unexplainable peace. Does peace “rule your heart?”

4.       Holy Life. – The normal Christian life is a life of holiness, purity. Do you strive to be clean before God? Are you selective about what you listen to, watch, wear, say, how you act? Would you say that you’re becoming more and more like Jesus every day?

5.       Spirit-Filled Life. – A normal Christian is being filled with the Holy Spirit all day every day. Is the Holy Spirit having more and more control of you? Are you living in complete victory over sin?

6.       Recognizing God’s Voice. – Do you know when God is speaking to you? Give one example today when God spoke to you and you obeyed. Is your prayer life one-way?

7.       Fruit of the Spirit. – Is your life characterized by “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?”

8.       Experiencing God’s Power. - Would you say that the word “powerful” accurately describes your walk with God? Do impossible things happen when you pray? Do you live in constant defeat?

To put it simply, Revival is returning to God. But first we have to see that we have turned. When God begins to work in revival, His people begin to have a sense of their own need. God, by His grace, begins to shine the light on our hearts. We can’t detect our own sin without God’s grace at work in our lives.

So, do you find yourself drifting from the “normal” that God desires for your life? Or would you say, “I’m ok. I’m doing just fine.” (See Revelation 3:14-21.)

I’m waking up to the reality that I’m not really that “normal.” Are you?

List adapted from “Fresh Encounter” by Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King.

I Want More

I have a consuming passion in my life right now. It is a passion that God has placed there. I am desperate for revival. I’m not talking about another planned week of meetings with great music and preaching (cds available in the back). I’m not talking about church growth. With all my heart I want to see a heaven-sent, God-glorifying awakening sweep across this nation. This is not just a hope. It is a burden. A fire that will not be quenched. It is eating me alive!

When I share this tremendous burden with people I meet, I get the strangest reactions. I’ve found that this sort of talk elicits 3 different reactions:

1.       Blank stare (maybe with a slight head nod)

2.       “Amen!” (These people acknowledge that “the world’s in a mess” and that “revival” or at least something similar might help.)

3.       Those who actually get it. There is a remnant in which God has implanted a burden for His glory. These people live in a state of brokenness and even discontent because they aren’t living in revival. God is being deprived of the glory that He deserves, and therefore, they cannot be satisfied with the way things are.

Del Fehsenfeld, founder of Life Action Ministries (an awesome organization committed to being a catalyst for genuine revival) defined revival this way…

“Revival is when God bursts on the scene and displays His glory.”

Now, doesn’t that sound more enticing than just another tent meeting, concert, or church service?! Think of it! What if God really did “burst on the scene and display His glory”? What would that look like? Would it look like “church as usual”? I don’t think so.

Genuine revival and awakening cannot be planned, produced, or manipulated. It is a sovereign act of God. It is evidence of His mercy. It is God coming to visit His people and making His glory known.

Do we deserve it? Nope.

Do we need it? Yep.

Will God actually do it? We don’t have to wonder. He’s already promised us…

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (1 Chronicles 7:14)

Let’s believe God will do what He said He would do.
Let’s do what’s required of us.



I Repent

Verse 1
I repent I repent of my pursuit of America's dream
I repent I repent of living like I deserve anything
Of my house my fence my kids my wife
In our suburb where we're safe and white
I am wrong and of these things I repent

Verse 2
I repent I repent of parading my liberty
I repent I repent of paying for what I can get free
And for the way I believe that I am living right
By trading sins for others that are easier to hide
I am wrong and of these things I repent

Bridge
I repent of judging by a law that even I can't keep
Of wearing righteousness like a disguise
To see through the planks in my own eyes

Verse 3
I repent I repent of trading truth for false unity
I repent I repent of confusing peace and idolatry
By caring more of what they think
Than what I know of what we need
By domesticating You until You look just like me
I am wrong and of these things I repent

CCLI Song No. 4380584
© 2004 Derek Webb Music (Admin. by Music Services)
Derek Webb

Sunday School With O.J. Simpson

I remember so clearly the eyes of everyone in the house glued to the television screen. Seemingly every station had interrupted their normal news stories to air the live police chase taking place in L.A. The white Ford Bronco was being pursued closely by a convoy of police cars weaving in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed. What made this event so captivating was that the driver of the SUV was none other than football legend / screen actor O.J. Simpson! Who could forget the weeks of commentary on the trial, but that car chase just stuck in my mind.

