What is the Gospel

Go around your church and ask this question: "Could you explain the Gospel to me?" You will be definitely be surprised by the diversity in the answers you get. Try explaining the gospel to your friends and see!

I for one had no idea where to start when a friend of mine asked me that question. I didn't really know what to talk about. Do I tell them about church? I think sin comes into the picture somewhere... Do I bring up hell and judgement? What do I say about the Holy Spirit? Most of the time, I just keep quiet and say nothing. "It's been raining quite heavily these few days, hasn't it?" I politely shift the topic.

It wasn't till much later when I picked up this pamphlet at a conference when I realised that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was so much more simpler than I thought it was!

Click here to check out what I learnt. Personally, this has changed the way I understood Christianity as well as the way I approach non-Christians. I now know what my trust is built on, and I can confidently say that I'm not ashamed of it!

Why Hell is Integral to the Gospel

The mention of the word 'hell' is enough to earn you a barrage of nasty comments when discussing Christianity with your friends. "It's harsh, it shows that God is unloving, a kind and gracious God cannot possibly do such a thing, this is the church's way of keeping people under their control." These would be common ideas which pop up when you mention hell. We are so ashamed of it that some people in church even deny its existence.

Despite all that, the hell in the Bible is very different from what most people understand it to be! To read further regarding this topic, go here.

The role of doctrine in a Christian's life

1. Doctrine isn't an end to itself.
You don't get saved because you know your doctrine well. You also don't study doctrine for the sake of pursuing more knowledge.
Doctrine, instead, helps us understand, love, and obey Jesus.

2. A real saving relationship with Christ involves doctrine.
A person in a real relationship with Jesus comes to him and LISTENS to him. It is pretty much impossible to separate doctrinal truth and relational passion. Having amassed a huge store of doctrine, but not having a change in heart is faith without works - dead. On the other hand, you can't tell Jesus: "I'll sit real close to you so I can feel your love. Whoa, don't say anything! Just shhh! I just wanna feel your presence."

3. Knowing right doctrine isn't enough; we need to put them into practice.
If your life doesn't match up to the doctrine you hold, then you're like the fool who built his house on the sand - your life is built on doctrine which you don't believe in, which will collapse when the reality of life hits you.

*Doctrine (Latin: doctrina) is a codification of beliefs or "a body of teachings" or "instructions", taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system (Wikipedia, 2010).

For a more detailed look at the role of doctrine in a Christian's life, click here.

Who shall tell them?

The word evangelism comes from the Koine Greek word εὐαγγέλιον (transliterated as "evangelion"). The Greek word εὐαγγέλιον originally meant a reward for good news given to the messenger (εὔ = "good", ἀγγέλλω = "I bring a message"; the word angel is of the same root) and later "good news". The term evangelical, which is widely used today also stems from this word. On the other hand, our modern word "Gospel" comes from the Old English word "Godspell". In Old English, "god" with a long "o" meant "good", and "spell" meant "word" (we carry this meaning also in our word "spelling"). So in other words, "Godspell" meant "good word", specifically the good tidings concerning Jesus Christ.

Understanding the etymology of the word Gospel and Evangelism shapes the way I understand how evangelism ought to be done. Evangelism involves proclaiming the good news concerning the atonement of sins made by Jesus Christ on the cross. The power of that Gospel message we believe in should be so compelling that we would want to share it with everyone and anyone - from your family members to the stranger on the street, since it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (Rom 1:16). True, one's lifestyle does have to support the good news you carry, but living a righteous life while waiting for people to ask why you live as such does not constitute as evangelism.

So one may share the Gospel with a stranger on a bus and never see that person again, or one may share the Gospel with a close friend and continue to follow up on them so that they can witness the reality of the Gospel; Either way, it makes no difference - the seed of the Gospel has been planted, being used by the Holy Spirit to convict them; so long the Gospel is proclaimed.

