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We all want to be someone.  From early on in life we become existentialists and set out to make something of our life.  While it’s true our days are numbered and we’ve not much time to do something to impact history, our true identity is found in more than what we accomplish or conquer in life.  Followers of Christ realize this and their lives exhibit a new orientation toward desire and dreams.

Read Luke 9:24:

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

If you want to save your life, you’ll lose it, but if you will lose your life for me you will make it count for something. [My Paraphrase]

Being Christ’s disciple will change your identity.

Let me be honest (and, yeah, pathetic), I’ve been through and am sort-of still in the middle of a quarterlife crisis.  Having arrived at 25, I had expected to have the world changed by this point - at least with the help of my fellow quarterlifers out there.  But instead, I’ve actually pitied myself for not doing more.  When I drafted my five-year-plan back in college, it involved more accolades, book deals, and sepia-tone portraits of myself thinking deeply and standing with my hands in my back pockets with my next world-changing insight imminently hanging from the tip of my tongue for the masses.  Vain, I know.  I said it was pathetic.

Here’s a real insight: it’s not about me (or you).  Quarterlife, mid-life, etc. - none of us can change the world on our own.  In fact, we can hardly change our own world for very long.  This is why so many people (of all ages) are absolutely disillusioned.  The vigor with which we once attacked life, work, and service collided head-on with the gelatinous, absorbent reality of politics, administration, and the fact most people disagree with you for some shallow reason.  This is why Jesus said we’ll lose our life if we try to save/preserve/control it.  It’s like combing your hair with a fork - totally doable but not likely to come out the way we plan.

And so, our only hope is found in the only outlier of this reality: Christ.  This will probably crease someone’s McCain/Obama T-shirt, but I’ve got to say it… real change, real justice, and real peace can only come through the ongoing life of Jesus.  Large corporations may be socially responsible, media moguls may give untold amounts to causes, you may have the most off-the-chain idea to bring down the oppressors of this world and make a name for yourself, but it is right here where the whole thing falls apart.  Unless our work and life is built on the foundation of Christ, we are only pretending to care.  The seat our our desires and affections must be replaced with a new one.  Our service to the world must mirror His service.  It’s true, He is our righteousness - meaning, we can only be right if we are in Him.  Our identity is in Him.  No where else.

• What’s your five-year-plan?
  (sticking with it?)
• Do your plans spring from desires found in God’s heart?
  (or are they more marketable than that?)
• Can you see an alternative when you look at Jesus?
  (He is the great none-of-the-above)

One of my most formidable personal struggles has been the formation of good habits vs. bad habits.  I don’t smoke, use illegal drugs, consume alcohol, visit brothels, or leave my toe-nails too long, but it’s the oft-overlooked sins of omission I fall into so easily.  I am not necessarily doing bad things.  I am doing nothing.  When I neglect to do what I should do, my sin is trying to stand still.  I’m not moving.

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. {Luke 9:23}

I used to assume there was some easily attained epiphany involved in all of this.  A place or state of being where I would arrive and become a perfect human - or, at least, perfect enough.  Thus, my pursuit ceased to center on Jesus, but more on finding the key to “X” believing I was only one insightful truth, whimsical quote, or inspirational saying away from having it.  Stopping myself numerous times a day I would say, “This is it!  This is the key to everything.  If I do/think/believe/say this amazing truth, I will be done.”  I’m still not done.  Every key has turned out to be more of a knob, or a hinge, or maybe a door-stopper (?) - not sure…

Following Christ is to follow a moving target.  Every time we think we understand the heart of Jesus and His message, we are knocked off balance and disoriented in no length of time.  It’s not that Jesus changes His mind or waffles on his stances - it’s our nearsighted view of Him that causes us to miss just how robust His personality and life really is.  Personally, I can tell you my views and stances on most of life have changed more than once as I’ve seen a clearer image or Jesus.  My politics have fallen on both sides of the beatitudes (oops!), my missiology has both put Jesus in a box and pulled the bottom out of the box (Jesus is the Box), my ideas about sin have been both lenient and strict (Jesus, instead, is loving!), my ideas of spiritual formation were once rigid and unoriginal, then became more free-wheeling and unmeasurable (I’m finding Jesus to be very measurable, yet infinitely creative).

