Incarnation: The Key of Hope

“... without the incarnation, Christianity isn't even a very good story, and most sadly, it means nothing. "Be nice to one another" is not a message that can give my life meaning, assure me of love beyond brokenness, and break open the dark doors of death with the key of hope.

The incarnation is an essential part of Jesus-shaped spirituality.” 

― Michael Spencer, Mere Churchianity: Finding Your Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality

Dangerous Grace

From  a classic post by Michael Spencer at iMonk: Grace Is As Dangerous As Ever

...Real grace is simply inexplicable, inappropriate, out of the box, out of bounds, offensive, excessive, too much, given to the wrong people and all those things.

When God’s grace meets us, Jesus has to order away the accusers of our conscience. Satan. Religion. Parents. Church members. Culture. Morality. Legalism. Civility. The oughts. The shoulds. The of course we know thats. The I’d like to but I just can’ts.

Jesus orders them away so he can tell us that grace is doing what only grace can do, and we must go and live in the reverberation of forgiveness. We must live with the reality of grace when it makes no sense at all, can’t be explained and won’t be commodified or turned into some form of medicine....

...at the heart of true Christian experience is this inexplicable, annoyingly inappropriate, wondrously superlative experience of Jesus saying, “I don’t condemn you. Go and live your life.”

He says it to the divorced. To the expelled. To the unemployed. He says it to criminals. To perverts. To the damaged and the worthless. He says it to cutters, to whores, to greedy businessmen, to unfaithful husbands, to porn addicts and thieves. He says it to the lazy, the unholy, the confused and even the religious. He says it to you and to me.

It’s how he changes lives, and it’s as dangerous as ever.

We Need Our Brokenness

"Now we come to something very important. The constant emphasis on the victorious life or the good Christian life is the Antichrist as it pertains to the gospel. Here’s why. If I am _________ (fill in your favorite victorious-life terminology), then will I be in a position to be grateful for what Jesus did when he was executed on the cross? Perhaps at first I will be overwhelmed with gratitude toward Christ. But over time, as I find that I’m capable of maintaining victory in my life, I will need Jesus less and less. I still want him to meet me at the gate on the way into heaven, but right now I’m doing great without him. I’m a good Christian.

If you embrace this take on the Christian journey, it will kill you.

We need our brokenness. We need to admit it and know it is the real, true stuff of our earthly journey in a fallen world. It’s the cross on which Jesus meets us. It is the incarnation he takes up for us. It’s what his hands touch when he holds us.

…My humanity, my sin, it’s all me. And I need Jesus to love me like I really am: brokenness, wounds, sins, addictions, lies, death, fear…all of it. Take all of it, Lord Jesus. If I don’t present this broken, messed-up person to Jesus, my faith is dishonest, and my understanding of faith will become a way of continuing the ruse and pretense of being good.

I understand that Christians need — desperately — to hear experiential testimonies of the power of the gospel. I understand as well that it’s not pleasant to hear that we are broken and are going to stay that way. I know there will be little enthusiasm for saying sanctification consists, in large measure, in seeing our sin and acknowledging how deeply an extensively it has marred us. No triumphalist will agree that the fight of faith is not a victory party but a bloody war on a battlefield that resembles Omaha Beach.

But that’s the way it is. I’m right on this one.

Michael Spencer, Mere Churchianity: Finding Your Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality pp. 147-149

HT: Internet Monk

Jesus-Based Spirituality

Yesterday the Internet Monk site re-posted the late Michael Spenser's classic 2009 article entitled Jesus Shaped Spirituality. Spenser at that time had just gone through a thorough re-evaluatoin of his spiritual life based on a filter described below. It is well worth a read or a re-read- Never been said better!

What does Jesus-shaped spirituality look like?

1) It is a spirituality rooted in the Biblical story. It is a spirituality that grows up in the narrative of the Bible and within the categories of the Biblical worldview. Most particularly, it is a spirituality of the Biblical story that is finally and completely about Jesus and understood in Jesus.

2) It is a spirituality where God comes to all people: in Jesus, through the incarnation, the Gospel, Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit.

3) It is a spirituality where God is available, immediately, through the mediation of Jesus, to all people, in the power of the Spirit as revealed in the Gospel.

