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Author: Jeff Kennon

I am the director of the Baptist Student Ministries at Texas Tech University. I am married to Paige, and have three children, Krista, Justin, and Josh.

What is The Gospel?

Published by Jeff Kennon on April 25, 2014

 

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What is the gospel? Check out these definitions below…

The gospel is the announcement that God has reconciled us to Himself by sending His Son Jesus to die as a substitute for our sins, and that all who repent and believe have eternal life in Him. The gospel is not only the means by which you get into heaven, but as the driving force behind every single moment of your life.

–J.D. Greear in Gospel

The good news is that God would claim, clean, and craft for himself a people who would live the cruciform life of loving God and others as it is required in his Law. He would forgive them for living a me-first life and give them a new heart and the power of his Spirit to live the you-first life they were made to live.

–Jimmy Davis in Cruciform

The good news is news about something that actually, literally happened in real life. The good news is that eternal life is possible because Jesus died to forgive sins and came back to life to conquer death

–Jared C. Wilson in Gospel Wakefulness

The gospel is the announcement that God’s kingdom has come in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord and Messiah, in fulfillment of Israel’s Scriptures. The gospel evokes faith, repentance, and discipleship; its accompanying effects include salvation and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

–Michael Bird in Evangelical Theology

The heart of Christianity is Good News. It comes not as a task for us to fulfill, a mission for us to accomplish, a game plan for us to follow with the help of life coaches, but as a report that someone else has already fulfilled, accomplished, followed, and achieved everything for us. Good advice may help us in daily direction; the Good News concerning Jesus Christ saves us from sin’s guilt and tyranny over our lives and the fear of death. It’s Good News because it does not depend on us. It is about God and his faithfulness to his own purposes and promises.

–Michael Horton in The Gospel Driven-Life

The essence of other religions is advice; Christianity is essentially news. Other religions say, “This is what you have to do in order to connect to God forever; this is how you have to live in order to earn your way to God.” But the gospel says, “This is what has been done in history. This is how Jesus lived and died to earn the way to God for you.” Christianity is completely different. It’s joyful news.

–Tim Keller in Jesus The King

One way to summarize God’ message to the worn out and weary is like this–God’s demand: “be righteous”; God’s diagnosis: “no one is righteous”; God’s deliverance: “Jesus is our righteousness.”

–Tullian Tchividjian in One Way Love

 

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Around The Web

Published by Jeff Kennon on April 24, 2014

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I Love My Black Letter Bible – It’s foolish to downplay the Bible’s black-lettered pages if for no other reason than they’re fulfilling a red-lettered promise.

Heaven is Scary…For Real – Yes, the Bible teaches that heaven is a place of ultimate comfort, with “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). But it is also a place where the reality of God’s unbridled majesty reigns supreme – and that’s scary.

What’s Wrong With Producing A “Worship Experience?” – Is it problematic that churches produce worship experiences?

Celebration Influences Destination – Churches become what they celebrate, so churches must examine both what they celebrate and what they want to become.

Nifty graft on discovering your calling – I’m looking for the sweet spot where God wants me to be. 

China on course to become ‘world’s most Christian nation’ within 15 years. – The number of Christians in Communist China is growing so steadily that it by 2030 it could have more churchgoers than America.

A must watch if you grew up in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, or 80’s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2t-8_b7hNs

 

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WIIFM Syndrome

Published by Jeff Kennon on April 23, 2014

Unknown We all struggle with it. Some say we are born with it. Others say we learn it. Regardless, there is no getting around it.

It affects how we spend our time. It affects how we spend our money. And it affects our daily decisions.

What is WIIFM? It’s “What’s In It For Me?” It’s our absorption with self. It’s our “It’s all about me” attitude.

In The Beginning

It started at the beginning. Adam and Eve, in the garden, were deceived into thinking that God, by not letting them eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was holding out on them.

The serpent told Eve, God knows that when you eat of [this tree] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Gen. 3:5). Eve, you need to think about your self!

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate (Gen 3:6-7). 