Being Christ’s disciple is about motion. If you are not in a constant state of change, reformation, and repentance - you may have lost sight of Jesus in the crowd.  I used to look at the Word of God as a static item.  Really, it is absolutely dynamic - changing, growing, refocusing, and always progressive.  Stagnation is a problem, it seems, for Jesus and if you will be His disciple you will have to keep moving.  Today, I will repent of omitting a dimension of Christ’s life from my life and then, by the will of the Holy Spirit, I will change.  How about you?

• How has Jesus changed your mind recently?
• Are you open to new ideas - from God?
• Do you tend to feel as though you’ve arrived or are you restless for what’s next?
• Repentance.  Do we ever stop doing this?

What would you think if I showed you some burdensome, heavy, rough and awkward object of torture and pain, told you to carry said object up a hill where I would then attach you to it in the most painful of manner so I could watch you die a slow and humiliating death? Would you carry it? You know someone’s done this before and he said all of us must do the same… at least, if we’re going to follow him.

Being Christ’s disciple includes carrying your own cross.

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.  {Luke 9:23-24}

I’ve never made the common mistake of assuming everything in my life (now that I believe in Christ) will be easy. From the start, I’ve gathered there are some elements to the Christian life involving difficulty or trial (ah, the catchall word = “trial”). My understanding of these trials, however, has lacked a connection with the sufferings of Jesus. Having lived thirty years in anonymity without constant fear or threat to his life (as far as we know), Jesus stepped out from this ordinary existence into the extraordinary, revolutionary, and missional lifestyle of his final three years. You can believe (look at the Gospels, near the end) it wasn’t all roses, talk show gigs, and conference-speaking engagements. Jesus laid down his life for all who would come and find the gift worth having (and even those who would refuse it). Doing so included even the daunting task of carrying his own instrument of execution. Being Jesus killed Jesus. What do you think happens to his followers?

Here is the truth. Living the alternative life Christ makes available under his management of reality will inevitably put us in the way of danger. I’ve always known this. But I’ve also always minimized it. Minimalism is a veiled form of denial. It causes me to say things like, God would never want me to live there because it’s unsafe - or - nothing bad will happen to me because I am doing God’s work when in reality it may be God’s intention (or concession) to reveal his powerful love through me in an unsafe place or cultivate deep-rooted, effectual change in my heart and soul through some bad stuff.

There are many Christ-followers who have come before us and found their life not only in ethereal experiences of beauty (conversion, baptism, indwelling of the Spirit, Jason Upton concert) but also in the ugly, unwanted hurts (death, loss, sickness, persecution, betrayal, mugging). Some who have suffered include Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Abraham Bentar, The Apostle Paul, Mother Theresa and many more around the world who live in the places where people do what they must without the luxury of doing as they please. Come to think of it, this may be why so much of what we call Christianity here in the West is shallow and uninspiring - we have removed Christ from his sufferings - made him a consultant, given him a desk and a Bluetooth, and done our best to fit his life into ours.

Self-preservation tactics are, in essence, selfishness. These people (and many others like them) chose to suffer and live with danger to eternally etch the name of Christ onto the hard concrete of their world. We also, must be willing to take up and carry with courage the things that could kill us. Just as Christ’s life, mission, and meaning were leveraged for all time on a cross - our ministry will be made real and far-reaching when we are willing to die to make it so - and even help bear the load.

• Do certain dangers deter you from the thing God is moving you to do right now?
• Is there a limit to the suffering you will endure for the Gospel - for Jesus?
• What burden do you carry today? Can you see a way for it to bring redemption to someone else?
• Will you join me in repenting of choosing comfort over justice and love and asking God to do His will regardless of what happens to us?
  (We are all falling short of Christ’s selfless sacrifice here.)

