I think sincerity certainly does count for something. But I also believe it counts for less than we think it does. There are sincere people, for instance, who don’t believe that Jesus is the only way to Heaven.
Years ago I spoke at a Christian event where the vocalist got up to sing one of my favorite songs, “Amazing Grace.” But I was taken aback when I heard the first line:
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a soul like me.”
Notice the revision? The word “soul” was substituted for the writer’s word “wretch.” Why?
I came to Christ at an uncool church (not the one in the photo, but built in the same era). Coming from the family of a tavern owner, and never having been part of a church, it was strange to hear the way people spoke, how they dressed (the men wore suits and ties) and what they sang, including occasional songs in Swedish.
I love the redemptive message of Les Misérables, from book, to stage, to screen. It reminds me of the song “Amazing Grace,” because it is deeply loved even by those who don’t fully believe its message. The beauty of the story is so great that even those who don’t believe in God, his grace and forgiveness and his ability to transform a man, still love it.
When it is so common to ask “Where is God When Evil Happens?” I can’t think of a better way to end 2012 than to post this from John Piper, who asks “Where Was God in All the Goodness of 2012?”
Holiness was once a central component of following Christ. But for many today, the Christian life is little more than a celebration of cheap grace and pseudo-liberty, with a high tolerance for sin. In this well-written and much-needed book, Kevin DeYoung thoughtfully points us to an unpopular yet strangely liberating truth—that God is holy and expects us to be holy.
Living by grace means affirming daily our unworthiness. We are never thankful for what we think we deserve. We are deeply thankful for what we know we don’t deserve.
Years ago, I wrote an article about Westley Allen Dodd, a man who was executed in 1993 for torturing, raping and murdering three young boys in Vancouver, Washington, about twenty minutes from where I live
My father was the most resistant person to the gospel I’ve ever known. He warned me never to talk to him again about “that religious stuff.”
At age eighty-four, Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. One day he phoned, very upset.
I love the Puritans for their emphasis on God's greatness and grace. Listen to this prayer of Thomas Reade.
I'm the author of over 40 books and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries. I love Jesus, my wife Nanci, and our daughters, sons and five grandsons!
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