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Five Essentials of the Gospel

Thursday night at the “Together for the Gospel” Conference I heard John Piper deliver a powerful message on the topic of “Why Expositional Preaching is Particularly Glorifying to God.”
Piper’s message was so timely. It was like he was speaking directly to me, while I was surrounded in a hotel ballroom by 3000 other pastors from around the globe.

One portion of his message that helped me particularly was John’s five essentials of the Gospel message. Piper’s essentials included:

1. The Gospel is a message about historical EVENTS—the life, death and resurrection of Jesus (See 1 Corinthians 15:3).

2. The Gospel is a message about what those events ACHIEVED. Five achievements he mentioned included: Christ’s fulfillment of a perfectly obedient life; payment for our sins; the removal of God’s wrath from our life; the installation of Jesus as Lord of the universe; and, the destruction of death.

3. The Gospel is a message about the way God TRANSFERS those particular events and achievements. This transference, by the way, is by faith alone.

4. The Gospel is a message about the GOOD THINGS we receive when the achievement is transferred by the process of being born again. Some of the good things include:
a.) Propitiation: having God's wrath removed and never again held against us.
b.) Justification: complete righteousness before God.
c.) Redemption: freedom from the power of sin
d.) Sanctification: holy and pure standing before God

5. The Gospel is a message about the glorious God Himself as our final, eternal, all satisfying TREASURE.

For these reasons, and so many others, I am truly glad I drove to Louisville last Wednesday morning. It was an awesome experience.

Good News From Friday

I returned from the “Together for the Gospel” Conference this morning. I will write about the conference later in my blog. Before I do so, however, I want to share some good news with you. The good news comes from visits to two different hospitals.

First at Baptist Montclair, my assistant, Tammy Lasagna learned from her doctor this morning that the breast biopsy revealed no problems or concerns. Tammy and Bob were both relieved. Thank you for praying for her. We prayed a prayer of thanksgiving.

My next visit took me to an entirely different scene at Brookwood hospital. There I found Vaughn and Ambre Harris, along with Debbie Burdette(Ambre's mom), her boys, Vaughn’s parents, pastor Randy and his wife, and just about everybody else in the world, celebrating with them the arrival of their second son, Gavin Randall. I held him in my arms. He is a beautiful baby, just like his parents.

God is good, isn’t He?

Spread the Word!!

Please spread the word about our new blog. I am excited about the awesome opportunity this blog will present us. Tell your friends, along with your family members as we use this part of the internet to keep us more informed and educated.

Keep the faith!

Speaking of Healing

Last Sunday during the 9:30 AM worship we prayed for another CrossPointer by the name of Anita Daugherty. A blood test from last Friday revealed that she may have Leukemia. That test came back positive. Yet God is good. The doctor told her he could treat this disease with medicine, and he even said it was curable. That is great news.

Keep the faith!

Please Pray for My Assistant

My Assistant, Tammy Lasagna is having a breast biopsy performed this Friday. Please pray for Tammy, Bob and their children. She and I prayed this morning before I left for Louisville. She's okay.She's strong, and her faith is activated.

Tammy is a tremendous asset to me, and as a result she is a tremendous asset to CrossPoint. I trust you will agree with me in prayer for her to be healed.

Keep the faith!

Together for the Gospel

I am in Louisville, KY today through Friday, attending the "Together for the Gospel" Conference. What makes this conference so unique is that it is a collection of 2800 pastors from across the world, representing multiple denominations. There is a group of pastors from a "family group" of churches called Sovereign Grace Churches. Get this: a Sovereign Grace Church is a reformed, charismatic church. Wow, that is something new and different.

Speaking of around the world, there are several pastors from Autralia, one from Bolivia, and another from India. I would estimate half of the crowd is less than 45 years of age, which is encouraging.

I am here with my friend, Buddy Gray. If for no other reason, I am glad I came to fellowship with Buddy and several of his men from Hunter Street.

Keep the faith!

Welcome to My Blog on the Blogosphere

The blogosphere is now 60 times larger than it was 3 years ago. The web tracker technorati.com now tracks 35 million blogs, with a new blog being created every second.The Boston Globe sights eights benefits for blogging. The benefits include:

1. Blogging creates a network.
2. Blogging can get you a job.
3. Blogging is great training.
4. Blogging helps you move up quickly.
5. Blogging makes self-employment easier.
6. Blogging provides more opportunities.
7. Blogging could be your big break.
8. Blogging makes the world a better place.

My more personal favorites are #'s 1 & 8. I want justonemore.info to create a network where CrossPointers develop their skills in seeking JUST ONE MORE. I also want our blog page to make the world a better place.Hang in there with me. I am just beginning to learn some of the tools of the trade when it comes to blogging. You can assist me by giving me your feedback.

Welcome to www.justonemore.info!!!

Well the day has come!! The blog is up and running.

Justonemore.info has been started to accomplish three things:

1. Lead - Whether you became a Christ-follower at a young age or in your later years, you would agree that the reality that Jesus died for us is the most important news anyone could hear, and guess what? It's our responsibility as Christ-followers to share that news. We have been commissoned by Jesus Christ to go into Argo (as well as Trussville, Springville, Clay, and Pinson) and Alabama and the U.S and the uttermost parts of the Earth. The intention of this blog is to lead you to perform this duty in relevant, creative ways.
2. Equip - Have you ever shown up at the golf course with no clubs, paid the green fee, got a cart, and went to the first tee box? If so, I would wager that you didn't do so hot. If you're going fishing but don't have rod and reel...well, you get the picture. In order to successfully share Christ, you gotta be euipped. This blog is also intended to give you creative ideas on how to approach people, how to recognize an opportunity to share Christ's love, and how to be able to discern the spiritual status of the one to whom you are witnessing.
3. Inspire - Lou Holtz. Vince Lombardi. Billy Graham. Zig Ziglar. When these guys speak, people listen. Whether it was a small football squad or a staduim filled with tens of thousands of people, these guys have a keen way of captivating, inspiring, and motivating their audiences. Inspiration plays a role in successfully achieving goals. Sharing Christ with a non-believer should be a major goal in our life. Remember, it's also our responsibility. Justonemore.info will hopefully inspire you to share Christ with anyone that comes across your path.

Please check back daily for posts and be sure to tell everyone about www.justonemore.info!!

JOIN US FOR A VERY SPECIAL EASTER...

Those were the words typed across the placard attached to my receipt last Friday night after Vonda and I enjoyed a quiet meal with some friends.

The sub-print on the card read:

Easter Sunday is right around the corner.

Have you made plans yet?

Space is limited.

Make your reservations today.


Read the above phrases one more time. Only this time read them through the eyes of the New Testament. The restaurant’s invitation sounds more like an evangelistic appeal than it does a request for a busy afternoon meal.

Sometimes the world does a better job of advertising than the church. Perhaps if the church treated their customers (the pre-Christians) with more care we would see people waiting in line to join us for worship.

5 Days

Only 5 more days and we'll be ready to rock!! Take a moment this week to follow up on the folks to which you gave your invitation cards. If they showed up, thank them for taking a moment to try out CrossPoint and try to engage in a small conversation. If they didn't make it this past Sunday, let them know that we've extended the invitation another week. Remember that Ryan will be writing the first post this Sunday!! Please let everyone know that the brand new www.justonemore.info will be the place to go to get creative ideas on how to be a full-fledged, Christ-sharing machine!!!

One More Week!

Only one more week and you'll find right here a valuable tool that will revolutionize the way you share your faith!!! Happy Easter and remember to tell everyone about April 23rd and justonemore.info!!! Until then check out the church site at www.crosspointchurch.info.