For over two years, now, this man has been preaching the Gospel, Sunday in and Sunday out. The Gospel is inherently about the grace of God, Christ alone, by Him, to Him, and through Him are all things, the plan of salvation that was in place before the world was created. How can a man spend that much time, more than 104 Sundays running (plus many, many more before that - but truly, non stop for more than two years now) on essentially "one" topic?
Because the Gospel isn't topical. It is a life lived, a Person who is infinite yet knowable. Because every single day of your life is a chance to apply the Gospel to your life in a fresh way. Because His mercies are new every morning.
Since His mercies are new....new!....new every morning, that means every day is an opportunity to go deeper in your understanding of Father and His plan from the foundation of the world, to grow in grace by the sacrifice of the Son, and be pointed to all things Christ by the daily, hourly, moment by moment breath of Holy Spirit.
You'll be the rest of your life making the theology of the gospel apply to your biography. It takes effort and clarity and burning love for God to allow grace to affect not just your destiny, but your day and your relationships.
So. You need a pastor-teacher (apostle...prophet...whatever...my husband has been "named" all these things) who is courageous enough to stick to The Message as God gave it, and not chase rabbits like "Purpose" or "Make Peace with your Finances" or "Your So-So Life Now" or "How To Grow a Church" or "Get Your Rear End Out There and Evangelize, Thou Sluggard" or "Spanking...To Do or Not To Do?"
Forget the conferences entitled, "Endless Training Unto Godliness". Here is a quote from this past Sunday's message:
"Jesus said in John 6: 35 that He is the bread of life. And trust me...you are what you eat. If our plate is filled with one good thing, there will be no room for other questionable foods. Filling our spiritual plate with Christ alone will lead to a discovery that Jesus is sufficient for everything we need, and that through Him God has given us everything that pertains to life...and Godliness. Not life without Godliness. Not Godliness without life. Life AND Godliness are found in Christ...not in any Christian tool or character building effort we can expend."
104 messages plus, all on one theme, and he's just getting started. And the calibur of his preaching, its excellence and thorough exposition just keeps getting better.
He is - honestly - one of my heroes of the faith. A man who labors for the love of God and love of God's people, who labors in a small church, without regard to criticism or praise...and people are growing. They are ALL, at various rates and in various stages, becoming rooted and grounded, firmly planted and well established.
He's my preacher, and I'm his wife, and we are a package deal. We got each other's back, period. We are crazy about each other. We are each other's best friend and confidant. We began this thing called "ministry" arm in arm, and I suspect we'll see it through till Christ's return in the exact same way.