This week the images of that white Bronco racing down the freeway came flooding back to me as I thought on a passage of scripture read to me by a friend. The passage is Hebrews 12:14.  

“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)

So what does “pursuing peace” look like? A car chase. When God reveals any bitterness, or unforgiveness in our hearts toward someone else, our response ought to be that of chasing down a fleeing criminal. In a high speed chase the cops are relentless. They won’t let a little change in direction hinder their pursuit. They will stop at nothing until the subject is apprehended.

If we want to see Jesus, then we must have pure hearts. If we want pure hearts, we must have consciences that are clear! Having a clear conscience means that there is no one alive that we have hurt or offended that we have not gone to and asked forgiveness and tried to mend the broken relationship. If there is anything between me and my brother, the Bible says my offering won’t be accepted or my prayers answered!

I recently have been earnestly pursuing peace with those who I have been out of fellowship with for one reason or another. I can honestly say, to my knowledge, there is no one I have wronged or offended that I haven’t gotten right with. We’re not responsible for the other person’s response, just our obedience.

Is there bitterness of any kind in your life? Chase it down, cuff it, and take it downtown!

Brokenness... Joy

“For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5

A part of the journey in following Jesus is discovering new mysteries in Him. Almost like “waking up” to a new reality in our walk with Him. This week, a verse that I’ve known by heart for as long as I can remember took on a new and precious meaning.

I’ve always assumed that the verse above (Psalm 30:5) was speaking of hardship in our lives. “When times are difficult, when we’re down and out, just hold on, ‘cause joy’s coming in the morning!” While it is true that our sorrow and troubles are fleeting, and we ought to wait on God for the joy that is to come, I think there’s more to this verse.

God is teaching me that brokenness and joy go hand in hand. They’re actually dependent on one another. I’m not sure we can have the real joy that is ours in Christ if we’re not broken.

I have had an increased awareness of my sin this week. It seems that God is just giving me grace to see my wretchedness in light of His glory. He has broken my heart over and over. Yet even in my brokenness, joy is bubbling over! When I am obedient to confess my sin and adjust my life accordingly, joy comes like a morning dawn breaking over the horizon. This week has been one big daybreak!

I have gone from brokenness to joy… from brokenness to joy… brokenness… joy… brokenness… joy!

This is the “normal” Christian life. Although all this is not really new to me, it is strangely… new. Why? Because I’m free. For so long I have not been able to see myself as I am. For too long I have been far too aware of others’ sin and not my own.

My experience over the last several days is what I call personal revival. I pray that God will revive His work in your life as well!  

Lord, let me be your match to set the world ablaze!  

Be A Cave Man

"There he came to a cave and lodged in it." 1 Kings 19:9 (ESV)

At this point in my life, God is teaching me one simple truth. I must be with Him. I'm hearing His call to come away and be with Him more and more lately. With all that we have going on in our fast-paced little worlds, it seems so hard just to be still. We throw around the scripture, "Be still and know that I am God," but when is the last time that really happened?

I have heard stories all my life of how godly men and women spent hours in prayer and study, seeking God's face. I used to always beat myself up about my devotional life... or lack thereof. I was so amazed at these seemingly super-disciplined saints.

How does one have such a devotional life? Discipline may have something to do with it. But I think it is more about desperation for me.

I am overwhelmed with this one realization... I need Jesus. I not only love Him and want to know Him as much as He can be known, but I see that I can't live without Him. I can't function. I can't be used of God if I haven't been at His feet. I can't be a godly husband or father if I'm not spending time alone with Him. I can't even act or think rightly if I've not been with Him. If I don't meet with Him consistently, I'm miserable! Nothing else satisfies my longing heart, and I'm okay with that. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I wish I had discovered this truth earlier in my life. I pray that this desire never lessens, that God's call would never be drowned out by the world.

I'm reading "In Light Of Eternity: The Life of Leonard Ravenhill." For my friends in ministry, here's a quote that sums it all up...