And with that bite of the fruit, WIIFM syndrome entered the world.    Adam and Eve made themselves the center of the universe instead of God. And they thought it might work out. But it didn’t. Just read Genesis 4-11.

It’s Not Getting Any Better

To this day, we still believe the serpent’s lie. “Do you really think you can be fulfilled by being obedient to God?” “Serving others without thinking about yourself? Are you kidding? If you don’t look out for you, who will?”

Sometimes we even disguise our WIIFM syndrome. As Christians, we like to serve others, but sometimes, by serving others we are only serving ourselves.

Tim Keller writes, “When you say, ‘I’ll serve, as long as I’m getting benefits from it,’ that’s not actually serving people; it’s serving yourself through them. It’s using others by getting them to orbit around you.”

Sometimes we seek friends that can advance our careers or benefit our social standing. We give money to ministries in order to look charitable (and the tax break doesn’t hurt either). It’s hard to get away from WIIFM.

Enter Jesus

Jesus said, For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). And oh how we need rescuing!

Paul wrote, Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:6-8).

Christ did not ask “What’s in it for me?” but “How can I glorify my Father?” And as a result, he took up the cross, died for our sins and rose again.

So now, as we trust and believe in Christ’s work on the cross, we are being saved from the idolatry of self. We are being transformed into his image. And hopefully, we are discovering the joy found in asking not “What’s in it for me?” but “How can I glorify God and bless those around me?”

It is the gospel that pushes us to LOOK AWAY from ourselves and to LOOK UP to Christ in order to LOOK OUT to our neighbors. This is true spirituality.

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Growing Spiritually? How Do You Know?

Published by Jeff Kennon on April 22, 2014

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Question: How do I know if I am growing spiritually?

Answer: I stop asking myself this question. 

I know this might sound a bit crazy, but I want you to think with me about this for a moment. First, I want you to recognize that WE, in our world where we are told it is okay to be self-absorbed, might have a problem with understanding true spirituality. Isn’t it bigger than just self-reflection? Isn’t it more than just thinking about our own personal piety?

Second, do you remember when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was? In Matthew 22:37-40 you find his answer:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

According to Jesus, everything hinges on loving God and loving others. You can’t get any more concise or basic than this.

Third, I want you to think about the gospel. What is it and what does it do? Does it not save us and change us? And what do you suppose it transforms us to be and do? Do you think Matthew 22:37-40 gives us an indication?

Could it be that the gospel pushes us to LOOK AWAY from ourselves and to LOOK UP to Christ in order to LOOK OUT to our neighbors? Is it possible that real spirituality doesn’t take us deeper into ourselves, but away from ourselves?

I have found the thoughts of Tullian Tchividjian (Billy Graham’s grandson) helpful as I have thought through what it means to be a person who is growing spiritually. Tullian writes:

The gospel causes us to look up to Christ and what he did, out to our neighbor and what they need, not in to ourselves and how we’re doing. There’s nothing about the gospel that fixes my eyes on me. Any version of Christianity, therefore, that encourages you to think mostly about you is detrimental to your faith–whether it’s your failures or your successes; your good works or your bad works; your strengths or your weaknesses; your obedience or your disobedience.

I think that true spiritual growth is to become so inwardly conformed by the gospel (see the irony there) that we become upwardly focused on Christ and outwardly focused on our neighbor.

True spiritual growth, therefore, cannot be gauged by self-inspection. Or perhaps it’s more correct to say that it won’t be evaluated that way. Why? Because the deeper one goes into the gospel, the more one looks out and away. Out towards Christ and his crediting to us righteousness by his death on the cross, and away to our neighbor because we know what love is, that he [Jesus] laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers (1 John 3:16).

As I continue to wrestle with these ideas, I’d love to hear, or rather see, any thoughts you might have.

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Jesus Is Risen, THEREFORE…

Published by Jeff Kennon on April 21, 2014

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There is perhaps no greater chapter in the Bible that explains the doctrine of the resurrection than 1 Corinthians 15. In it, Paul helps those in Corinth with their struggle with a bodily resurrection.

