Tullian Strikes Again…

Sorry I’m posting so many quotes from this guy, I just can’t get his stuff out of my head.  Here’s one I came across while researching for a talk I’m giving tomorrow:

“Sadly, too many churches have helped perpetuate the impression that Christianity is primarily concerned with legislating morality.  Believe it or not, Christianity is not about good people getting better.  If anything, it is good news for bad people coping with their failure to be good.  The heart of the Christian faith is Good News, not good advice, good technique, or good behavior…  Too many people have walked away from the church, not because they’re walking away from Jesus, but because the church has walked away from Jesus.  Ask any of the ‘religious nones’ who answered their census questions differently in past years, and I guarantee you will hear a story about spiritual burnout or heavy-handed condemnation from fellow believers, or both.”

Tullian Tchividjian “One-Way Love: Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World“

Tullian Tchivijian on the Urgency of Grace

“The news of God’s inexhaustible grace has never been more urgent because the world has never been more exhausted. In our culture where success equals life and failure equals death, people spend their lives trying to secure their own meaning, worth, and significance. And as a result our culture is exhausted emotionally, physically, relationally, spiritually. Real life is long on law and short on grace…  We all need some relief.”

Tullian Tchivijian “One-Way Love”

Tullian Tchividjian on Preaching

Last week Tullian did a message on the vision of Coral Ridge Church which contained some gems on the purpose of preaching.  Thought I’d share them with you:

“The pulpit is reserved for one specific thing: to diagnose and deliver slaves.”

“Every sermon from every text should show that you are worse than you think you are… and that God is greater than you could ever hope or imagine.  That you are a great sinner and he [Jesus] is a great Savior.”

“Preachers are not life coaches.  They’re good news specialists.”

Declare and Demonstrate: Part 1 | Tullian Tchividjian from Coral Ridge | LIBERATE on Vimeo.

tired of the hype…

“Awesome…”  “Passion…”  “Unique…”  “Radical…”  “Relevant…” “Missional…” “Life Changing…”  “Transforming…”  “Growing…”  “Life-equipping…”  “Living-Your-Purpose…”

Is anyone else tired of Church hype?  Above are a scattering of words picked out from some church websites.  Judging from each page you’d think that these churches are individually ushering in the second coming of Christ.  Is anyone else growing weary?

Christless Christianity & Atheist Mega-Churches

This morning a friend of mine emailed me a news article from the Associated Press entitled, “Atheist ‘Mega-Churches’ Take Root Across US, World.”  Needless to say the headlined grabbed my attention.  As the title suggests, this article chronicles the rise of “Atheist Mega-Churches.”  Yes… That’s not a typo.  Author Gillian Flaccus writes:

“Nearly three dozen gatherings dubbed “atheist mega-churches” by supporters and detractors have sprung up around the U.S. and Australia – with more to come – after finding success in Great Britain earlier this year.”

More Tullian Tchividjian

I’m sorry to keep quoting this guy, but he’s dropping some gospel bombs lately.

“Ever since the fall of man in Genesis 3, we’ve been obsessed with ourselves. Add to that fire the fuel of the Enlightenment’s mantra, “Progress is inevitable”, and the “manifest destiny” DNA that has marked our country since its inception, and it’s no surprise that our man-centered culture of narcissism has seeped into the church. Whether it takes the crass form of “health, wealth, and prosperity” or the more theologically sophisticated form of an obsession with “sanctification” and “holiness”, the bottom line is, we have concluded that this whole thing is about our transformation, not Christ’s substitution.

Great Article by Tullian Tchividjian in the Washington Post

“In recent years, a handful of popular books have been published urging a more robust and radical expression of the Christian faith. I heartily amen the desire to take one’s faith seriously and demonstrate before the watching world a willingness to be more than just Sunday churchgoers. The unintended consequence of this push, however, is that we can give people the impression that Christianity is first and foremost about the sacrifices we make rather than the sacrifice Jesus made for us – our performance rather than his performance for us. The hub of Christianity is not “do something for Jesus.” The hub of Christianity is “Jesus has done everything for you.” And my fear is that too many people, both inside and outside the church, have heard our “do more, try harder” sermons and pleas for intensified devotion and concluded that the focus of the Christian faith is the work that we do instead of the work God has done for us in the person of Jesus…  The heart of the Christian faith is Good News not good behavior.When Sunday mornings become one more venue for performance evaluation, can you blame a person for wanting to stay at home?”

Check out the rest here.

Ray Ortlund Quote

“When the righteous cannot connect the realities of their experience with the truths of God, then God is calling them to trust him that there is more to it than they can see.”

Quoted in “Glorious Ruin” by Tullian Tchividjian

Our Webs of Dysfunction (Redux)

Because of the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ’s Annual Gathering, I don’t have time to post anything new this week.  This said, here’s one of my favorites from my old blog: www.shawn-thoughts.blogspot.com originally posted July 19, 20012.

I’ve been seeing my counselor a bit more lately.  The addition of a second child combined with the pressures of life has really thrown me for a loop.  One way this imbalance rears its ugly head is in my anger.  Not making excuses, but I come from a long line of bad tempers on both sides of my family.  Because of this, anger is usually one of the first signs that my life is off kilter.  On a side note, when I say anger I don’t mean the emotion per say, rather I’m speaking of the almost unquenchable desire to hit inanimate objects (usually a wall).  So needless to say a trip to the counselor was needed.

Tullian Tchividjian Quote

“Since we never leave off sinning, we can never leave off the gospel.”

Tullian Tchividjian “Jesus+Nothing=Everything“