The Profound Simplicity of the Gospel

In his first sermon titled “Sovereignty and Salvation,” the Prince of Preachers makes a very contemporary point regarding our understanding of the gospel and theology. 

I have heard numerous times from many people that we have not yet understood the gospel.  As they share this it is with a glint in their eye, as if the wide and vast unknown is comforting to them.  Could it be that they are that dissatisfied with the way that they have been raised with questions that have answers?  Do they see the church as insufficient to its message?

Frankly, I find the idea that we do not understand the gospel to be frightening!  What assurance do any of us have that we are loved of God, that we are accepted by God, or that anything he has said in his word is reliable? 

Book Review: Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church

 
Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church: Understanding a Movement and Its Implications by D.A. Carson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brian McLaren calls himself “post-Protestant” and others have talked about our society as “post-Christian.”  I identify as “post-postmodern” and “post-emerging.”  There was a time of several years that, while terribly discouraged with the state of the evangelical church as I understood it, I was definitely in the emergent camp.  My book shelves are still replete with the ruins of that time: books by McLaren, Marcus Borg, Rob Bell, Dan Kimball, Shane Claiborne.  They testify to a time when I was searching.

Jamie Cullum of the 21st 1/10 Century

If the score for relevance is all about how recent it is, well I need to make up some time in the next inning.  Yet for one particular musician whose music is not only more indelible as time goes on, but interestingly enough much of it has a life that predates the artist himself.

This is the case with Jamie Cullum.  I was first introduced to this mesmerizing voice by way of a XM Radio CD I picked up at Starbucks.  Later, though it took much longer to make the connection, enjoyed his voice which actually came out of a digitally animated frog in the Disney movie Meet the Robinsons.  As a fan of Tony Bennett and the like, I absolutely love Jamie’s smooth, scratchy voice.