Gospel wakefulness. That's Jared Wilson's term for the Christian's experience of treasuring Jesus more greatly and savoring his power more sweetly than ever before. For some it happens at new birth. For some it's a gradual dawning over time. And for many, it's a kind of spiritual quantum leap, almost like a kind of sanctification warp speed. You'll want to learn more. . . .

So join us this Monday, November 14 at 3PM (EST), for a DG Live interview with Wilson, pastor in Vermont and author of the new book Gospel Wakefulness. We'll ask him all about this reality of gospel wakefulness, its implications, and how to pursue it.

Here's a little sample from Wilson's book:

I have discussed wit…

Continue Reading →

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope (Romans 8:20).

Are you tired of fighting futility? Evil and disorder relentlessly throw wrenches into the gears of your life. What’s the point?

For God, the point is hope. Which is very strange. Futility and hope are not friends. The former tends to kill the latter. Humans can’t make them both be true at the same time. But God can.

Futility — Turned on Its Head

Futility means things fall apart. It means that what begins fresh and green and thrilling in the morning of life and love and new ventures fades and withers in its evening (Psalm 90:5-6). People die, families disintegrate…

Continue Reading →

John Frame:

We need more Christians who will lead lives of repentance, for repentance always challenges pride. 

If you're coming to God daily to confess to him how much you have sinned, you will find it hard to pretend that you are holier than everybody else. You'll find it hard to put on airs, to pose as the perfect Christian.

When others accuse you of sin, you won't immediately jump to defend yourself, as if of course you could never do wrong and any accusation must be a misunderstanding. Rather, when someone accuses you of sin, you'll respond by thinking there is a high probability that the accusation is true, and you won't be embarrassed to say, "Oh, yes, I did do that. An…

Continue Reading →

What do the Psalms look to? What is the theme that courses its way through psalm after psalm? What gives the Psalms their meaning and depth?

Well, the thing that the Psalms point to again and again isn’t a “thing” at all. No, it’s a person, and his name is Jesus. It’s not as though some of the psalms are Messianic — all of the psalms point to the person and work of the Savior in some way!

Consider Psalm 27:2,

When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.

You can’t help but think of the cross when you read these words. There was a dramatic moment in time when evil men advanced against Christ. It was a moment …

Continue Reading →

Adultolesence is the modern phenomenon in growing up where full adulthood is delayed by procrastinating responsibilities. It has caught the attention of many sociologists over the past decade as it sweeps through college campuses, being no respecter of students, Christian or non-Christian.

A few weeks ago Pastor John spoke to a group of college students facing this encroaching cultural fog. The goal: get a deep, unshakable, holy ambition for your life. One that is so strong that it enables a full leap over adultolescence.

Starting with Romans 15:18-24, Pastor John unfolds the biblical picture of what it means to not waste your life, or stated positively, how to live with a holy ambition…

Continue Reading →

The topic of the new heaven and new earth is a popular one with some of the people we hang out with. As you can probably guess, they also have children with severe disabilities. There is comfort in thinking about our children being free from their limitations and pain.

But this hope can be dangerous, too. We envision heaven to be a wonderful place, full of freedom and laughter and conversation. No more seizures! Legs that can walk! Eyes that see!

And nothing about Jesus.

Does that thought make you recoil in horror? Can you imagine eternity without Jesus?

The Benefits Without the Person

For a long time I did just that. I wanted the benefits of Jesus’ work, but it didn’t really matt…

Continue Reading →

Together for the Underestimated Gospel, April 10-12, 2012, in Louisville, KY.

Collin Hansen from The Gospel Coalition continues his interview with John Piper on race and the gospel with this eight-minute video:

Time markers:

0:02 — What is at stake in our pursuit of racial harmony?

3:31 — Why do some think the ideal is color blindness?

6:30 — Every person has stereotypes.

Read Collin's commentary for this clip and check out the first part of the interview.

Doug Wilson will speak on the subject of "father hunger" at our 2012 Conference for Pastors (Jan 30 – Feb 1). Registration is now open.

________

Recent posts for the 2012 Conference for Pastors —

• Dads, Your Leadership Role Is Inescapable (Video from Doug Wilson)
• Dads, Five Ways to Make Your Words Count (Excerpt from Crawford Loritts)
• What Is Father Hunger? (Video from Doug Wilson)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

Revival of church life always brings in its train a richer understanding of the Scriptures. Behind all the slogans and catchwords of ecclesiastical controversy, necessary though they are, there arises a more determined quest for him who is the sole object of it all, for Jesus Christ himself.

What did Jesus mean to say to us? What is his will for us to-day? How can he help us be good Christians in the modern world? In the last resort, what we want to know is not, what would this or that man, or this or that Church, have of us, but what Jesus Christ himself wants of us.

The Cost of Discipleship, 1937, (New York: Touchstone, 1995), 35.

________

Recent posts from "T…

Continue Reading →