Reading Luke 9, I was stopped in my tracks by the way Jesus implores His followers to reload their notions about life and how to live it.  Most of the concerns I find myself agonizing over on a day-to-day basis seem to fall from their stilts when I hear Jesus say, “Whoever wants to be my disciple…”  Life in Christ is a different kind of life.  As I look more and more intently on the life, message, and resurrected life of Jesus, I see how inversely skewed I’ve been living.  Let me explain: All of my life, I’ve learned to spread my resources and to never put all of my eggs in one basket.  But when I read Jesus’ words, I hear Him calling me to do the opposite.  Instead of spreading and carefully investing myself in life (everything in moderation), I am really supposed to put everything I have, everything I am, everything I will be into Kingdom of God (efficiency is overrated).  Simply put, Christ wants all of us.  No loopholes.

Being His disciple means understanding His purpose.

And he said, ‘The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.’  Luke 9:22

Christ came in the flesh to fulfill a purpose - reconciliation of humanity.  What, then, is our purpose?  Just as Paul told his hearers in Athens, “in him we live and move and have our being,” we (who have commited our belief in Jesus) have to find our purpose and meaning in the purpose and meaning of Christ.  We are between the lines of His story meaning somewhere between the sufferings, the rejection, the death, and the resurrection - we find our place.  Actually, we find it at all parts of His story.

Jesus came and lived without any mind toward ambitions of His own - He had no ambitions other than the will of the Father.  Therefore, He had no wife, no home, no savings account, quit his profession… Nothing did He hold onto other than His purpose and destiny set by the Father.  Jesus never found balance in life.  Maybe we’re never meant to find it.  Does this mean we should follow suit and remain unmarried, broke, and homeless?  In a way, yes!  If you’re married, your wife/husband should be in this with you - the purposes of God - 100%.  If you have money, your money should be a tool to bless the world and open doors for the love of Christ.  If you have a home, may it be open and full of prayer.  Nothing should detract from our real purpose because nothing else matters!  Erwin McManus responded to the question of finding balance in life, ministry, and business by saying, “I live a skewed life.”  As a follower of Christ, my desire is to live skewed - that my time, energy, money, emotions, EVERYTHING would be spent for Christ and His purpose.

Last month, I celebrated three years since graduating from college with a business degree.  How did I celebrate?  I went to work.  After graduating in Spring 2005, I loafed around the apartment for a week or so, hanging out and waiting for my sugar-momma of a wife to come home from her full-time job.  Yeah, it was just a week.  One week was enough - it was time to get a job.  A milieu of job applications, resume submissions, cover letter tweaks, and anxious waiting moments later… I got a call.  The interview went great (I look great in a suit!)  I was offered a job, accepted the offer (someone was actually willing to pay me to do stuff!?). and have since taken another job in the same company.  I have a career.  I make career moves.  I’m a career-man… Whatev.

What’s a career for anyway?  There are plenty of career moves in the scriptures.  When they committed to follow him, Jesus’ disciples left behind promising careers like fisherman (a consistent market!), tax collector (government job!), zealot (activists are always hot!).  What did they get in return?  The opportunity to make an eternal impact in an eternal enterprise - restoring and reconciling people to God.

Sure, it cost them everything, but they budgeted for that.

Living your life in the discipleship of Jesus teaches you to roll with the punches a little and to be more than accommodating to less than stellar circumstances - all in the name of something better.  Look at this career move by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:8-9:

… I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.

Okay - first part makes sense, but there are many who oppose me?  How is that a good thing?  What we see is Paul’s commitment to minister where Christ must be made known at any cost.  Ever look at what “at any cost” really means?  We say it a lot in the career world:

• “At any cost, we must improve our operational performance!”
• “We have to close this sale, at any cost!”
• “We will spare no cost to satisfy our customers!”