4) It is a spirituality where Jesus is the ultimate sacrament, and all sacraments are visible, actual participations in Jesus as salvation.

5) It is a spirituality where the Kingdom of God is present everywhere and God’s people are called to be workers for and proclaimers of the Kingdom wherever God has placed them.

6) It is a spirituality especially manifested where the Gospel is explicitly heard, believed and practiced.

7) It is a spirituality where God is known, experienced and worshiped as Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit as revealed by Jesus in scripture.

8] It is a spirituality of the compassion of Jesus for the whole range of human brokenness. It is a spirituality of kindness, gentleness and generosity to the hurting, the lonely and the wounded.

9) It is a spirituality where all people are called to the decisive act of public, intentional discipleship, inaugurated in baptism and continued, when possible, in a local church.

10) It is a spirituality of grace as understood in the teaching and actions of Jesus, and through the grace of God revealed in the Gospel.

11) It is a spirituality of inclusion, particularly imitating Jesus’ inclusion of outcasts, touching of lepers, respectful treatment of women, outreaches to Gentiles and liberating miracles for those who were considered beyond help, hope and forgiveness.

12) It is a spirituality that takes place in a movement of cross-cultural church planting. Jesus shaped spirituality is formed in the context of the outcomes and values that contribute to cross-cultural church planting, particularly in places where the Gospel has not been heard.

13) It is a spirituality that is shaped, whenever possible, in local churches and under the ministry of local church leadership. It is a spirituality that receives the ministry of the Spirit through the broadest possible experience of the church of Jesus.

14) It is a spirituality that announces and practices the end of religion, because all religion is fulfilled in Jesus. What remains of religion and religious practice is completely transformed by Jesus into a New Covenant understanding of the people of God.

15) It is a spirituality that calls all persons, and especially disciples, to continual personal transformation by grace in every area of human nature, experience and relationship.

16) It is a spirituality formed by the practice of prayer, reading scripture, worship, servanthood, mission and simplicity, both individually and, whenever possible, in community with other disciples.

17) It is a spirituality that is consciously, exclusively and intentionally Jesus-centered. The center and the boundaries of Jesus shaped spirituality are Jesus himself, as revealed in scripture, especially in the Gospels. It is a spirituality that takes all study of Jesus seriously, but affirms that Jesus is revealed with the authority of God in scripture.

18) It is a spirituality with a hopeful, optimistic eschatology of the Kingdom of God, inaugurated now and coming in fullness, announcing in advance God’s judgment of the world and God’s vindication of his people.

19) It is a spirituality that is not dispensed or controlled by institutions, but is accomplished by the work of the Spirit through whatever means God chooses as the shaping, forming element.

20) It is a spirituality of creativity, freedom and cultural diversity. We are constantly discovering and rediscovering Jesus in new ways. It is a spirituality that honors and appreciates the discovery of Jesus by those who have known Jesus before us.

21) It is a spirituality that receives and evaluates tradition, authority and theology within a living experience of discipleship to Jesus.

Remembering the I-Monk

Today I'm remembering Michael Spencer, aka "the Internet Monk," aka "I-Monk,"on the second anniversary of his untimely and too early departure from this life. I miss his writing so much. The blog-o-sphere is a better place because he was here.

The Internet Monk site has memorial postings up. RIP Brother Michael.
   

The Classic "I-Monk Annual Halloween Rant"

Just re-read the classic The Internet Monk Annual Halloween Rant by the late Michael Spencer (whom I miss very much).

Caution if your read it - It might scare you! Boo!

Adrian Warnock's Book Review: "Mere Churchianity "

Adrian Warnock, a well-known blogger from Great Britain, has published at his blog a great three part review of the book Mere Churchianity: Finding Your Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality by the late Michael Spencer. Spencer was known on-line as "the Internet Monk" or the "I-Monk".  His website remains very popular and influential.

The review can be read at the following links:

Mere Churchianity Part 1: What’s wrong with the church:

Mere Churchianity Part 2: Where I disagree with Michael Spencer

Mere Churchianity Part 3: Bringing Jesus Back to the Center

Adrian begins his review by saying:

Michael Spencer was known to Christian blog pioneers as the Internet Monk.  Although he described himself as in the post-evangelical wilderness, and often locked horns with the likes of the pyromaniacs, he never lost the respect of most evangelical and reformed bloggers.  His message was bold. I would often strongly agree with around half of it and strongly disagree with the other half! We were both going to have our debut books published in 2010. Sadly, Spencer didn’t live to see the fruits of his labors as he died before his book was published. Under the care of his successors, his blog continues to be one of the most popular Christian blogs.

