tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-110305602013-05-25T09:24:05.513-04:00discoveries made during my mission in the gospelRob Wilkersonnoreply@blogger.comBlogger586125This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site.tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11030560.post-80397688536416678942012-08-28T09:34:00.002-04:002012-08-28T10:11:35.252-04:002012-08-28T10:11:35.252-04:00

Our recent move into a new home and new neighborhood has presented itself with a few challenges.  This differences are especially highlighted given where we used to live just a little over a month ago.  We went from a neighborhood - or "the hood" as it was affectionately referred to - where people lived outside and only slept inside...to a neighborhood - or "white suburbia" as my kids call it -

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Do you ever wonder why there are so many churches, so many denominations, and yet so little getting along with one another?  Every wonder why so many churches do so little ministry together?  Yet unity plays such an important role in the prayer of Jesus in John 17 that He goes so far as to say that world evangelization rests squarely on the shoulders of the unity of His people!  In this series

Rob Wilkersonnoreply@blogger.com0http://www.robwilkerson.net/2012/08/pursuing-unity-of-gospel.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11030560.post-53244858429712532042012-08-21T16:37:00.002-04:002012-08-21T16:38:33.345-04:002012-08-21T16:38:33.345-04:00

Introduction Part One: A Survey of the Simple Gospel of Forgiveness of Sins in Luke's Gospel Part Two:  Forgiveness of Sins is the Simplest Foundation for Worship Part Three:  Forgiveness of Sins is the Simplest Foundation for our Prayer Life Part Four:  Forgiveness of Sins is the Simplest Foundation for our Life Mission Part Five:  The Shape of the Simple Gospel Part Six:  The Structure of the

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Spiritual Cardiology 101: The Oxygen of the Heart is Promise Spiritual Cardiology 201: You Do What You Really Believe Makes You Happy Spiritual Cardiology 301: Proper Heart-Health Begins in the Mind Spiritual Cardiology 401: How Legalism Destroys the Christian's Heart Spiritual Cardiology:  Heart Healthy Maintenance is a Fight! Spiritual Cardiology:  Returning to Spiritual Cardiology Kindergarten

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To summarize and conclude, any attempt you or I make at obeying God without promise and hope as the oxygenating force in our hearts will always lead to legalistic obedience. This is obedience that attempts to bear fruit for God without being nourished by the Spirit and power of God. The Spirit and power of God operates on making and keeping promises. Nourishing your heart with the history of

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We must fight with all our might to maintain the health of the two ventricles in our spiritual hearts.  Promise and hope must be kept fresh and alive in order for our hearts to pump Spirit-oxygenated blood into our bodies so that we can be real living sacrifices for God (Rom. 12:1-2). We become transformed by renewing our minds. We renew our minds with promise and hope, with the promises God

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An all too-often illustration experienced in the ministry is single adults who hear God's promise to fulfill their lives with a powerfully, godly spouse one day. But in the face of sexual temptation they begin to doubt. Legalism then tells them to obey God's commands regarding sexual purity. But because they have begun to doubt God's promises in the past, as well as His ability or faithfulness

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The right and left atria receive oxygen-depleted blood into the heart and hold it there until it is ready to be pumped into the ventricles where is re-oxygenated. In a similar fashion, our spiritual atria receive promise-depleted thoughts which are held within. It is here that we find the need to, "take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5). It is in this moment that

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Obedience is not some strength or decision a Christian musters up against all odds. Self-denial is excruciating at times, but it isn't a path one chooses despite everything else inside of them. Obedience and self-denial are choices, to be sure. But they are fruits which naturally grow from the sap that is in the branches, which is in the trunk, which is in the roots, which is all in the DNA of

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The heart is a simple, yet wonderful organ. Along with the brain, it controls everything in our bodies. As I was reading, studying and praying one day on the gospel and the promises and hope that sustain the life of the gospel in our hearts and lives, it struck me that the human heart seems to provide a wonderful parallel for the spiritual heart.Human Cardiology 101This may be an education for

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Conclusion By far one of the most difficult disciplines to develop as a Christian...at least in our first-world, immediate-gratification culture...is prayer.  It's the one thing that is supposed to be to our souls like breath is to our lungs.  And yet...it's seems so difficult...to...breathe! There is such a ridiculously massive amount of emphasis placed upon prayer in the Scriptures.  