What we really mean isn’t at any cost.  It’s more like at the company’s cost, or at someone else’s cost.  Plenty of people work long hours and endure tons of struggle for the sake of their careers… but then they get paid.  Following Jesus involves no salary, benefits, or retirement plans - in fact, you have to pay to do this work.  And the price is very steep.  When Paul said at any cost  - he really meant it.  Following Christ (no matter what your job may be) costs so much your thinking even gets screwed up.  You begin to see opposition to your ministry and work as a good thing!  (Paul ended up spending two years in Ephesus!)  You begin to consider the costs more like deposits investments.  Your values change.  Your career trajectory aims low instead of high.  So what do you get out of it?  Everything!  Yeah, I know, I said it will cost everything - but you also get everything: closeness with God, meaningful relationships, formation into the holy and beautiful individual you were meant to be, membership in a revolutionary community of faith, a seat at a wonderful feast, and more…

As for me.  I know where my career is taking me and I can sincerely tell you it doesn’t involve cheap break-room coffee.  They’ve got the good stuff where I’m working.  Yeah!

• What kind of career are you chasing?
• Are you open to God’s hand in your career?
• Have you made a career out of loving God?  Want to make a career change?
• What are you waiting for?

On Thursday night, I enjoyed my final session of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Winebrenner.  It was a great class and, as the subject was counseling, it was a surprisingly therapeutic process.  As we learned and discussed the art and ministry of guiding individuals to find healing and wholeness in Jesus, we were ourselves drawn to Jesus in our own brokenness and need for healing.  We even had the chance to counsel our professors as they opened up their lives and challenged us to ask the deep-reaching questions of them we were asking of ourselves.

One concept we consistently arrived at in the course was the unshakable lie.  This a lie we hear at some point in our life and then spend the rest of our life believing about ourselves unless we find truth in Christ.  Everyone has a lie…

• “You are ugly.”
• “You are a failure.”
• “It is all your fault.”
• “You are stuck.”
• “God will not forgive you.”
• “You cannot change.”
• “No one really wants to hear what you think.”

The class helped me identify (more like re-identify) the lie I keep falling for… “You are not invited.”  Yeah, no matter what someone tells me or what I see in the Word of God, my default outlook is that I am never going to be invited to the table.  What does this mean?  To be invited is to be valued and to be valued is to have purpose - purpose from God.  The lie someone once told me and I’ve apparently failed to relinquish says I am of no value to anyone else and they would be better off if I didn’t show up to dinner.  It says I am worthless.  But it’s a lie.

Here is what I’ve learned: every lie must be answered with truth.  So here goes…

… streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.  Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.  [Genesis 2:6-7]

At the pinnacle of what many would call the most productive week ever, God formed human beings from the dust of the ground and gave them immeasurable worth in giving them life.  This is where my lie falls and falls hard - God gave me breath.  It is highly unlikely the Lord of Heaven and Earth and Creator of everything would waste a lung-full of His miraculous breath on something for which He did not have great purpose.  Even more unlikely, would be for God to deny us (His most amazing creation) a place at His table.  If fact, in Christ, we are not just invited to sit - we are carried to the table.

This is the truth.  I’m not going to believe a lie anymore.

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”"Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”"All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

[Luke 18:18-25]

When I hear this conversation, I wonder if I would respond the same way as the certain ruler.  He’s looking for eternal life and he finds the right person to talk to about such things.  Yet, the reply Jesus gives him does not bring him much joy.  He leaves dismayed.  Would I be dismayed?

For me, the giving away of my worldly possessions is not such a crazy idea.  I mean, everyone knows you don’t find true happiness in things.  It’s no problem for me wrapping my head around the fact my possessions are never going to be enough for me.  What irks me (and the ruler), though, about Jesus’ words is how He doesn’t just wax philosophical.  It would have been much easier if it went more like this…

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”…

“You almost there Champ!  It’s inside you!  The key to eternal life is understanding the most important things in life are family and relationships, not money and wealth.  Okay?

“Sure, makes sense to me.” said the ruler.

