The gospel

Wonderful post on IVP's Behind the Books about why an author wrote his book. Here's an extract:

Jesus’ Gospel includes forgiveness of sins and eternal life, but—and this is crucial—it cannot be reduced to it. The gospel of the Kingdom has to do with becoming, through grace and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the cooperative friends of Jesus, who live constant lives of creative goodness for the sake of others through the power of the Holy Spirit. That story, unlike the story of going to heaven when you die, can produce a new life—which is of course an eternal kind of life.

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I like it when someone else says it :)

Note the repeating of the phrase "the empowerment of the Holy Spirit." That cannot be said enough; anything else is works.
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He continues:

Second, my decades long practice as a pastor tells me that we Christians tend to misunderstand the nature of community and its essential connection to both evangelism and serving others. Driving 20 to 30 minutes across town to go to church for an hour or so does not constitute community. Neither does adding a drive 20 to 30 minutes in the other direction mid-week to attend a home group.

<idle musing>
Yep. The believers of the early church were in each other's lives on a daily basis. Community, a misunderstood and misused term, but the heart of a church.

Do yourself a favor and read the rest of his post...
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