Bible Verses: Prayer (Special Edition)

Ok for some reason this post reminded me of a really old show my dad and I used to watch Inside Edition. Shout out to ya if you remember that. Anyways, on with the purpose of this post. This week we will focus on excerpts from Matt Chandler's book "The Explicit Gospel." Hopefully this will propel us to pray mostly this week for the Gospel itself: that the true gospel will be proclaimed, that people will come to know Christ, that the Gospel will continue to transform us. Like barren ground we all need a good downpour of the Holy Spirit to move, reside, and transform. May we preach the Gospel with our lives louder than before.

All Excerpts taken from the book The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler:

"Every effort to remake the Christian faith leads to wickedness. Every effort to adjust the gospel so that it appears more appealing, more palatable, is foolishness. This is liberal theology's only play in the playbook. "Let's get rid of the atoning work of Jesus Christ because it is harsh. Let's get rid of hell because it is offensive. Let's save Christianity by changing Christianity." But in the urban context of Acts 2, with people all over the ancient world gathered in Jerusalem, Peter announces, '"You killed him. This majestic one true God of the universe- you crucified him."' And what happens? . . . All they did was preach the gospel, and men were cut to the core."

"Knowing this we don't need all thirty six verses of "Just as I am," a plaintive pleading from the altar, heads bowed, eyes closed, and shaky hands raised to issue a gospel invitation. No, the invitation is bound up in the gospel message itself. The explicit gospel, by virtue of its own gravity, invites belief by demanding it."

"And Jesus becomes the Lamb of God. The blade of God's wrath penetrates the Son and bleeds him, and he absorbs the wrath of God toward mankind. The iniquity of man is placed upon the head of Jesus so that, at his physical death, the iniquity of mankind would be carried away. This is what is meant when John the Baptist proclaims his gospel: '"Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."' Jesus has bridged the chasm between man and God with his own flesh and blood. What will we do with this? "