The Key to Joy, Growth and Passion: Is Your Life Cross Centered?
Posted by godwordistruth on 26 October, 2009
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him Rev 1:7
In the embedded video clip from WorshipGod 2009 conference, CJ Mahaney’s explained why Sovereign Grace Ministry’s preaching focus and singing focus during corporate worship is always centered on and saturated with the Cross and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our corporate worship should be guided by the tone and focus of worship so clearly described in the Book of Revelation. While a Holy God bid us to come boldly to Him at His Throne of Grace (Heb 4:16), all who are born of God must always remember that we cannot approach God unacceptably except through a Mediator (1 Tim 2:5), through the Lord Jesus Christ on the basis of what He has accomplished on the Cross
Read CJ Mahaney’s blog on this interview: Why So Many Cross-Centered Songs? by C.J. Mahaney
For the complete 70 minutes video of C.J. Mahaney’s interview together with Bob Kauflin at the WorshipGod09 conference, follow these links:
“Lessons Learned from Three Decades of Leading.”
In the book titled “The Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney with Kevin Meath“, CJ Mahaney wrote following in “The Most Important Truth Is the Easiest to Forget”:
THE ONLY ESSENTIAL MESSAGE
I hope to teach my son many other things as well, but the gospel is the one essential thing for him to know.
“The gospel,” writes Jerry Bridges, “is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history. Yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experiencing the joy of living by it.”
Author John Stott agrees. “All around us we see Christians and churches relaxing their grasp on the gospel, fumbling it, and in danger of letting it drop from their hands altogether.”
Sometimes the most obvious truths are the ones we need to be reminded of the most.
George Orwell once noted that “sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.” Perhaps the purpose of this book is to restate the obvious, yet oft-neglected, truth of the gospel, to bring it before you one more time.
On the other hand, maybe you’re thinking, “I already know this truth-I’ve known it for years.” That’s good, but let me ask you this:
Is your life cross centered?
The symptoms that arise from not being cross centered are easy to spot. Do any of these describe you?
• You often lack joy.
• You’re not consistently growing in spiritual maturity.
• Your love for God lacks passion.
• You’re always looking for some new technique, some “new truth” or new experience that will pull all the pieces of your faith together.
If you can relate to any of these symptoms, let me encourage you to keep reading. As you learn to live a cross centered life, you’ll learn:
• How to break free from joy-robbing, legalistic thinking and living
• How to leave behind the crippling effects of guilt and condemnation
• How to stop basing your faith on your emotions and circumstances
• How to grow in gratefulness, joy, and holiness
These aren’t the overhyped promises of an author wanting to convince you to read his book. These are God’s promises to all who respond to His wonderful plan of salvation.
Too many of us have moved on from that glorious plan. In our never-ending desire to move forward and make sure that everything we do, say, and think is relevant to modern living, too many of us have stopped concentrating on the wonders of Jesus crucified.
Too many of us have fumbled the most important truth of the Bible, and therefore we’ve suffered the consequences.
But it’s not too late to change. It’s not too late to restate and reestablish the obvious truth as the most important truth in your life.
The message that Paul had for Timothy is the same message God has for you. You need to rediscover the truth that first saved you. The key to joy, to growth, to passion isn’t hiding from you. It’s right before your eyes.
It’s the gospel.
