The G.O.S.P.E.L. - D.A. Horton

This guy is LEGIT! I love D.A. Horton's passion for the gospel. He is the creator of the acronym, G.O.S.P.E.L., a clever way to explain the gospel in urban context:

G - God's Image
O - Open Fellowship
S - Sin Introduced
P - Penalty and Price
E - Enter Jesus
L - Life Everlasting

There is something I find in common with Horton. I line up with him in his vision on the gospel in ministry: Contextualizing the gospel without undermining the biblical content. He believes biblical ministry needs to have one foot in evangelical academia and the other in the church, so his service for the gospel contains a healthy biblical exegesis and exposition of the Scriptures in order to explain the gospel clearly and boldly to others in the urban context. I love this perspective because it is so "Pauline" you can say (cf. Rom. 1:16; 2 Tim. 2:15).

Enjoy the short message below about sharing the G.O.S.P.E.L. to those in an urban context, and how you can share the gospel in your own urban context for the glory of God!

The "Belief Motif" In John

How does someone believe in John's gospel? Is it only as simple as believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and God (cf. John 20:28)? Is there more of a dynamism of belief? How is this explained only within the context of the gospel of John? In John's gospel, Jesus teaches about belief by using sixteen with different terms such as, "receive, obey, drink, hear, come, behold, eat, enter, abide, go, know, follow, hating, love, keep, knowing." It is clear that there is a philosophical dynamism that seek to explain the new kingdom phenomena of faith and obedience based on "belief" in the Messiah Jesus. In John, the dynamism of "belief" is not just having knowledge of someone or something, but it is believing with transforming faith and obedience that is radically different from all other forms of belief. John makes it clear that salvation is grounded in responding correctly to Jesus' command, "believe in me" (cf. 1:7, 50; 3:12, 18; 4:21, 42, 48; 5:38, 44, 46, 47; 6:29, 30, 36, 64; 8:24, 45, 46; 9:18; 9:35; 38; 10:25, 26, 37, 38; 11:15, 26, 27, 42, 48; 12:36, 37, 39; 13:19; 14:1, 10, 11, 29; 16:9, 30, 31; 17:20, 21; 19:35; 20:25, 27, 31).

If you survey John's Gospel, I think the biblical data appropriately defines the necessary grounds for "belief" in John as believing in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, Lamb of God, Son of God, Son of Man, I AM, and the Logos. Throughout John, the theme of believing occurs approximately ninety-three times, clearly indicating an important motif due to its repetitive nature. Yet, the repetitive nature is not autonomous, but always is in conjunction to psychosomatic unity [i.e. heart and mind] of knowing the true identity of Jesus Christ that is followed up with transforming faith and obedience. Therefore, to belief in this new way is a summation to essentially encounter-experience-follow-and-obey the Lord Jesus Christ.

To understand "belief" in John, the key is to follow the literary structure. Viewing the beginning of John as a stage presenting the first act of a threefold story about believing in Jesus Christ is the critical, followed by a second act and finale (i.e. Introduction [who is Jesus], Body [events revealing who is Jesus], Conclusion [purpose to know who is Jesus]). 

John 1:1-51, the introduction reveals the emphasis of belief in John.
John 2:1-20:29, the body explains the dynamism of belief in John.
John 20:30-21:25, the conclusion reveals the purpose of belief in John.

Most scholars believe it is possible to develop all of the themes in John solely out of the first chapter alone, and it is not surprising that the "belief" motif starts in that section.

Beginning in the first chapter of John, we see the genesis of the "belief motif" in John 1:7, "He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him." Structurally placed between the first usage of believe and the beginning of prologue and first pericope (v.1:1-51), John records the identity of the light as Jesus Christ (vv. 1:4, 5, 8, 9), and affirms the progressive evangelistic nature of believing in Jesus Christ through the witnesses who testified and followed him (vv. 1:37, 40, 43). The first chapter ends with Jesus asking if those following him believe in John 1:50, "Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” The concluding statement issues an important question that is presented to all of the characters throughout the rest of the gospel, "Do you believe?" The evangelist begins his gospel by introducing a thematic emphasis for his letter, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ? If not, read about the Son of God in the next few chapters, and I will ask you this question again at the end of my gospel to see if you believe" [italics are mine]. 

After the introduction, the body of the gospel consists of Jesus explaining the dynamism of "belief" and why someone must believe in him (vv.2:1-20:29). Notice the last verse concluding the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of the Son of God in John 20:29, "Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'” John wraps up the story with a defining statement by Jesus Christ. John returns to the "belief motif" to set up his conclusion and purpose.

The conclusion of the gospel ends with a purpose statement and unique event which points back to the emphasis of the statement (vv. 20:30-21:25). The conclusion of the gospel reveals the purpose and reason for the emphasis of "belief" in John 20:30-31,

"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

This purpose statement concludes the reason why John wrote his gospel, "That by believing you may have life in his name" [italics are mine]. As John begins his gospel with the "belief motif" he concludes with it. Following the purpose statement is a unique event that confirms Jesus as the resurrected Lord and God. In these short resurrection appearances, the"belief motif" is only enhanced by more evidence to convince the reader to believe in the Messiah Jesus.

John does a great job of explaining throughout his gospel what it means to believe in a dynamic way. The Jews believed, but they did not believe God's Word correctly. The Greeks believed, but they did not believe in God correctly. Believing in something that is truth and corresponds to reality is the key in John's gospel because Jesus proves he is the truth over and over again with salivific implications. Therefore, when we tell people to believe in Jesus Christ, we must teach what it really means to believe in him by sharing the entire gospel message!

