The Word We Study Has To Be

What Makes Authentic Disciples Is Not Visions, Ecstasies, Biblical Mastery Of Chapter And Verse, Or Spectacular Success In The Ministry, But A Capacity For Faithfulness. Buffeted By The Fickle Winds Of Failure, Battered By Their Own Unruly Emotions, And Bruised By Rejection And Ridicule, Authentic Disciples May Have Stumbled And Frequently Fallen, Endured Lapses And Relapses, Gotten Handcuffed To The Fleshpots And Wandered Into A Far County. Yet, They Kept Coming Back To Jesus.

We Are Enveloped In Peace, Whether Or Not We Feel Ourselves To Be At Peace. By That I Mean The Peace That Passes Understanding Is Not A Subjective Sensation Of Peace; If We Are In Christ, We Are In Peace Even When We Feel No Peace.

The Gospel Of Grace Nullifies Our Adulation Of Televangelists, Charismatic Superstars, And Local Church Heroes. It Obliterates The Two-class Citizenship Theory Operative In Many American Churches. For Grace Proclaims The Awesome Truth That All Is Gift. All That Is Good Is Ours, Not By Right, But By The Sheer Bounty Of A Gracious God.

By And Large, The Gospel Of Grace Is Neither Proclaimed, Understood, Nor Lived.

Though It Is True That The Church Must Always Dissociate Itself From Sin, It Can Never Have Any Excuse For Keeping Any Sinner At A Distance.