Gospel

My pastor recommended that I read Gospel by J.D. Greear. The key message in this book is that to cultivate a deep and lasting love in your heart for God takes more than reading theology books and going to church each week. It involves more than volunteering at your church or participating in a small group meeting. It goes well beyond the buzz words of "audacious faith" and "radical obedience". It is all about the gospel. The gospel is the New Testament message that Christ has suffered the full wrath of God for each of us in order that we might be made one with God and brought into lasting relationship with Him.

Greear develops his book around something that he refers to as the gospel prayer:

In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more and nothing I have done that makes You love me less.

Your presence and approval are all I need for everlasting joy.

As you have been to me, so I will be to others.

As I pray, I'll measure your compassion by the cross and Your power by the resurrection.

I'm not certain that this constitutes a prayer, but something more like a personal doctrinal statement for Christianity. However, it contains important information that we need to personalize and act on.

There is nothing in this book that hasn't been said before by dozens of other Christian authors. Yet that fact doesn't make this book trite or dismissable. This book represents a worthy effort that has some important reminders of how to approach your faith and to live it out.