I feel that enough time has passed since his death for me to critically engage with his book without feeling embarrassed. I trust that if his wife and others who loved him read this they will hear my deep respect and love for the giant that Michael Spencer was and appreciate that despite my differences with him, I genuinely view him as something of a prophetic voice to the Western church. You see, I emphatically agree with him that there is much cause for concern. We cannot simply be complacent and continue fiddling while Rome burns I generally agree with most of Spencer’s diagnosis of what’s wrong with the Church. Where I disagree quite profoundly is how to fix it.

It has been almost a year now since I read the book, and I quoted from it several times last summer on this blog. With time for reflection, I think I can agree with just about all Adrian says about it.

It is still a very sad thing to me that the "I-Monk" died before his first and only book was published. However, God knows what He is doing. Spencer and his provocative writing on his blog and in his book has been, and will continue to be, greatly missed.
 

All of It, All of Me

"My humanity, my sin, it's all me.  And I need Jesus to love me like I really am: brokenness, wounds, sins, addictions, lies, death, fear...all of it.  Take all of it, Lord Jesus.  If I don't present this broken, messed-up person to Jesus, my faith is dishonest, and my understanding of faith will become a way of continuing the ruse and pretense of being good."

     - Michael Spencer, Mere Churchianity, page 149

The Answer to Every Question

"I believe in Jesus.  He is God to me and for me. I most defiitely believe God is Trinity and that the Trinity is an essential core component and basic requirement of Christian Ortodoxy.  But the gospel calls me to believe in and follow Jesus the Revelator and Mediator who brings God's Kingdom into history.  Jesus is God's great Mediator, Messenger, Prophet, Advocate, and Incarnation.  The answer to every question about God ends with 'Here's what we know because of Jesus.'"

    - Michael Spencer, Mere Churchianity, Page 216

(We are all gong to really miss Michael Spencer!)

...Never Lose the Brokenness

"In every moment when I am winning, Jesus is with me.  And in every moment when I am losing, Jesus is with me.  At any moment when I am confused, wounded and despairing, Jesus is with me.  I never, ever, lose the brokenness.  I fight and sometimes I prevail, but I can't prevent more of my screwed-up, messed-up life from erupting.  Because I belong to One whose resurrection guarantees that I will arrive safely home in a new body and be part of a new creation.  I miraculously, amazingly, find myself continuing to believe, continuing to move forward, until Jesus picks me up and takes me home."

            - Michael Spencer, Mere Churchianity, Page 147

 (Have I mentioned lately that I like this book?!)

Our Weakness Makes God Happy

"How essential is it for us to be broken if Christ is going to be our strength?  When I am weak, I am strong.  Not 'when I am cured' or 'when I am successful' or 'when I am a good Christian,' but 'when I am weak.'  The human experience of weakness is God's blueprint for calling attention to the supremacy of his son.  When miserably failing people continue to belong to, believe in, and worship Jesus, God is happy."

             - Michael Spencer, Mere Churchianity, page 145

A Life Jesus Would Recognize

"We don't see that the powerful changes that happen in the life of a disciple never come from the disciple working hard at doing anything.  They come from arriving at a place where Jesus is everything, and we are simply overwhelmed with the gift.  Sometimes it seems as if God loves us too much.  His love goes far beyond our ability to stop being moral, religious, obedient, and victorious, and we just collapse in his arms.

Out of the gospel that Jesus is the only Mediator between God and humanity comes a Christian life that looks like Jesus, a life Jesus would recognize.  It's a life that looks like Jesus, because Jesus does everything, and all we do is accept his gift.  And to accept his gift, we have to give up trying to be Jesus."

Michael Spencer, Mere Churchianity: Finding Your Way Back to Jesus Shaped Spirituality, page 138

Wow.  Just wow.

Pray Boldly, You Mighty Sinners!

