Join us Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. for a question and answer time with Dr. Tom Schreiner.  Rack your brain and think of the toughest questions you can and bring them to Tom that morning.  If he doesn’t know the answer, he’ll say, I guarantee you, “I don’t know.”  But the man is brilliant.  He’ll answer most of them.  Grab some coffee and maybe a scone and enjoy some time with an eminent New Testament scholar at the Artisan.

Today, my man Brady took Eric Moore and me into his residence hall cafeteria for lunch.  Plaza 900 on Mizzou’s campus is this huge, all-you-can-eat restaurant that makes me feel old as dirt.  When I studied at the university, you maybe had two choices, and they were both bad.  This place must have had 900 choices, and they all looked pretty good.  I told Brady, “I wonder what my friends in Haiti would think of a place like this.  They would be blown away.”

Read this article about poverty in Haiti.  The prices of dirt are rising.  How can we stuff ourselves and not care?

Last night in our Karis C-Group, we looked at Mark Dever’s third mark of a healthy church, what he calls a “biblical understanding of the good news.”  Jeremy Linneman, our new Karis intern, is now writing the studies, and he did a good job of getting us to discuss Dever’s chapter.

First, we asked the question, “What is the gospel?”  We discussed the idea that it differs from religion that puts an emphasis on our works for our glory.  The gospel is the “good news” that Jesus came and walked on earth, living a perfect life on our behalf, and dying a cruel death in our place.  The “gospel” of our world (that is no gospel at all) is based on self-help for the purpose of self-esteem.  However, the Bible clearly teaches that we can’t help ourselves.  We are dead in our sins (Eph. 2), and we desperately need help outside of ourselves.  In addition, self-esteem is in no way the intended end of Christianity.  Rather, it’s God-esteem, giving God glory, spreading His fame.  The path of salvation people give in the world is that “I’m ok and you’re ok,” we can “be a good person” and go to heaven, and therefore, we should think highly of ourselves.  Sadly, this often isn’t too far from what we hear in our churches.  But, rather, the truth of the gospel is that we’re not OK.  Nothing we do can make us right with God.  And the ultimate goal is not that we feel good about ourselves, but rather that we delight in God and give Him glory.

Second, we talked about the content of the gospel.  Although the gospel speaks about a relationship between humans and God, there are propositions that must be shared and understood.  Dever likes to explain the gospel in terms of God, man, Christ, and response.  First, we look at God and see His holiness.  Second, we see ourselves in relation to Him.  When we compare ourselves to others, we often don’t look too bad at all.  But when we look at our Father, and the ultimate human (of course, He’s God, too), Jesus Christ, it cuts us down to size.  We are broken sinners, the Bible says.  And that is bad news.  Sin leads to death.  Therefore, to comprehend the “good news,” we need to understand the bad news, and the facts are that we are sinners before a holy God.  Third, the good news is that Jesus came to save His people.  He never sinned, keeping God’s law perfectly.  He died, suffering for those who broke all the laws.  Jesus accomplished redemption through His life, death, and resurrection.  People can be saved through His person and work.  Fourth, though, we must respond.  We repent of our sins, turning the other direction, and believe, coming to God in humble faith.  Our repentance and faith don’t save us.  God saves us through the work of Jesus.  But repenting and believing are means by which we are connected to God.  No person who does not repent and believe will be saved.  God, sin, Christ, response: that is the gospel.

Jeremy also shared Piper’s outline, which is quite helpful:

1. God created us for His glory. (Isaiah 43:6-7)
2. Therefore, it is the duty of every person to live for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
3. Yet all of us have failed to glorify God as we ought. (Romans 3:23)
4. Therefore, all of us are subject to eternal condemnation by God. (Romans 6:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:9)
5. Nevertheless, in His great mercy, God sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ, to save sinners by dying in their place
the cross and rising bodily from the dead. (1Timothy 1:15; Romans 4:25)
6. The benefits purchased by the death of Christ belong to those who repent and trust in Him. (Acts 3:19, 16:31)

Third, we talked about the fact that the gospel is not just meant for unbelievers.  It’s meant for Christians.  Soon, we should be reading for C-Groups the book The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges.  This helpful book argues that all of life should be lived in light of the gospel.  It is what we should preach to ourselves every day.  I also recommend this Tim Keller article which explains the same idea in brief.

Fourth, we discussed our need to share the gospel on a regular basis.  We talked about how the gospel should be displayed by our deeds, but we reminded ourselves of the need to put words to our actions.  The gospel does present facts about Jesus that must be cherished for salvation.  We must do what Jesus did and minister through word and deed.  Having one without the other is insufficient.

The point?  The gospel is the sum and substance of the Christian life.  To have a healthy church, we must have healthy Christians.  You can’t become a Christian without the gospel, and you certainly can’t become a healthy disciple without it.  What message does your church gather around?  Is it the gospel?

Visit here to see the Missourian’s take on “Jesus…who?”

Read below from the “Church Matters,” 9 Marks blog.  Will this get the attention of the MBC executive board, especially those of Reformed convictions?

Mark Dever on Cooperating With Acts 29

by Michael Mckinley

This is awesome… from his Acts 29 Boot Camp lecture “Church Planting Evangelism” yesterday:

Our differences are enough to separate some of my friends—your brothers and sisters in Christ—from you. And perhaps to separate them from me, now that I’m publicly speaking to you. And I don’t want to minimize either the sincerity or the seriousness of some of their concerns (things like: humor, worldliness, pragmatism, authority).