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Part Six: True Unity Has a PROGRESSIVE Nature Farming is not for impatient people.  Fruit farming is especially not for impatient people...like me.  I don't mind vegetable farming for one simple reason: I get to eat what I planted in a few short months.  I DO mind the wait-time on fruit farming for one simple reason: I can't eat any fruit for about three years...since that's how long it

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Part Five: True Unity Has a MISSIONAL Nature Years ago when I was a kid growing up in the 70's we sang a famous song in small groups, usually with a long-haired, bearded fellow playing the guitar.  The song was "They'll Know We are Christians By Our Love."  The song was written almost forty years ago, and it is outstanding.  I wish I could play it on the guitar today for my family and

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Part Four: True Unity Has a VISIBLE Nature Most things in life have two parts: the part we can see, and the part we can't see.  To be sure, there's always a bigger and more powerful microscope to peer into the part we can't see with our naked eye. Nonetheless, there will always remain questions we have about how and why the tiniest things we can see operate the way they do. The part we

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Part Three True Unity Has a SPIRITUAL Nature Our world is big on unity...but only outwardly.  That's why so much time and money is spent on peace treaties and peace accords.  It's all about getting people to agree and get along outwardly.  And you may certainly succeed in getting people to sign a sheet of paper with agreements and concessions and compromises. But the in the end, how do

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Part Two: True Unity Has a HEAVENLY Nature I was always amused in high school and college by other students who were always looking to take shortcuts on their reading assignments.  In literature class I recall being assigned hefty classics to read, after which we would be tested on.  The tests would comprise of something along the lines of an essay, multiple choice, or perhaps fill in the

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Part One: True Unity Has a FOCUSED Nature One night while I was praying for my kids, one of them asked why we don't pray for all the other kids they knew.  The answer was simple, yet somewhat revolutionary to them, especially in light of the way we are unwittingly trained to think by our culture. I told them that we don't purposefully choose to not pray for all the other children they know.

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John 17 represents the last recorded prayer we have of Jesus.  This chapter is often referred to as “The REAL Lord’s Prayer” and “The High Priestly Prayer.”  It’s significant then to see just what it is exactly that Jesus prays for as He prepares to meet His death, burial, and resurrection. 17:1 provides a basis for seeing the prayer of Jesus as a sort of conclusion or consummation on

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Introduction to the Series One of the most fascinating things in sports for me is the interpersonal aspect.  How one man is able to get so many different people, with different issues and personalities, together, on the same team, on the same field, using the same ball, using the same plays…it’s all very fascinating.  It’s teamwork.  It’s great coaching and leadership.  It’s so many awesome

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Too often we can allow too much to muddy the waters of the gospel by adding our own personal opinions, theological preferences, and denominational aims.  Over time this has the effect of making it quite difficult to see what the gospel actually is.  This lack of clarity tends to absorb our time, money, resources, and energy until our heads are spinning from exhaustion, and we are left wondering

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Conclusion How many times have you read a story in the Bible only to come to it freshly one day and see something you've never seen before?  My hope in this series is that you will have come to see the story of Zaccheus in Luke 19 in a fresh new light.  The story has a deep impact on believers and unbelievers alike. If you are not a believer and you've read through this series on Pursuing

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Part Three When Jesus Calls a Person, They Must Come His Way...and Quickly! If parenting has taught me anything it's that kids (including me, when I was that age) want too much information before doing what their parents ask...or tell.  This can be particularly frustrating when I have a bright idea I want to surprise my kids with.   I often get these ideas.  They come to me like a flash

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Part Two: When Jesus Seeks the Lost, He Will Find Them, and He Will Call Them One of the greatest enemies of the Jesus-follower is loneliness.  The powers of darkness will stop at nothing to unleash a sense of loneliness, small or great, on every believer, usually at some season of their life.  Despite the truth of God's omnipresence, it is easy to be in one of the pitfalls of life and fall

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Part One: Jesus is Seeking and Saving the Lost Every building is clearly identifiable as a building.  And there's only one reason why.  Every building has a structure.  If it's not a building it's probably either a tent or a shanty. But even then tents are identifiable  for one reason: they have a structure.  The structure of each makes it clear as to what that structure actually is.  

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We recently had dinner with a couple who were the parents of four awesome kids, all eight years old and younger.  Over some Mexican food one night on a triple date with another couple, the mother-of-four turned to ask us for some parenting "advice."  She assumed that (a) since we had four children, and (b) since we had been married for nineteen years, and (c) since two of our kids are

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