This is the advice Martin Luther gave to a friend suffering under the accusation of a guilty conscience:

"If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not fictitious sin.  God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners.  Be a sinner, and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over, sin, death and the world. As long as we are here, we have to sin.  This life is not the dwelling place of righteousness, but, as Peter says, we look for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.  It is enough that by the riches of God's glory we have come to know the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.  No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day.  Do you think that the purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins by so great a Lamb is too small?  Pray boldly - you too are a mighty sinner."

Martin Luther, Letter to Melanchthon, Luther's Works, Vol. 48, page 281
(quoted in Michael Spencer, Mere Churchianity, page 137

Quotes on Jesus Shaped Spirituality

I'm looking forward to reading the late Michael Spencer's first (and only) book, Mere Churchianity.  Trevin Wax at Kingdom People just posted a review of the book, discussing (among many other things) the difficulty he felt in doing a critical review on the work of someone who has recently died and whose life work had been so helpful to him.

However, the part of his review that struck me the most was this list of "pithy quotes" from the book

• The life of faith is a battle fought in weakness and brokenness. The only soldiers are wounded ones.

• God is the Sun too bright for us to see. Jesus is the Prism who makes the colors beautiful and comprehensible.

• What speaks more loudly of grace: your theological definition of the word “grace” or the tip you leave at dinner?

• Some Christians claim biblical authority, while only telling you what they have decided in advance what the Bible has to say.

• Ask yourself this question: If I were to spend three years with Jesus, what kind of person would I be?

• Jesus-shaped spirituality is cross-centered and Christ-centered. The good news of the kingdom is that the King died to save us.

• Jesus isn’t looking for admirers. He’s enlisting followers.

• Evangelicals have invented a spirituality that has Jesus on the cover but not in the book.

Thoughts like this are why so many people loved Michael Spencer.  A life like this is what it means to follow Jesus.

Life Shaped By Jesus

What does a spiritual life shaped by Jesus look like?

In honor of the death this week of Michael Spencer, the Internet Monk, his friends have been posting some of his best blog essays from the past ten years.  In this one, entitled What Is Jesus-Shaped Spirituality? he discussed his quest for a "Jesus Shaped Spirituality" and presented this list of what that might look like.

1) It is a spirituality rooted in the Biblical story. It is a spirituality that grows up in the narrative of the Bible and within the categories of the Biblical worldview. Most particularly, it is a spirituality of the Biblical story that is finally and completely about Jesus and understood in Jesus.
2) It is a spirituality where God comes to all people: in Jesus, through the incarnation, the Gospel, Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit.
3) It is a spirituality where God is available, immediately, through the mediation of Jesus, to all people, in the power of the Spirit as revealed in the Gospel.
4) It is a spirituality where Jesus is the ultimate sacrament, and all sacraments are visible, actual participations in Jesus as salvation.
5) It is a spirituality where the Kingdom of God is present everywhere and God’s people are called to be workers for and proclaimers of the Kingdom wherever God has placed them.
6) It is a spirituality especially manifested where the Gospel is explicitly heard, believed and practiced.
7) It is a spirituality where God is known, experienced and worshiped as Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit as revealed by Jesus in scripture.
8] It is a spirituality of the compassion of Jesus for the whole range of human brokenness. It is a spirituality of kindness, gentleness and generosity to the hurting, the lonely and the wounded.
9) It is a spirituality where all people are called to the decisive act of public, intentional discipleship, inaugurated in baptism and continued, when possible, in a local church.
10) It is a spirituality of grace as understood in the teaching and actions of Jesus, and through the grace of God revealed in the Gospel.
11) It is a spirituality of inclusion, particularly imitating Jesus’ inclusion of outcasts, touching of lepers, respectful treatment of women, outreaches to Gentiles and liberating miracles for those who were considered beyond help, hope and forgiveness.
12) It is a spirituality that takes place in a movement of cross-cultural church planting. Jesus shaped spirituality is formed in the context of the outcomes and values that contribute to cross-cultural church planting, particularly in places where the Gospel has not been heard.
13) It is a spirituality that is shaped, whenever possible, in local churches and under the ministry of local church leadership. It is a spirituality that receives the ministry of the Spirit through the broadest possible experience of the church of Jesus.
14) It is a spirituality that announces and practices the end of religion, because all religion is fulfilled in Jesus. What remains of religion and religious practice is completely transformed by Jesus into a New Covenant understanding of the people of God.
15) It is a spirituality that calls all persons, and especially disciples, to continual personal transformation by grace in every area of human nature, experience and relationship.
16) It is a spirituality formed by the practice of prayer, reading scripture, worship, servanthood, mission and simplicity, both individually and, whenever possible, in community with other disciples.
17) It is a spirituality that is consciously, exclusively and intentionally Jesus-centered. The center and the boundaries of Jesus shaped spirituality are Jesus himself, as revealed in scripture, especially in the Gospels. It is a spirituality that takes all study of Jesus seriously, but affirms that Jesus is revealed with the authority of God in scripture.
18) It is a spirituality with a hopeful, optimistic eschatology of the Kingdom of God, inaugurated now and coming in fullness, announcing in advance God’s judgment of the world and God’s vindication of his people.
19) It is a spirituality that is not dispensed or controlled by institutions, but is accomplished by the work of the Spirit through whatever means God chooses as the shaping, forming element.
20) It is a spirituality of creativity, freedom and cultural diversity. We are constantly discovering and rediscovering Jesus in new ways. It is a spirituality that honors and appreciates the discovery of Jesus by those who have known Jesus before us.
21) It is a spirituality that receives and evaluates tradition, authority and theology within a living experience of discipleship to Jesus.