Going Public With the Gospel

I came across this wonderful book called, Going Public With the Gospel, by Lon Allison and Mark Anderson. It describes the street witnessing ministries I served in for many years. The book, on the other hand, speaks of going public with the gospel, not in just an old school street witnessing fashion, but sharing the good news everywhere and anywhere necessary in your life. This means going public with the gospel at work, in your neighborhood, in your city outreach, recreational activities, going grocery store, etc. The means of the books is to encourage Christians to understand the wonder of public proclamation, the need for biblically-centered evangelistic preaching, and taking the gospel to the streets (i.e. public). Basically, get in your Bible and get off the couch and share the good news with others in the world.

I loved street-witnessing when I was younger in my faith. If there was a student ministry that encouraged and equipped students to share the gospel, it was SWAT at Harvest. The ministry taught me how to preach the gospel at public venues and on school campuses. Doing this enabled me to go all over the world with the Harvest Crusades evangelism outreach teams, and granted me the opportunity to pray with many people to accept Christ. Now I find myself married, ten years in my faith, and not going street witnessing per se. Have I lost my desire to share my faith? No way!

There are several reasons why I have not made it an effort to go street witnessing with the students in SWAT at Harvest, which are not excuses but realities. First, I am married. My wife is my main ministry. Once I got married, my time is focused on her and my family. Second, I bear more responsibility than I did when I was single and served the Lord faithfully in my singleness. Being married full-time, working full-time, and trying to complete school full-time is very difficult and limits availability. Third, I learned it is not just on a street witnessing night the Lord can use you to share the gospel, but you can do street witnessing in many different ways by going public with the gospel everywhere and anywhere in your life. 

Sharing the gospel at my work and at school are perfect examples. Even at a Christian school, there are people who do not know the Lord and are trying to find meaning in their lives. I found myself witnessing to people at my former jobs and got to pray with many people, and teach several devotional Bible studies with fellow Christians who needed encouragement  At school, I was able to counsel and direct several people because they did not know what to do in their lives. Several times I went to Angels baseball games and Disneyland not knowing the Lord was going to use me to bump into someone and share the gospel with them. It is amazing if you think about the gospel wherever you go and you can be use anywhere by Jesus Christ.

Jeremy Camp - Not Ashamed

This song is very bold and powerful. I love songs that get right to the point as does Jeremy Camp in a more recent song of his called "Not Ashamed." Below is a video with all of the lyrics. Take a few minutes and just listen to the song (or watch). I love this song because it is like a theme song for my small group that I am leading while we are studying how to live "Unashamed" for the gospel as high school students. Enjoy!

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." (Romans 1:16 ESV)

Propaganda, a Counter-Cultural Rapper

Within the last few years, Christian hip-hop has exploded on the scene throughout the music industry. The Christian music industry has desperately needed new counter-cultural musicians for awhile now, and within the Christian hip-hop movement, there is an army of musical missionaries desiring to spread the gospel to people who would not normally be reached by typical Christian pop/rock music.

Rappers such as Lecrae, Tripp Lee, Tedashi, Shai Linne, Ambassador, Flame, and Cross Movement comes a newer preacher of poetic gospel lyrics named Propaganda. I got to meet him at the Los Angeles Harvest Crusade this year as he was touring with Lecrae. His YouTube videos has gone viral and are extremely convicting, engaging, and biblical. I am so blessed to see these guys, specifically Propaganda, be bold and "unashamed" of the gospel. They are committed to not just singing but teaching God's truth to others.Below are some of the videos:

Reformation Day!

Did you know October 31st is actually a Protestant day of remembrance? On October 31, 1517, at noon, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the doors of the Roman Catholic Church in his hometown in Germany. He was indicting them of heretical teachings. This single event ushered forth what is known as the Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century theological revolution within what was known as Western Christianity. The Reformation was led by reformers named Martin Luther, John Hus, John Calvin, John Wycliffe, Huldrych Zwingli (there were many others, List of Protestant Reformers). They "protested" against doctrines, rituals, and the governmental and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church who were unbiblical, unjust, and unpopular with the people of Europe.

The Protestant Reformation led to many successful innovations that never would of been able to be produced if the Roman Catholic Church remained the authority of Christian faith. The reformers preached religious freedom from the Papacy, and began preaching and teaching the Bible outside of the Roman Catholic Church's authority. Christians who followed the reformers were called "Protestants" and went on to bring forth world changing innovations for God's glory. Reformers brought forth the printing press invention, which unleashed mass printing of the Scriptures and Christian literature. Reformers translated the Bible so the common people of their lands could read the Scriptures. Probably one of the coolest things that came out of the Reformation was a regenerated church that emphasized biblical evangelism, missions, and discipleship that was non-existent for almost a thousand years.

The reformers taught the Word of God and established the "Five Solas" as their fundamental theological set of beliefs directly opposite of the Roman Catholic Church. The Latin word sola means "alone" or "only" in English. The Five Solas are: (1) Sola scriptura ["by Scripture alone"], (2) Sola fide ["by faith alone"], (3) Sola gratia ["by grace alone"], (4) Solus Christus or Solo Christo ["Christ alone" or "through Christ alone"], (5) Soli Deo gloria ["glory to God alone"]. 

It is important to remember Reformation Day every year because it reminds us of the importance of getting the gospel correct (cf. Galatians 1:6-8), and make a priority to preach to all nations the bloody cross gospel (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:2).

Nothing Can Separate Us - Romans 8:35-39

This a very encouraging sermon by one of my favorite preachers, John MacArthur. He exegetically points out during the trials and experiences of Paul, he never forgot the simple truth of the gospel: Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord! 

The world needs hope. The world needs love. The world needs Jesus. The world needs to hear the gospel.