A Better "Gospel Presentation"

by Ben

If you had five minutes to explain the gospel, what would you say? I think most of us might present the gospel like the diagram below: We sinned, therefore we are separated from God, God bridged the gap through Jesus, now we can be with God.

There's nothing unbiblical persay about this presentation, but I think it doesn't do justice to the gospel as it is presented in the bible and it causes a lot of problems. First, it skips the entire the whole Old Testament -- or it jumps from Genesis 1-3 (Adam and Eve sinned) to Romans. Second, it makes it seem like the "gospel" is all about how individuals are saved. But what about all of the created world around us? Is the bible just about rescuing individuals out of a sinful world and sending them to heaven while the world around us rots away? The bible's answer is a resounding "NO!" (this would be another blog post) On the other hand, it's true that the gospel is also NOT just about making the world a better place without preaching individual salvation through Christ. I recently came across this gospel presentation from these guys in Britain called the "Crowded House" and it's the best, clearest one I've seen so far. Here it is:

Summary: God promises the world we all want; Jesus shows us God's new world.











1. We have spoiled God's good world.










2. God promises a new world.










3. We cannot create God's new world.











4. We can enjoy God's new world because of Jesus.










5. Christians are God's people waiting for God's new world.

TV Notes

by Rachel

One of our favorite things to do is lounge at home in the evening and watch true crime shows like Dateline and 48 Hours Mystery. I actually look forward to Friday nights in large portion because it means the weekend, going out to dinner with my husband, AND watching Dateline. I also normally don't like the cold weather, but it feels extra cozy when you can curl up with a blanket and a cup of hot cocoa and watch a murder mystery show. (Is it bad to be entertained by this?)

I feel like these shows are gaining in popularity. There are already other ones on various cable channels; plus there's usually a 48 Hours Mystery marathon on TLC on Saturday evenings; now there's Primetime Crime on ABC. We have seen so many of them that when a promo for a recent Dateline episode came on, we were like, "Hey, we already saw that story covered on 48 Hours Mystery."

On an unrelated TV note, Ben observed that both Verizon FiOS and Comcast have their own commercials featuring the other's sales/installation guy as a buffoon-ish character.

Speaking of commercials and buffoons, I also hate all of the commercials (often for healthy foods and cleaning products) where the wife is portrayed as the smug, all-knowing authority and the husband as the buffoon-ish, slightly chauvinistic/arrogant fool. They both annoy me, but the wife annoys me more. To me it just reinforces women's tendencies to want to control their husbands instead of trying to show them respect.

I talk about TV a lot.

Cup Garden

by Rachel

This may be old news to you - but while watching "The Next Food Network Star," Ben and I learned from contestant Melissa that when you buy green onions, you can save the white parts at the bottom and put them in water, and they will grow again. We thought that sounded pretty neat, so we decided to try it - and in just two days, each onion has grown almost two inches back! This is great and super easy, especially for someone like me who has basically no sense in anything like gardening. And we will have nice fresh green onions the next time we need them, without having to worry about purchasing them or having the excess go rotten. Nice tip.

What a Sad, Weird Day

by Rachel

I am already an extremely emotional person by nature, but today just feels so weird. I have already been feeling sad about the Gosselins (see last post), but with Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson's deaths, I just feel so unsettled. Sadness and grief seem to be ubiquitous right now.

And I feel weird because I am also a sports fan, and I was saddened in a different way by my Longhorns' loss last night in the College World Series. And then tonight was also the NBA Draft, which I was interested in. But then I almost feel not right being concerned about or interested in either of those things in light of the above events.

Also a gross slug greeted me by our front door (inside) this morning when I woke up. Yuck. Thank you to my kind husband for getting rid of it.

What a sad, weird day.

Sad for the Gosselins

by Rachel

I just have to express how sad I am about Jon and Kate Gosselin divorcing. We became huge fans of this show, and just like all the other fans, I've been heartbroken to hear of all their turmoil over the last few months (which apparently has really been happening over the last several months). I feel like last night's episode should have been called "Crooked Houses and Broken Homes."