I can't find anything in this list that I could disagree with.  In fact, this is exactly what I crave and hunger for!

I am really going to miss the IMonk!

RIP Michael Spencer (1956 - 2010)

I am saddened to learn this morning that Michael Spencer, aka "the Internet Monk," has passed away after a hard battle with cancer. Michael went to be with Jesus in the presence of his family at home in Oneida, Kentucky on Monday, April 5, 2010. See the announcement at internetmonk.com.

Michael was one of the early pioneers of Christian blogging.  The Internet Monk web site has been on my blog roll for several years. I did not always agree with him, but was always challenged by his words. His insight, discernment, clear writing and sometimes brutal honesty will all be greatly missed. I am so sorry that Michael did not live long enough to see the publication of his first book, Mere Churchianity, due out later this year. I will certainly be purchasing and reading it.

Rest in Peace, Brother. You've done good.

Comments and remembrances about the IMonk in the Christian blog-o-sphere:

Michael Patton at Parchment & Pen (Hat Tip for picture above)
Trevin Wax at Kingdom People
Bob Spencer at Wilderness Fandango
Jared Wilson at Gospel Driven Church
Steve McCoy at Reformissionary
Tony Cummer at Said at Southern Seminary
John H. at Confessing Evangelical
Darryl Dash at Dash House
Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds
Timmy Brister at Provocations and Pantings
Jason Coker at Pastoralia

It is easy to see how much the IMonk was loved, was appreciated and will be missed.

Pray for the IMonk

Denise Spencer has posted a health update on her husband, Michael Spencer (aka "the Internet Monk" or "IMonk"), and the news is not good. Michael has colon cancer and per his doctor has less than a year to live, absent a miracle. Details can be found at Michael Spencer Update, 3/9/2010

I have benefited greatly from Michael's transparency, openness and wise observations as I have read his blog over the past few years. A quick search for his name on the pages of this blog will confirm that. Thank the Lord that he completed work on his book before the illness struck, because I really want to read it.

This one is hitting me hard, in part because he is the same age as I am.

I ask all my readers to join in prayer for Michael and Denise Spencer. Pray for that miracle. And pray also, that if the Lord does not choose to heal him, that Michael's desire to testify to his Lord in the way that he faces death will be fulfilled.

The God of the Dying

"'All the affirmations to God as creator and designer are fine, but it is as the God of the dying that the Christian has a testimony to give that absolutely no one else can give. There is little good news in 'My argument scored more points than your argument.' But the news that 'Christ is risen!' really is Good News for one kind of person: The person who is dying.'"
– Michael Spencer

Hat Tip: The Boar's Head Tavern

Everyone please pray for Michael Spencer (aka the Internet Monk), and for his wife Denise, as Michael continues his fight against cancer.