Ravenhill once said, "Lots of preachers burn out and then come to me saying, 'Brother Ravenhill, I really need a vacation.' I always tell them, 'No you don't - you need a cave.' They haven't been spending time alone with God consistently. Then they grow weak, spiritually lean, and drained because they are not replenishing and maintaining their spiritual life. But men won't get alone because we are afraid of loneliness. We can't take it. But if you don't know how to get alone with God, you won't know God deeper. There is no painless Pentecost. Many grab at the power that the saints knew in the Upper Room. But who wants the three years of trailing the Master? Then the ten days of tarrying in the Upper Room? There is a preparation, a price, and often true pain."  

Find your cave and meet with God.

No Way, José!

"And they said to me, 'The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.' As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven." Nehemiah 1:3-4 (ESV)

Following years of captivity in Babylon, the Jews were returning to their homeland from what was now Persia.

When Nehemiah, who was still living in Persia, asked concerning the Jews back in the Jerusalem he received some bad news. The walls were broken down and its gates destroyed by fire. Something happened in Nehemiah that very instant that would change his life and history.

When he heard that God's holy city lay in ruins, he couldn't live with it. He was overtaken by a holy discontentment.

Discontentment can be a really good thing. It's okay to be discontent when most people in the world have never heard the gospel, when we're not regularly seeing people saved and changed, when we're not growing spiritually, when we're not living in revival. Some things are worth being discontent about!

Nehemiah's discontentment led to:

          1. Prayer (1:4)

- What are you discontent about? Do you see an injustice that needs setting right? Do you see a need that no one else is supplying for? Chances are, God is discontent with it as well. How do we get a vision for what God desires? Through prayer. Ask him, "What do you want me to do?" and ask for the power and guidance to accomplish the task.

          2. Action (2:5)

- Nehemiah could have said, "Well that's too bad about my people back home. Maybe someone will do something about it." He might have even prayed like some of us, "Lord, please send someone to do it." Did he have a pity party or pass on responsibility to someone else? No. Instead he said, "No way, José!" He did something about it. He set out to build the wall. We cannot pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done" if we're not willing to do what it takes to see His Kingdom come and His will done.

          3. Sacrifice (1:11)

- Nehemiah was the King's cupbearer. He had all the fine food and wine he could ask for. More than likely he had a place in or near the palace! He had it made. But his discontentment led him to leave it all. Would we be so willing to leave the comfort of our palaces to go and build the kingdom of God?

At this point in my life, God is burning discontentment in my heart. I don't want to be satisfied with the way things are. I can't be satisfied when people all around me don't know Christ. I don't want to live my entire life and never see genuine revival. I don't want to waste my life not seeking His face!

Are you content with things the way they are? Then get on your knees and don't get up until you're broken.

Are you discontent? More than likely, God has placed this burden on your heart. You have received power to do God's work if the Holy Ghost has come upon you (Acts 1:8). Let's rise up and build!

Just Plain Mad

Do you ever get angry? Every once in awhile I get just plain MAD. No, I don't "show out" in Wal-Mart because the line is too long. And no, I don't fuss at waitresses because my food's not exactly right. But I do, however, get mad at people who do "show out" in Wal-Mart and fuss at waitresses. When I see injustice, a righteous indignation rises up in me. And it should.

You know the verse in the Bible that says you can be angry and not sin? Yeah, it's in there!  (Ephesians 4:26) Anger is not sin. The danger comes when you can't exercise self-control and anger turns into wrath.

When Jesus cleansed the temple of the money changers (John 2:12-22) I bet He looked angry to the onlookers. He even made a whip! (Oh yes, He did. Read it again.) He didn't sin though. His righteous anger was founded. His concern was the Father's glory. When people abused His Father's house, He just got plain mad.

Today, I found myself angry at the actions of a few "church folks" who seem to have a sense of entitlement. They want to have everything their way but refuse to do anything for the kingdom of God. They are content to consume and that's all. Know anyone like that? And if that's not enough, they have to be hateful to the other Christians who go out of their way to serve them and provide for them.

While I was steaming over the situation God whispered, "Do you get that angry over your own sin?" Of course, my answer was "no." We are so quick to point out the sins of others while our own iniquity is "not that big a deal." God help us.