Having been influenced by Greek thought, the Corinthians questioned how a physical body that is perishable could be made suitable for the spiritual realm. But Paul emphatically writes that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised (1 Cor. 15:13).

And if Christ has not been raised from the dead, there is no gospel. Our faith is in vain and we are to be pitied above all people. But Christ has been raised. Therefore, we will be raised as well.

Because Christ has been raised, there is life after death. All who are in Christ will receive new bodies because Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor 15:20). In other words, Jesus is the first to be resurrected. In due time, those who are believers will experience the same.

Because Christ has been raised, we have victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:57). The sting of death has been removed for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor. 15:22).

Because Christ has been raised, our faith is not in vain. We are made alive. We have victory over death. We have the hope of a new resurrected body. So what does this mean? What does Paul encourage the Corinthians to do with this truth of the resurrection?

It’s important to note that in all of Paul’s letters, theology leads to praxis. Doctrine leads to the living of every day life. Therefore, the doctrine of the resurrection naturally leads to Paul exhorting believers in how to live.

Paul writes:

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58).

So because Christ is risen, we should now…

  • Hold strongly to the truth of the gospel. Our faith is not in vain. Christ is risen. Don’t be knocked loose from holding to that which is “of first importance” (1 Cor. 15:3-5), the message of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
  • Get to work building up the church. Share the gospel, teach, encourage, serve, pray, and love others. And don’t do such things half-heartedly, but “abound” or “excel” in them.
  • Realize that what we do for the kingdom is not wasted. Whatever you are contemplating on doing for the kingdom, do it! Michael Bird writes that “the resurrection moves us to take risks for God because the resurrection proves that God is behind us, before us and with us. Our labor in the Lord in this life plants seed that will sprout forth in the resurrection life; thus, what work we do in this age will flower in the coming age of new creation.”

From Paul’s understanding of the resurrection, Easter Sunday impacts Monday. It works itself out in everyday life as we seek to glorify God and make Him known.

 

 

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If Not For The Resurrection…

Published by Jeff Kennon on April 20, 2014

th-2 If Christ has not been raised from the dead, then according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19…

All preaching is worthless

If you attended church today, then what you heard was bogus. It was nothing but empty words that had no power to change.

Your faith is worthless

If you have placed your faith in Christ, then it is worthless as you are trusting in something that is a lie. “If Christ hasn’t been raised, the Christian faith is fiction and we are stranded in the fall of humanity, trapped in our imperfections. In other words, there is no hope, no purpose, no plan for the future. This is all there is.” (see Raised? Finding Jesus by Doubting the Resurrection)

The Apostle’s testimony is false

We have been fed a lie. “Without the resurrection, Jesus’ teachings are a sham, half-baked ideas from a wandering Jew with a messiah complex” (from Raised?) And the apostles only continued the conspiracy by passing down the fable of the resurrection from generation to generation.

You are still in our sins

There is no forgiveness. Paul wrote in Romans that Jesus was raised “for our justification” (4:25); that we now “walk in newness of life (6:4-5); and that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (8:1). But if there is no resurrection, all of this is a lie.

Believers who have died are lost forever

If Christ has not been raised, then “the human terror of death as a gloomy portal leading to oblivion and divine condemnation would be justified” (see 1 Corinthians by David Garland). Believers remain in the clutches of death.

Believers are to be pitied.

If there is no resurrection, then “Christians become pathetic dupes, taken in by a colossal fraud,” writes Garland. “Their transformation and glorious spiritual experiences in this life are all make-believe. They are the most pitiable of all human beings because they have embraced Christ’s death and suffering for nothing.”

 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead…

Christ is risen! And you, O death are annihilated!

Christ is risen! And the evil ones are cast down!

Christ is risen! And the angels rejoice!

Christ is risen! And life is liberated!

Christ is risen! And the tomb is emptied of its dead;

For Christ having risen from the dead,

Is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be glory and power, now and forever, and from all ages to all ages.

