We're really good at listening...

We're really good at listening to the Word, especially here in the South.  We love church.  It's a Sunday "must do" without a doubt.  We put on our Sunday best, make sure the kids have the cutest clothes, and out the door we go...Off to church!  Start the day in Sunday school, read a couple verses, have a couple discussion points.  Follow that up with a service where we sing a couple hymns / praise songs, listen to the preacher, maybe even get "moved" by the sermon or music.  As southerners (at least a large percentage of us), listening to the Word on any given Sunday is a part of our culture.

But when it comes to DOING what the Word says....whoa...and, if we're honest with ourselves...we struggle in this department (or at least I do).

James 1:22 says, "Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." 

(The phrase, 'and so deceive yourselves', should cause us to raise our eyebrows, but that's for another blog post another time)

Back to the task at hand...

Jesus says in Luke 6:46, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord', and not do what I say?"

So why don't we do what the Bible says?  What hinders us?

I saw a great sermon clip one time from Francis Chan about doing what the Bible says.  He used an analogy about telling his daughter to go clean her room.  He said she knows better than to come back to him and say, "Daddy, you told me to clean my room, and I memorized what you said.  And I can say it in the Greek. And now, me and some friends are going to sit around and talk about what it would look like if we went and cleaned my room".  

We would think that's ridiculous if that's what our kids did, right?  And we should.  So, why do we think when it comes to what the Bible says, we can get away with saying that kind of stuff?  Why do we think we can listen to the Word, and not do what we're commanded to do? Yet, we'll quickly throw together a Bible study, small group, or Sunday school class, and really talk about what the Word says.  We'll share on social media how "powerful" a sermon was, talk about "Jesus moving during the service", or "Pastor so and so really brought it this am", etc...  

But, we find ourselves just continuing to sit idly by doing nothing.  Then we go right back to church the next Sunday and go through same religious routine; week after week after week.

In Matthew 28, Jesus says, "Go make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you".  

Believers, are we making disciples?  Do we even know what that looks like?  

If we don't know, read the second half of the verse above; teach others what it looks like to follow Jesus.  Show them the Jesus of the Bible; not some middle class American, comfortable, safe, Jesus.  Let's show them what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Show them that He is worth giving our lives for.  Show them the kind of joy and fulfillment in life that comes from being a Christ follower. Let's show them what it means to not just be a listener, but being a DOER of the Word.

thanks for reading...

peace.

bg

Wow, does time fly!

8th grade "Best Dressed"

                                (unfortunately for me, no award for "Best hair".  Could've been a big day)                                           

And now, 21 years later...

"Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.' - Proverbs 31:28-29

I adore this woman. 

People think I'm nuts when I say that in 7th grade math, I knew I wanted a wife like Kim Joiner.    

Sophomore year of college....she finally gave me a chance!  

Got married, thought I had wild oats to sew, but did Kim give up on me...Nope.  She did the exact opposite.  

She prayed for me.  

My wife truly is "far more precious than jewels. (Prov 31:10)". 

Happy 11th Anniversary to my precious wife, and here's to many more!!

peace.

bg

twitter: @gossettbrandon

"What is this "Gospel" you talk about?"

You ever wondered, "If somebody asked me what the Gospel is, could I clearly tell them?"  I was asked that question a couple of years ago, and really had to think to myself, "could I?". 

As Christians, isn't the Gospel the basis of our identity in Christ?  Without the Gospel, there is no Hope found in Jesus. We parade our Christianity around, but could we even define to a nonbeliever, the CORE message of our faith?  We talk in my small group regularly about testing ourselves to be sure we know the Gospel, and can verbalize it.  As believers, we need to be able to convey the Greatest News of all to a world that is in such need of this message.  Jesus's life, death, and resurrection is the ONLY reason we have hope, for He is the ONLY way to the Father (John 14:6).  

The Gospel is not, "God loves you!", "God has a plan for your life!", "Just live by the Golden Rule", or any sort of "do this, do that" message. The root of the Gospel message is that it is DONE! (John 19:30).  Our responsibility is to repent and believe Christ's work is sufficient.

The Gospel is laid out all throughout the Bible, and by no means are these verses below the only places the Gospel is clearly stated, but I most commonly send people to Ephesians 2:1-10 or
1 Corinthians 15:1-4.

If someone asks me, "What's the Gospel?", usually my response is:  Man is separated from God because of sin.  But God in His infinite mercy and Grace has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him, by sending His only Son, Jesus Christ to live the life we couldn't live, to die the death we deserve, rose from the dead conquering sin and death, and when we believe in Him and His Work, we will have eternal life with God, and shall not perish in a Christless eternity.


Do we believe we the Gospel is the greatest news?  How do you verbalize it to people?

thanks for reading...

peace,
bg
Twitter: @gossettbrandon

P.S. Outside of the Bible, I have found some other books that are great resources for helping us clearly state the Gospel.  "What is the Gospel?" by Greg Gilbert (I bought several copies to give to my small group, family and friends), and "The Explicit Gospel" by Matt Chandler and Jared Wilson.

Why Blog?

I'm not really sure why I decided I wanted to start a blog.  I've always enjoyed other people's blogs, and I think the concept is pretty cool. A lot of my friends blog, and are actually really good at it.  I like telling my stories and opinions as much as the next guy; and I enjoy reading others stories and opinions as well.   I love sharing what I learn from other bloggers, especially in the area of theology.  I find myself drawn to many theological blogs, and then sharing them with my family, friends, or small group.  I believe there is a lot to learn from certain blogs, and I appreciate the people that use their blogs to encourage, educate, or make us laugh.

My blog will consist of opinions, lessons learned, thoughts from Scripture/books/sermons, general conversation, rants, and pontifications.  It will also consist of stories about family, friends, my neighborhood, my city, my country, and this world.  I don't expect many, outside of my mom, to read it, but I am excited to see if it's something I like.

I feel like we live in a world where we're all looking for a way to express ourselves and opinions; i.e. note the success of twitter and facebook.  I happen to be one of those people who enjoy being able to express my thoughts, photos, etc to anyone who will listen (or not listen), and to the world of social media (for those of you who know me, I realize this is a very "Captain Obvious" statement).

Plenty of people have told me "everyone is too busy with their own life to care about what's going on in yours", and I agree with that statement to a degree.  Yet every person I know, except my Dad, is on social media.  So I believe within us there is a desire to know what is going on in each others lives. Not only do we like to know what's going on in the world around us, we LOVE to share what's going in ours.

So, when it comes to social media and my love/hate relationship with it, what better way to describe it than with the famous line used by Dan Cathy of Chick fil a last week, "Guilty as charged".  I enjoy social media, yet get frustrated with it all the same. A personal blog is just another avenue for me to express my opinions, thoughts, etc.  I look forward to beginning this process, and if it gets traffic, great, and if not, oh well.

thanks for reading!

peace,

bg