When is the last time you were sick of your own sin? When we get fed up with our sin as much as we get fed up with others' sin, we'll have revival.

Undiscerned Spiritual Pride

These are not my words, but when I read this I knew I had to repost. The road to humility is a bumpy one we all must take in our journey in seeking His face. Hang on!



The first and worst cause of error that prevails in our day is spiritual pride. This is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christ. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit to darken the mind and mislead the judgment, and the main handle by which Satan takes hold of Christians to hinder a work of God. Until this disease is cured, medicines are applied in vain to heal all other diseases.

Pride is much more difficult to discern than any other corruption because, by nature, pride is a person having too high a thought of himself. Is it any surprise, then, that a person who has too high a thought of himself is unaware of it? He thinks the opinion he has of himself has just grounds and therefore is not too high. As a result, there is no other matter in which the heart is more deceitful and unsearchable. The very nature of it is to work self-confidence and drive away any suspicion of evil respecting itself.

Pride takes many forms and shapes and encompasses the heart like the layers of an onion- when you pull off one layer, there is another underneath. Therefore, we need to have the greatest watch imaginable over our hearts with respect to this matter and to cry most earnestly to the great searcher of hearts for His help. He who trusts his own heart is a fool.

Since spiritual pride in its own nature is secretive, it cannot be well discerned by immediate intuition of the thing itself. It is best identified by its fruits and effects, some of which I will mention together with the contrary fruits of Christian humility.

The spiritually proud person is full of light already and feels that he does not need instruction, so he is ready to despise the offer of it. On the other hand, the humble person is like a little child who easily receives instruction. He is cautious in his estimate of himself, sensitive as to how liable he is to go astray. If it is suggested to him that he does go astray, he is most ready to inquire into the matter.

Proud people tend to speak of other’s sins--the miserable delusion of hypocrites, the deadness of some saints with bitterness, or the opposition to holiness of many believers. Pure Christian humility, however, is silent about the sins of others or speaks of them with grief and pity. The spiritually proud person finds fault with other saints for their lack of progress in grace, while the humble Christian sees so much evil in his own heart, and is so concerned about it, that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts. He complains most of himself and his own spiritual coldness and readily hopes that most everybody has more love and thankfulness to God than he.

Spiritually proud people often speak of almost everything they see in others in the harshest, most severe language. They frequently say of an other’s opinion, conduct, or coldness that it is from the devil or from hell. Commonly, their criticism is directed against not only wicked men but also toward true children of God and those who are their superiors. The humble, however, even when they have extraordinary discoveries of God’s glory, are overwhelmed with their own vileness and sinfulness. Their exhortations to fellow Christians are given in a loving and humble manner, and they treat others with as much humility and gentleness as Christ, who is infinitely above them, treats them.

Spiritual pride often disposes persons to act different in external appearance, to assume a different way of speaking, countenance, or behavior. However, the humble Christian, though he will be firm in his duty--going the way of heaven alone even if all the world forsake him- yet he does not delight in being different for difference’s sake. He does not try to set himself up to be viewed and observed as one distinguished, but on the contrary, is disposed to become all things to all men, to yield to others, to conform to them, and to please them in all but sin.

Proud people take great notice of opposition and injuries, and are prone to speak often about them with an air of bitterness or contempt. Christian humility, on the other hand, disposes a person to be more like his blessed Lord, who when reviled did not open His mouth but committed Himself in silence to Him who judges righteously. For the humble Christian, the more clamorous and furious the world is against him, the more silent and still he will be, unless it is in his prayer closet, and there he will not be still.

Another pattern of spiritually proud people is to behave in ways that make them the focus of others. It is natural for a person under the influence of pride to take all the respect that is paid to him. If others show a disposition to submit to him and yield in deference to him, he is open to it and freely receives it. In fact, they come to expect such treatment and to form an ill opinion of those who do not give them what they feel they deserve.

One under the influence of spiritual pride is more apt to instruct others than to ask questions. Such a person naturally puts on the airs of a master. The eminently humble Christian thinks he needs help from everybody, whereas the spiritually proud person thinks everybody needs his help. Christian humility, under a sense of others’ misery, entreats and beseeches, but spiritual pride commands and warns with authority.