                  AMEN.

(cited from Evangelical Theology  by Michael F. Bird)

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Wanna Go Deeper In Your Faith?

Published by Jeff Kennon on April 18, 2014

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Want to go deeper in your faith? Most likely, you have been encouraged to do so at some point in your Christian life. If not, let me encourage you to pursue such a challenge.

But have you ever stopped to think about what “going deeper” actually means? Does it mean reading more theology books? Going on more mission trips? Praying longer? Memorizing Scripture? I do think it can involve such things as these, but ultimately, I believe going deeper in one’s faith  is centered on “the cross.”

It is the cross by which we see what it means to go deeper. And it is the cross by which we have the power to do so. Therefore, if we are to go to new depths in our faith, we will never move beyond the cross. It is the cross that informs and transforms our lives.

The Cross Informs

We glimpse the holiness, righteousness, justice, and wrath of God at the cross. We marvel at God’s love, grace, and mercy as well.

Our sin is exposed at the cross. We see its destructiveness. We see its power over our lives. We see how serious it is and how it leads to death.

And all of this is just the beginning. We will never plummet the depths of the cross. David Prior, in his commentary on 1 Corinthians writes that “we never move on from the cross, only into a more profound understanding of the cross.”

Therefore, we must preach the word of the cross to ourselves every day. It is the word of the cross that convicts and cuts against the grain of our self-centeredness. And it informs us as to what it means to live sacrificial lives in service to others.

The Cross Transforms

It is this preaching of the cross to ourselves that leads to transformation.  Paul wrote that the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). We are made anew by the power of God found in the gospel–the message of the cross.

The cross therefore, not only informs, but produces a spirituality that is counter-cultural to the world. The world values power, fame, and fortune, but the spirituality of the cross values suffering, deference, and sacrifice.

The cross produces humility. It creates an others-centeredness. It develops costly love for others. And it pushes us to participation with and service to those who are hurting in the world.

Going Deeper

Those who go deeper with Christ must realize that spiritual depth and insight are found in the humility, self-sacrifice, and surrender that Christian service requires.

Going deeper also means that we suffer. Paul wanted to know [Christ] and the power of his resurrection [and to] share in his sufferings (Philippians 3:10).  “The more a believer becomes like Christ,” writes Kent Hughes, “the more he or she will suffer.” Taking part in “the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings is the fellowship of elevated souls who are growing in their knowledge of Christ.”

The bottom line is that to go deeper in your faith is to become more like Jesus. It is to have his attitude of humility, obedience, and service (see Philippians 2:5-11). To grow spiritually is to be formed and transformed by the cross. It is to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow [Christ] daily (Luke 9:23).

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Around The Web

Published by Jeff Kennon on April 17, 2014

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You’re Waking Up Wrong – Own a smartphone? Do you start the day checking email, Facebook, etc…. If so, it’s a stressful way to start the day, but so many of us do it. We can’t help it.

Three Tips on Being a Friend of Sinners – If Jesus was a friend of sinners, we should be too, it seems — somehow, someway. And instantly, this discussion can drift into a much bigger one about Christians and culture and all that.

 REST – This is not about sleep but about a model for making meetings meaningful. Have you been in a boring or meaningless meeting lately? If so, you might want to take a look at this.

99 Resources to Make Your Personal and Business Life Hum – The right tool can make me more efficient and save hours of my time.

7 Reasons We Don’t Make Disciples – Today, mentoring young people is the most fulfilling thing I do. I enjoy preaching to crowds, but if I have to choose between speaking to an audience of a thousand or talking to a small group of spiritually hungry young leaders, I would choose the latter every time. That’s because relational discipleship is the lost art of Jesus and the secret of New Testament ministry.

Christians Get Depressed Too – David Murray, in relation to his book Christians Get Depressed Too, has released 5 short videos about Christians and depression. These videos present five Christians with five very different stories of depression and of how God gave them hope and help to recover

Love People, Not Evangelism

http://vimeo.com/90669059

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