“Nice talking to ya!” waved Jesus smiling gleefully.

When he heard this, he became very happy, because he was a man of great wealth.  He went home and felt even richer than ever now because Jesus liked him a lot.

Yeah!  That’d be easy!  But this isn’t the reality about eternal life.  In response to the ruler’s claims to have lived a life of righteousness under God’s commandments, Jesus challenges him to take his piety further and to seek eternal life by doing something eternal.  What bothers the ruler (and me) most about what Jesus says is how you can’t just flake on it.  Jesus knew this young man’s wealth was King to him - but the way to eternal life is through the only true King - Jesus himself.  Therefore, he tells the ruler to give it all away and follow Him.

Right now, I find myself being called forward to follow Jesus in a new way.  Much of it involves giving away my securities, my wealth, and my rights.  Not only this, but much of it is a logistical mess!  (see selling a house)  Yet, Jesus still calls me.  He is calling me to take my righteous life and my faith in Him and to truly live them out logistically.  Imagine how long it would take to give all your stuff away.  Some stuff would be tough to get rid of.  (We’re hopefully getting rid of some stuff this weekend! Gotta love Craigslist!)  But nothing temporary is worth holding onto when the eternal is within grasp.

Holy Spirit, you are calling us as a family to engage in the mission of Christ and to live the Gospel.
Move us as you moved the first disciples onward from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to…

I played soccer in high school.  My jersey number was #9.  I wanted #7.  Typically, #7 is a number for a midfielder with a penchant for joining the attack.  That was me (at least, I liked to think it was).  No big deal though, it’s just a number, right?  Not really.  In soccer (football), shirt numbers are very important - the number worn is a statement of the kind of player wearing it.  Since I was small and quick, my coaches assumed I would make a good center forward - scorer.  I can only imagine that when Coach saw my compact frame and peppy endeavor he pictured me knifing my way through impenetrable defenses with the ball at my feet and putting untold numbers of balls into the lower left corner of the net.  So, I wasn’t too disappointed, at first, to get shirt number #9.  #9 is a great number for a scorer - but, as my coaches would find out in a very short amount of time, I was not a scorer.  Here’s why: I am not a finisher.  Forwards (or strikers) have to be finishers - meaning that when they get the chance to score, as rare as the chance may be, they make the most of it.  Good scorers… score.  For about three or four matches that season I was sequestered up ahead of my teammates in the forward position waiting for opportunities to score goals.  I really did my best.  The chances would come, I would gather the ball, draw it close, beat a guy or two off the dribble [embellishment alert!], and then… I’d take my shot.  This is where the whole thing fell apart - my shots never came close or they seemed to magnetically seek out the hands of the goalkeeper!  There was something about being right there in range to score and the pressure involved that just paralyzed me.  I can still remember the collective sigh I would hear from my teammates every time I blew my chance.  It was disappointing.  Soon, the coach moved me to a new position - center midfield, I chased after the ball for the whole match.  I loved it!  But I was still stuck with #9.

This past Sunday was Easter and what I find significant about Easter is how it is a finish.  We remember Easter as the day when Jesus rose back to life.  More than once, Jesus foretold to his disciples and the world his own death and resurrection - a death and resurrection that had been the subject of prophecy for the entire history of Israel.  You could say it was a long time coming.  When Jesus died on the cross, was buried in a tomb, and raised back to life on Sunday, he finished something great!  He even says, “It is finished” right before he breathes his last breath.  I can imagine the way Jesus said it was very emphatic because it was really something big that he was finishing for us all - sin.  This is what’s so powerful about this finish, it made a way for us all to be finishers.  Following Christ gives us the ability to finish what we start when it comes to living a holy and pure of heart.  We are all called to be holy, to love one another, and to be carriers of the Gospel.  All three of these are absolutely impossible without the finishing skills of Jesus.  You know what I mean.  Ever take a good look at your life?  Would you call it all a holy, loving, and missional masterpiece?  I doubt it.  Likely, you have struggled to reach the calling of God.  But in Christ you don’t have to keep struggling.  By the price of his blood and the power of his resurrection, the person you are can take part in the same death and be made new in the same resurrection.  This means you won’t always miss.  You are destined to finish - to score.  You don’t have to keep taking three steps forward and two steps back.  I don’t have to continue beating myself up over the lack of love in my heart.  If you keep following Jesus, you will finish - you will change.  This is what’s so amazing about Easter.  Jesus didn’t just go to the cross and rise on Sunday to vindicate himself and the prophets before him.  He finished so that you and I could live our lives with the same purpose - redeeming humanity - revealing Christ.