As spiritual pride disposes people to assume much to themselves, so it disposes to treat others with neglect. On the contrary, pure Christian humility disposes persons to honor all men. To enter into disputes about Christianity is sometimes unseasonable, yet we ought to be very careful that we do not refuse to discourse with carnal men because we count them unworthy to be regarded. Instead, we should condescend to carnal men as Christ has condescended to us--condescended to be present with us in our unteachableness and stupidity.

Adapted from “Some Thoughts concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New England” from The Works of Jonathan Edwards. Published by the Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Original Article found here.

Our Father...

"And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth." (Luke 11:1-2)

The disciples observed him slipping off alone to pray all the time. They saw firsthand when Jesus prayed, five loaves and two fish fed thousands! They must have thought, "I wish I could pray like that!" They asked him, "Teach us to pray."

Jesus then gave them a model to follow in prayer. "Our Father which art in heaven..." The prerequisite to prayer is relationship. Until we know God as our "Daddy" we can't pray as we ought. If we only knew the heart of our heavenly Father it would radically change the way we pray! And we don't really know his heart until we pray. Prayer is such a privilege. A peek into the depths of God's heart. We come to really know God through prayer. Oh, why don't we sit at his feet more often than we do? 

Two days ago, I received a message from a high school student. She had attended The Gate a couple of weeks ago and God really moved in her life. She told me she was amazed at how much God had changed her over the past couple of weeks and she ended her message with this sentence... 

"I never really realized who he was until he answered my prayers."  

I don't know the details of her story, but I know this girl experienced God in a deeper way than ever before in her life... through prayer. 

"Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God." - Andrew Murray

Nothing To Offer

Total desolation. That's what was left in the wake of a great locust plague that swept across the land in Joel's day. This vast army of insects literally stripped the land of all its fruitfulness. Joel describes it this way... "The seeds die in the parched ground and the grain crops fail. The barns stand empty, and granaries are abandoned! How the animals moan with hunger!" (Joel 1:17-18). The fields were bare. No grain. No grapes. No olive oil. The rug had just been pulled out from under the feet of the nation. Think of it. These were desperate times!

Amid Joel's lament, we read this unusual statement. "Dress yourselves in burlap and weep, you priests! Wail, you who serve before the altar! Come; spend the night in burlap, you ministers of God. For there is no grain or wine to offer at the Temple of your God" (1:13).

Grain and wine were more than just food and drink. Grain and wine were essential elements in Old Testament temple worship (Genesis 35:14; Exodus 29:38-46; Leviticus 2:1-16; 6:14-18; 7:9-10; 10:12-13; 23:13, 18, 37; Numbers 28:3-8; 6:1-21). The grain offering and the drink offering were acts of worship to the Lord. No grain or wine in the land meant no grain offerings or drink offerings. God was not receiving the worship He deserved. The means of their worship had literally been eaten up! Joel was calling the people to brokenness.

We are no different than those of Joel's day. Worship is not offered because there is nothing to offer! We gather every Sunday to "worship" together, but often times our very motivation to worship has been "eaten up" by everything else. The meaningless things of the world have choked out our love and adoration of our Savior. God is worthy of our deepest heartfelt worship that transcends a church service and bleeds over into our lives. I think we can all agree, in our lives or in our churches, God does not receive the worship He deserves. Does that break our hearts? It should. As ministers of God, we should weep over the absence of the glory of God in our churches. Where is the desperation for God in our worship?

There is hope for the barren field of your heart. God says, "Turn to Me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning... Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine to the Lord as before" (2:12, 14). God promises to restore what the locusts have eaten if we will turn to Him. He loves us so much! He wants our hearts. How could we not be desperate for our great God?

The King and I

There is a central theme that seems to permeate my life right now. It has invaded my prayer life, my study of Scripture, and consumes my thoughts. It is desperation. While reading the other day, I came across this passage in Isaiah 38. 

King Hezekiah got some bad news. God's prophet had just told him that he was going to die. "Get your affairs in order. Things aren't looking good, Hezekiah." This was the word of the Lord. It seemed it was a done deal. But Hezekiah didn't lie down and die. He got desperate. He prayed out of utter desperation for God to have mercy. The Bible says that God replied, "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears."

