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Gospel Wakefulness

From First Thoughts

“It is the unhurried meditation on gospel truths and the exposing of our minds to these truths that yields the fruit of sanctified character.”— Maurice Roberts, The Thought of GodOr as my friend Ray Ortlund says, “Stare at the glory of God until you see it.”Very few . . . . Continue Reading »

Gospel-Centralityolatry

From First Thoughts

Kaleo Church Houston’s Bill Streger on the danger of legalistic “gospel-centrality.”I’m a part of the Acts 29 network, which is at the forefront of what has been called the “new Calvinism” and the “young, restless, and reformed (YRR)” (both of which . . . . Continue Reading »

Funny, I Don’t Feel Neoconnish

From First Thoughts

The culture war will go to hell.Here’s why:1. Its expectation is foolish.Whether you believe America was ever a Christian nation or not, it is theologically naive and demonstrably false to think laws or policies make anyone a Christian. You cannot create or recapture a people for Christ by . . . . Continue Reading »

Rob Bell’s Definition of Evangelical

From First Thoughts

I know this is, in blogosphere time, old news, but this blog is new and currently on the subject of evangelical definitions, so fuh-giva-ness please.Bell defines evangelical for a Boston Globe interviewer thusly: I embrace the term evangelical, if by that we mean a belief that we together can . . . . Continue Reading »

The Beautiful Monotony of the Gospel

From First Thoughts

One fear we must put aside in our quest for greater gospel-centrality is that it will not preach week to week. The enemy and our own flesh will test our commitment with the “plausible argument” (Col. 2:4) that the gospel will just sound so one-note. We are tempted to think the repetition . . . . Continue Reading »

People of the Gospel

From First Thoughts

What is (or who is) an evangelical? The previous definitions and characterizations resonate with me in various ways, particularly David Koyzis’s confessional core contra pragmatism and especially the “essence” offered by the inimitable John Stott (as shared by Justin Taylor).My own . . . . Continue Reading »