Servants of Christ

“So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘ We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”

Luke 17:10

The servant carries out the master’s will. The servant doesn’t tell the master what to do. The servant does not choose which tasks to perform for the master, nor does the servant suggest days or times when it would be convenient to serve the master. The servant’s function is to follow instructions. The master, on the other hand, gives directions. 

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The Gospel and The Kingdom

Here’s a great discussion by a Theologian, a Pastor, and a New Testament Scholar on the Gospel of Paul and the Kingdom of Jesus

It’s very important, I think, to get “the gospel” correct. There is a push today to include a whole bunch of stuff that people want us to do and call it “gospel.” Even if it’s a good thing, that doesn’t make it part of the “good news”

I also like this quote by Carson interacting with “The Hole in Our Gospel”

Some studies have shown that Christians spend about five times more mission dollars on issues related to poverty than they do on evangelism and church planting. At one time, “holistic ministry” was an expression intended to move Christians beyond proclamation to include deeds of mercy. Increasingly, however, “holistic ministry” refers to deeds of mercy without any proclamation of the gospel—and that is not holistic. It is not even halfistic, since the deeds of mercy are not the gospel: they are entailments of the gospel. Although I know many Christians who happily combine fidelity to the gospel, evangelism, church planting, and energetic service to the needy, and although I know some who call themselves Christians who formally espouse the gospel but who live out few of its entailments, I also know Christians who, in the name of a “holistic” gospel, focus all their energy on presence, wells in the Sahel, fighting disease, and distributing food to the poor, but who never, or only very rarely, articulate the gospel, preach the gospel, announce the gospel, to anyone. Judging by the distribution of American mission dollars, the biggest hole in our gospel is the gospel itself.

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Praying

And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.

Mark 6:46

What do you do after a spiritual victory? Where do you go after reaching a high point in your Christian life? Jesus went to pray. Jesus had just fed a multitude with only five loaves of bread and two fish (Mark 6:34–44). If there were ever a time to relax and bask in the glow of God’s power, it should have been then. Instead, Jesus climbed a mountain to pray. 

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Real Friendship Stings

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Proverbs 27:6

Jesus never gave relief to people who were under conviction. When Zacchaeus, whe was in remorse for his sin, shared his generous plans for restitution, Jesus did not say, “Now Zacchaeus, the important thing is that you feel sorry for what you did.” Jesus brought no comfort to him as he dealt with his sin (Luke 19:1–10). Neither did Jesus excuse disbelief. 

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Fix Your Eyes On God

And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?”

Numbers 20:10

It is easy to see why Moses became frustrated with the Hebrew people. They were so hard-hearted and weak in their faith that Moses lost his patience and became angry with them. Yet every time Moses shifted his focus away from God, it cost him. When he sought to help his people by taking matters into his own hands, he spent the next forty years herding sheep in the wilderness (Exod. 2:11–15). This time his impetuous behavior cost him the opportunity to enter the Promised Land (Num. 20:12). 

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