I believe that we don't see answers to prayer because we're not desperate. Furthermore, I believe we don't pray because we're not desperate. Someone has said, "Prayer that touches the heart of God is born out of desperation."

Just recently, I knelt at an altar with others crying out to God for healing for a very sick woman in our church. As I listened to the brokenness in the voices of those praying, the sniffles, and outright weeping, I thought of the prayer of Hezekiah. The Scripture says that he "wept bitterly." As I prayed I also was convicted. I was broken that God's house is only a house of prayer when our circumstances become desperate enough. The truth is, if we could really see our spiritual condition, we would be desperate more often than we are. Desperation doesn't depend on our physical circumstances as much as how we view our circumstances. I think we are often blind to how needy we really are.

It is so easy to "do" church, go about our lives and not see our desperate need for Jesus. Michael Catt, the pastor of Sherwood Baptist (the church that produced Facing the Giants and Fireproof) says, "I believe we won't seek God until we are desperate. If you aren't desperate, it's because you've got your head in the sand."

We talk about how our nation is in such moral decline, but are we really broken about it? We boast in our fellowship among the body of Christ, but are we broken over the lost all around us? We're not desperate. The fact that we're not desperate ought to make us desperate! Oh God, make me more desperate!

If we cry out to God, He will hear us. He will see our tears and He will answer us. God is so eager to answer the prayers of His desperate children. In his book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Jim Cymbala says, “God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need Him.”

Let's get desperate for revival. God wants it more than we do.

The Responsibility of the Gospel

God came down to us, lived a perfect life, died for us, rose from the dead, ascended to Heaven, and is coming again. That's the gospel. That's the good news, right? 

As followers of Jesus we have been commanded to share the good news with everyone, across the street and around the world. Everybody who takes Jesus' words in Matthew 28:18-20 to heart would agree that this is our mission as the Church. But what is the good news really? In our modern evangelistic methods, I think we've neglected a crucial element to the gospel. We've left out the bad news. Bad news is what makes the good news so good! Let me explain.

A few years ago, at the age of 24, I sat in a doctor's office with my wife and listened as the diagnosis was pronounced. "You have cancer." (I don't remember his exact words, but he got the point across anyway!) He then began to explain to us that it was treatable and explained to us the steps we would be taking toward healing.

But what if it had happened differently...

Let's just imagine my wife and I waiting for the doctor to come into the examination room. He enters holding a manila folder and greets us with a smile and a handshake. He sits down, opens the folder, and proceeds to give us an exhaustive overview of medical history. He then elaborates on the great advances in cancer research that have been made in recent years. He speaks very highly of several cancer specialists in the area and states that he would recommend them to any of his patients. The doctor then stands up, says, "Have a great day" and exits the room. My wife and I have a puzzled look on our face. "What was that all about?" we ask ourselves.

The doctor had left out one important fact. He neglected to inform the patient of the cancerous growth rapidly growing inside their body! Nothing the doctor said really mattered if the patient didn't know how sick he really was. Thank goodness the doctor told me the truth!

That may sound foolish, but isn't that what we've done with the gospel in America? In an effort to be seeker-friendly and sensitive we have neutered the good news to nothing more than a self-improvement program.

The truth is that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). That means that because of our very nature and willful rebellion against God and His law, we are alienated... separated from God without any hope of being reconciled with Him in and of ourselves. Because of our love of sin and hatred of God we deserve hell. There is nothing in us that would seek to change that. Our hearts are hard. We have an irreversible disease that has clouded our judgment and threatens to destroy us. That's very bad news.

The good news is that a Savior, Jesus, sought us out to save us. He loves us. He didn't just tell us how He feels about us. He demonstrated it. He died for us even before we would think to give Him the time of day (Romans 5:8). He took the punishment that we deserved so that we could be found guiltless before the throne of God. He defeated sin - the sin that makes us a slave to it. He defeated death - the death that seeks to swallow us up. He rescued us.

Nobody like to be the bearer of bad news, but it is essential to a right understanding of the gospel. We carry that responsibility.