A Good Gospel vs. Law Rant

The "IMonk," Michael Spencer, has gone on a Law/Gospel rant today, and I think I can agree with him 100%. This is some good stuff, and some stuff that needs to be said- frequently. Here are some brief excerpts:

I’m using the simple Lutheran “law/Gospel” division here: all of scripture is either what God commands/demands under penalty or what he promises/provides freely by grace. This is law and Gospel. “Do” or “Done.” Moses or Jesus. God the accountant older brother or God the Father of the Prodigal. Advice or announcement. Sinai or the cross. Threat or comfort. Blessing or curse. You do it or else. God did and praise.

If you get this, Luther said, you are a theologian even without the degree...

...There’s a lot to discuss with this topic, because I believe genuine discipleship, which has aspects of law to it, grows out of and lives in the Gospel, not the law. (Think of Gospel as soil and law as fence. How does your garden grow?) The Gospel is the Gospel of the Kingdom, and the King has a moral law. So I’m not simplistic. I sometimes hear people that I really respect do things with the Law-Gospel distinction that makes my skin crawl and that sounds like weird dispensationalism

Law preaching is powerful. It feels powerful. Even when it’s done poorly and just amounts to nagging, it makes the preacher feel like he/she is doing something. That’s one reason it’s so popular- you’re telling them what to do. You’re like Moses hitting the rock. Look what I did, you bunch of stubborn yokels. And joined with invitationalism and revivalism, it works. It fills the altar with crying students. I brings people down to get baptized for the 5th time and really mean it this time.

The Gospel, on the other hand, takes the power out of your hands. It’s the announcement of what God has done. You aren’t powerful at all. You’re one loser telling a bunch of other losers that they are going to be treated like winners. Bread for the thieves. Pardon for the unquestionably guilty. Love for rebels. You’re announcing that everyone gets paid the same. You’re issuing banquet seats to people who have no right to a ticket because they are dirty and sinful. You’re telling sinners that the lamb of God has paid the bill and it’s not going to appear on their charge anywhere.

You are telling people it is too good to be true, but it is too good and completely true, and it changes everything....

Read it! He talks a lot about Southern Baptists, but the problem is certainly not limited to them. In the words of the great philosopher Pogo the Possum - "we have met the enemy and he is us."

I certainly can't say it any better than this.

Hindrances That May Not Be Sins

In Hebrews 12:1 we are admonished to "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely" (ESV). Can that weight refered to there be something that is not sin? Can it also refer to good things that also hinder us from our calling in God? Michael Spencer speculated on this at his IMonk site - The Weight May Not Be A Sin: A Thought On Hebrews 12:1:

The central insight I’m going to be bringing in my Sunday morning sermon tomorrow at the local Baptist church is an optional reading of Hebrews 12:1. Specifically, I want to suggest this: the “weight” that holds us back in the “race” is not always a “sin” as specifically defined by scripture.

Someone could legitimately say that “weight” and “sin” are a parallelism, and I would agree, but the parallelism may be because of the effect of hindering our ongoing life as a follower of Jesus.

There is no doubt that we are called to lay aside, i.e. repent of, sin. I would contend that we are admonished, with just as much authority, to lay aside whatever may hinder us that is not a matter of repenting of sin, but of giving up what is not necessary, what distracts us and what makes it difficult to carry out the calling and mission of the church.

I think he is right. I know that there have been things in my life that, although not necessarily sin, have held me back. I can also see many things in various churches and groups I have known - traditions, structures, prejudices, attitudes - that take us off mission.

Spencer concluded:

What if your WAY of doing church is a weight. Not a sin.

What if your way of living the Christian life is too comfortable, too predictable, too safe and too “in the niche” of a tradition that answers all your questions?

What if your schedule is so full of things that aren’t sinful that you can’t do anything new this week for the Kingdom? What if your life at church is so full you already know everything you are ever going to do for Jesus? What if your life is so full of your current friends you could never make a new one?

What if you are investing so much in what is good that you can’t sacrifice or joyfully give away money for the Kingdom?

What if your good life, good morals, good witness are the reason you don’t have a life of discipleship filled with risk, impact and Kingdom adventures?

What if your problem isn’t the sin that clings so closely, but the weights you are so easily and comfortably carrying around in order to be a “good Christian?”

Ouch!