But I perceive some things in common which outweigh our differences—which the Lord Jesus shall soon enough compose between us, either by our maturing, or by His bringing us home. I long to work with those, and count it a privilege to work with those whom My Savior has purchased with His blood, and with whom I share the gospel of Jesus Christ. I perceive that we have in common the knowledge that God is glorified in sinners being reconciled to Him through Christ. This is not taught by other religions, nor clearly by the ancient Christian churches of the East, or by Rome, by liberal Protestant churches, by Mormons, the churches of Christ, or by groups of self-righteous, legalistic, moralistic Christians. And not only do we together affirm the exclusivity of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone—we agree on the sovereignty of God in life and salvation, the regenerate nature of church members, the importance of church membership and discipline, the baptism of believers alone, the priorities of expositional preaching, and evangelism, the importance of authority and a growing appreciation for the significance of complementarianism. These are not slight matters. And they only fire my desire to encourage you and cheer you on, until you cross that finish line that the Lord lays down for us.

Well, not really, but close.  It is freezing outside today, and I just spent some time handing out flyers for Friday night’s forum.  The panel discussion/debate will feature my friend Tom Schreiner, along with Unitarian/Universalist pastor Bill Haney and Islamic scholar Shakir Al-Ani.  This should be an exciting event, which explains why I would risk freezing my fingers to promote it.  The topic will be “Jesus… who?”  The title plays off the way we typically distinguish in our language between various “Bobs” according to last name.  What’s Jesus’s “last name?”  Is it Christ?  Or is it “good dude” or “gifted teacher?”  I’ve never met the two other men who have agreed to join us, but I know Tom.  He is a humble, gifted man.  He’s humble enough to speak the truth without being offensive.  He is gifted enough to speak the truth persuasively.  Join us at 7:00 p.m. at the historic Tiger Hotel downtown for “Jesus… who?”

Again, Theology Weekend is coming Friday, and I hope you plan to attend. Joining us for the weekend will be my friend and mentor Dr. Thomas Schreiner from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. I am so excited to have him and Diane in town. Here are just a few reasons why I love the guy:

1. He is an amazing scholar. Visit Tom’s bio with all of his writings listed here. Known especially for his work on the Pauline writings, he is a gifted, trusted scholar in the New Testament field. His Pauline theology is a goldmine. In addition, a New Testament theology is coming out just around the corner.

2. He is gifted relationally. I’ve had many opportunities to spend time in Tom’s office, in his home, and in church. For someone so gifted, he is incredibly skilled at relating to all sorts of people. He can talk the New Perspective with a PhD student. He can talk about the resurrection of Jesus with a child. And he enjoys and excels at both.

3. He is loving and kind. Tom genuinely cares about each student and each member of his church. He’ll take the time to email when most people won’t. He’ll invite you into his office. He is welcoming and warm. He is a wonderful model of a pastor/scholar.

4. He excels at the simple. If you get the opportunity to hear Tom preach, I’ve always said that he won’t wow you. He doesn’t flaunt his knowledge. He doesn’t try to shatter the earth with each message. He simply states the truth simply and clearly in a way that everyone there, seminary student or not, will understand.

5. He is humble. This is rare to find in a scholar of his stature. Tom imitates our Lord, exemplifying the meekness and humiity of Christ. He never makes anyone feel below him. He opens himself up to learn from others. He is a godly, humble man.

6. He loves Jesus. Christ is Tom’s passion. This comes forth in his preaching, teaching, and loving of Christ’s body. He sets forth a wonderful model of passion for Jesus Christ, our Lord.

It is my hope that you will join us for Theology Weekend. Come Friday night, for the forum, “Jesus… who?”, in particular, and you’ll see in person what I mention above.

We’re going to try something new at Karis– a “One Read,” where we all go through one book together. However, instead of meeting face-to-face for this, as we have plenty of events on the calendar, we’re planning to meet online in a soon-to-be created Karis online forum. The book we’ll be reading is Total Church: A Radical Reshaping Around Gospel and Community by Chester and Timmis. This is a fabulous book currently only available in the UK. If you would like to participate in this discussion, email kevin@karischurch.org as soon as possible. We’re having them flown over from England, and I’ll need to know you want a copy. Here is a review of the book by an Acts 29 Network church planter in Texas. This is one of the best books I have read in a very long time. It’s a “vision” type of book for Karis. I pray God will continue to use us to shape our congregation around gospel and community.

This Saturday of “Theology Weekend,” Tom’s wife Diane will be speaking to the women on the topic “Wearing the Garment of Praise.”  The event will be held at the Ratliff home.  For more information, email amy@karischurch.org.

Diane has been married to her highschool sweetheart, Tom, for 32 years.  In fact, she is the one who shared the gospel with Tom, being used by God to give the Church one of its finest scholars.  She grew up in Salem, Oregon, following her husband to California and Minnesota for teaching jobs after that.  Currently they live in Louisville, Kentucky, where Tom serves as a New Testament professor at Southern Seminary.  Diane has raised 3 boys and 1 girl, currently ranging in ages from 25 to 16: Daniel, Patrick, John, and Anna.  She particularly loves ministering to senior adults and mentoring young women, leading Bible studies and periodically teaching Sunday school.  She enjoys biking, swimming, walking, reading, and attending her children’s sporting events in her spare time.  Her favorite epitaph is “to live is Christ, to die is gain.”

Amy and I had the opportunity to work with the youth group at Clifton BC in Louisville, spending a great deal of time with her children John and Anna.  Diane is a godly woman that takes her calling to Tom, her children, and her church quite seriously.  Ladies, come on Saturday and let God teach you more about living a life of praise and not grumbling.