More cool sites to check out =)

Hey guys,

It seems I've got nothing better to do than to keep recommending Christian sites which I keep calling 'cool'. Hehe. Well, it sure is better than surfing the net for trash, right? =)

A friend of mine introduced me to this blog by this guy called Scotty Smith who is a pastor at Christ Community Church in Tennessee, USA. He's got some pretty good inspirational prayers up there which are well grounded in the Bible. Definitely worth your time and effort!

Click here for the url.

Lessons to be learned!

Dear faithful readers,

There's this blog which I've found - Written by Mark Driscoll, one of the pastors at a fast expanding church in USA. Doctrinally sound, this blog would be a good challenge for those of you out there who are actually interested in seriously knowing more about Christianity. Take a read =)

http://www.theresurgence.com/md_blog

In Christ,

Fly_OnD_Wall

Faithfulness in the end times

It has been a little over 10 years being in my house. The front lawn remained unattended to my dismay, filled with weeds and a cluster of thick baby trunks in the middle. Lying opposite, the back lawn was conquered by a whole array of weeds, contorting and protruding themselves out of the limited space they had, destroying the mural that never was.

I looked around, and there was the steel shovel I had been searching for. I got to work. And I think God showed me something.

As I looked around at the semak samun, I recalled several stories Jesus had told. As I cangkul-ed around, I recalled what Jesus said in Matthew 13:24-30

In this story, Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like a man who sowed seeds in his field, and an enemy came and sowed weeds. Jesus said the man commanded his servant NOT to cut down the weeds while they were growing, if not it would uproot the good seeds, too. He commanded the servant to wait until they were both fully grown, and then only pull them out.

I stared at my papaya tree, towering well over twice my height. A few years back, this piece of land was deemed barren by my mom (or by her poor planting skills :D)

Stepping back a bit about what Jesus said, to the parable of the seeds in Matthew 13:3-9. He had mentioned that there were four types of seeds;

One eaten by birds

One grew on stone

One grew among thorns

One grew on the ground

I managed to cangkul out the weeds and all rather easily, knowing that they grew among thorns. Some, growing by the side of my brick fence also came out very easily albeit their size because they grew on stone. They had no foundation.

Then I had a glance at the cluster of papaya trees, and noticed they werent fruiting despite years growing sluggishly. I recalled what Jesus said in Luke 13:6-9.

In this story Jesus mentions a man whose keeper asks him to have mercy on a plant, although it has not bore fruit yet, he begs his master to give it more time.

That's what Jesus/God is doing, isn't it?

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise,

as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward

us, not willing that any should perish but that all

should come to repentance.

But I had an urge to cangkul at least one of it off. Logic would say that with about 7 papaya trees crowding around in less than half-a-meter cube in infertile soil, you're not going to get much fruit in a long, long time.

So I proceeded. Tried smashing it a bit. Tried attacking it. Even tried bending it downwards, low enough for me to sit on, but it didn't give. Reminded me on what Jesus mentioned also in Luke 6:46-49.

But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?

Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them,

I will show you whom he is like :

He is like a man building a house, who dug deep

and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the

flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against

that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.

But he who heard and did nothing is like a man

who built a house on the earth without a foundation,

against which the stream beat vehemently; and

immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.

Brought me back to point b) where Jesus was talking about seeds being planted in what kind of soil. Got me thinking that this is the kind of faith that we need to have in the end times, coz' Satan is going to come with his cangkul, and he's not going to have mercy. He's going to cut you, bend you, sit on you, butcher you, pull you and do everything. But your FOUNDATION is what's going to keep you holding strong no matter what.

Also take note that I picked on the smallest papaya trunk. Even that did not budge :)

Are we having our roots in Christ? Because all other 'rocks' can do is give you false protection, and when the day of testing comes, the ruin will be great. Proverbs 11:31 states, "If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner."

But God is faithful.

2 Timothy 2:13 - If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.