This is another fragment of the Gospel.  We who wander and are lost can be found.  We who never seem to get there, can finally finish the race.  This is our salvation - we are saved from our sin and sealed for new life.

O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing [Robert Robinson, 1735-1790]

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

[Matthew 5:3-10]

Still trying to defrag the Gospel tonight, I was looking for scriptures that talk about social justice.  There are plenty of places in the Word that address social issues and causes.  In fact, my friend TJ Reid recently put together a list of all the instances where the poor and needy are addressed in the book of Proverbs alone.  You could say a very important part of God’s work is social work.  God has always been in the business of redeeming humanity and making things right where they are wrong.  Poverty, human trafficking, unfair trade practices, racism, hate-crimes… are, to God, very important issues.  Today, I read through Matthew 5.  The Beatitudes, as they are known, are foundational to the message of social justice.  They describe the character of a righteous human being.  In these lines we see just what Jesus was talking about when He said, “the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

He was talking about himself.

He was near.  He is near.

I recently heard of an interview with Rick McKinley of Imago Dei Community in Portland, Oregon regarding his involvement in social justice initiatives.  The interviewer commented that social justice is not just a Christian thing, but that anyone can take part in it.  Rick’s response was, “Sure, anyone can take part in it… but it’s our story.”  What does that mean?  While social justice can be championed in a telethon, an eBay auction, a book, a song, a campaign… it starts in the heart… a new heart.  When Jesus unpacked these nine statements he was revealing his own character and the character of those that would truly take up their cross and follow.  It is with Christ and in his presence where our hearts of stone are softened and the selfish appetites of our skin and bones give way to an unnatural kind of love.  This love leads us to seek justice, to fight for the helpless, give to the need, and to be the answer to the problem.  This is our story - that God came to earth and lived a life before us that imaged purity, love, and mercy - then he went to the cross.  At the cross Jesus took onto himself the weight of stone hearts so those who would come and follow him could live as he did - poor in spirit, mourning injustice, broken and humble, hungry for righteousness, full of mercy, pure in heart, making peace in the midst of strife.  Jesus even said those who follow him this way will be blessed with insults and persecution because of him.  This is what he meant: “Live for justice because of me and you can be sure the world will see me.”  The is no greater justice or mercy than to hear the name of Christ and have the chance to follow him.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.  [Matthew 4:17]

What is the Gospel?  I know the word means good news but what is good news.  There is plenty of bad news to go around.  That’s probably why so many people are interested in the Gospel - at least, the Gospel as they see it.  When Jesus said the kingdom of heaven was near what did He mean exactly?  And if the Kingdom was near way back then - is it here now (or at least, closer)?  Lots of questions… and as I’ve found, lots of answers.  There are a myriad of explanations and images of what the Gospel consists of and how the Kingdom is expressed.  Some believe the Gospel to be a message and life toward social justice.  Others see evangelism and personal salvation as the hallmark of the Kingdom.  Then there are those who minister inner healing and physical healing.  Still others hold that the Gospel is all about racial and ethnic reconciliation.  These are just a few pieces of the Gospel - or gates to the Kingdom.  In reality, the Gospel is all of these things and more.  Yet, in large part, our understanding of it and derived ethos is very fragmented and with most attributes of the Gospel isolated from the others.

So… how do we bring it together?  How do we defrag the Gospel?  What is the whole story?

… to be continued.