I know people survive divorces - both the ex-spouses and the children - but there is just so much brokenness that occurs and healing that has to happen. I have been praying for this family and will continue to do so.

Why Does He Even Bother?

I've been reading through the first part of the Old Testament lately - all of the law books where God painstakingly tells the Israelites exactly what methods they are to use to connect with him and honor him. And they still don't get it, and they mess up and complain and whine to him even after he's told them what to do. Obviously we continue this behavior today.

Makes me think of Jimmy Fallon's SNL character "Nick Burns, Your Company's Computer Guy." As many people have experienced in real life, employees ask him to help with their computer issues, and since they're dumb questions to him, he treats them with sarcasm and blatant condescension. I'm no IT expert, but I find myself feeling like this, too, when I get computer questions at work about things that I find simple and that I've explained to people numerous times. Don't they get it?

So I found myself thinking about how we're so much like this with God's instruction, and yet he doesn't treat us like Nick Burns. He's GOD - why does he even bother trying to explain things over and over to clueless, sinful fools like us? What amazing grace. I hope I'll remember that grace and let it sink in more deeply the next time I feel my Nick Burns side coming out.

And by the way, if your company's computer guy(s) or girl(s) are NOT like Nick Burns (mine aren't, thankfully!), consider taking a moment to show them your appreciation whenever you can. I know I couldn't do their job.

Learning to Be Offensive

from CNN site

I'm inspired by my Rockets' big win last night* to blog about something a friend of mine shared a few weeks ago. A group of us were discussing practical ways to share the gospel and why we're often afraid to do so. Susie then talked about how she's watched many youth sports events and how, for example, in a basketball game you can always tell which kids are probably praying that they don't get the ball passed to them, because they don't feel confident about taking a shot or making a big play. They're afraid that if they do, they'll miss, or worse, get their shot blocked back in their face. So they just avoid the ball, stay out of the way, and basically contribute nothing to the team's efforts.

Similarly, she said, we're often like this with sharing the gospel or even coming close to it. We feel like we lack the special gifts, abilities or knowledge that (we think) are needed to share Christ with others effectively. We're paralyzed with fear that our friend or acquaintance is going to feel offended, ridicule us, argue us down, or reject us in some other way if we approach any topic related to our faith in Christ. So to not risk hurting others or getting ourselves hurt, we just avoid it. Ironically, in the comfort of our own homes and circles of Christian friends, we find ourselves praying for opportunities to share the gospel ("playing time," if you will), and yet when God calls us "off the bench," we avoid the opportunity like it's a person with swine flu - err, I mean H1N1. (Hey, I keep up with the news.)

Anyway, I was reminded of this last night with the Rockets and with the NBA Playoffs in general. Take Aaron Brooks. He's often one of the smallest players, if not the smallest player, on the floor, and yet you frequently see him drive to the hoop with no fear, no matter what defender might be in his path. Will he make every shot? No. Will he get blocked sometimes? Of course. But he continues to be confident and assertive, because he won't be able to score points any other way. You've probably heard that saying, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

And for us in our efforts to share the gospel - there's no way we can help steer others to Christ if we don't take risks and try. Even better than basketball, we don't have to have confidence in our own abilities - in fact we shouldn't, really - because we have the power of the God of the universe with us. So going back to the title of this post - I took from Susie's story the reminder that I need to stop being so fearful, and learn to be more "of-FEN-sive" and "OFF-fen-sive." Not to carelessly insult people, of course, but I shouldn't worry so much about how they'll react and what they'll think of me when I express my faith in Christ somehow, especially if it might conflict with their beliefs or lifestyles.

So as you're enjoying the playoffs and watching your favorite players drive to the hoop - how can you be more "offensive" with your faith?

*I know I'm referencing the Rockets' last game against LA and this photo is against Portland. It was just the best one I could find quickly.