What is “Gospel-Centrality?”

After attending the Desiring God National Conference, I’ve been mulling over the idea of “gospel-centrality.”

The idea of being “gospel-centered” is very appealing. Surely every Christian should strive to have the historical, apostolic gospel at the center of his life.

The question bouncing around my head has been, “what does that mean?”

What does it mean to be “gospel-centered?” At a superficial level, I suppose it means that as a Christian, I must live life in such a way that my motivations and attitudes stem from what Christ accomplished on my behalf through his death, burial, and resurrection. But this is still vague.

So, in my personal life and in ministry, I’m trying to nail down what it means to have Jesus and his gospel as the motivation, means, and goal of what I do and why I exist.

Brain Dump on Desiring God National Conference

This past weekend, I attended the Desiring God National Conference. For the uninitiated, the Desiring God website describes their mission as follows:

Everything we do aims to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.

This conference gathered thousands of people under the theme, Think: The Life of the Mind & and the Love of God.

Overall, the conference was excellent. I’m still processing all of what was shared from each of the speakers. But below are some bullet points that I took from the whole experience:

  • The Gospel must be central. The strand of Gospel-centrality weaved through the entire fabric of the conference. Jesus Christ, his life, death, and resurrection took priority in each of the talks. It was helpful to see the implications of the Gospel on how we think.
  • The mission of the Church is to make disciples. Kevin DeYoung gave a helpful message that considered the primary mission of the church, ultimately concluding that we must fulfill the Great Commission to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ.
  • Thinking should be a means of loving God. This is a simple but helpful reminder, especially for those of us in seminary. The act of thinking through the Bible, studying systematic theologies, and the whole pursuit of knowledge entails such a danger of becoming prideful and losing sight of the first commandment, to love God. Piper helped illustrate how thinking about God is a means to loving Him more, and not necessarily synonymous with loving Him.

Again, the conference was huge. In the coming days, I plan to digest and post some more of the details of the messages.

Youth Retreats and Chocolates

Do you remember when the movie, Forrest Gump came out? I was in the fifth grade. I remember seeing the movie, and not understanding most of the historical references. But for reasons I’m still not sure of, I remember that pseudo-sage saying that weaves its way throughout the movie:

“Life is like a box of cho-co-lates. You never know what you’re gunna get.”

Last week, our youth group went on a retreat. We traveled about two hours into the mountains, and spent 36 hours at a camp in West Virginia. And I have found that when you combine teens + camp + crazy activities and an aim to preach the gospel, you should expect the unexpected. Here are a few reasons why.

  1. Being out of your comfort zone unearths your character. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s bad. But there’s definitely something about being outside your comfort zone that draws out what is really in your heart. Some of our teens had to face insecurities that they might not have realized existed just because they were out of their normal, suburban environment. And sometimes, being away from home just tempts you to do the stupid things you only imagine doing at home.
  2. Being on a “retreat” can create an environment where you can be more open. Again, a change in an environment can be just what a teen (or adult for that matter) has been holding out for. They may resist the Holy Spirit just a little less.
  3. Emotions run high. Between the excitement, the lack of sleep, and the impending doom of “real life” upon return, emotions are at a “Harrison Ford-Angry Face” high level. I think this has a lot to do with item #2. This will lead some to remember the camp as an impacting moment where they connected with others and with God in a way they had never before. I don’t mean to say that emotionalism or emotion for emotion’s sake is good. However, when high emotions are experienced as with equally weighty truth is proclaimed, lives are changed.

Youth retreats are predictably unpredictable. But in the middle of all the activities and antics, my hope is that Christ is exalted, lives are changed, and Christian community grows.

Music for Your Monday: Meet the Rizers

Being a father is a crazy thing. My son, who I like to affectionately call “the boy,” is a mimic machine. For better or worse, he is constantly watching what I’m doing, oftentimes repeating my actions down to the smallest detail. The other day, I was chewing gum while I changed thy boy’s diaper. I noticed that he kept opening and closing his mouth repeatedly. It finally dawned on me that he was “chewing gum” too!

One of the things I hope to accomplish as a dad is to help the boy learn to love the Bible and hide it away in his heart. As David says in Psalm 119:9,

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word. (Psalm 119:9, ESV)

It is a weighty responsibility to teach my son to memorize Scripture. I intend to use every means available to me, including music.

Re:Sound, the music branch of the Resurgence, has released Meet the Rizers an album that seeks to be both biblical in content and musically excellent. As far as children’s music goes, it is some of the most enjoyable, catchy yet not aggravating music I’ve listened to in a while. The production is polished and the songs are very memorable, which is important, since the band name “the Rizers” is shorthand for “the Memo-rizers.”

Meet the Rizers is ten tracks of Scripture set to excellent pop music. It’s exciting to have music that I don’t mind listening that also teaches the boy to memorize Scripture. You should check it out. The album is available on Amazon MP3, iTunes, or the old school way. You can find out more about the Rizers here.

Music for Your Monday: Zach Nielsen Trio

Zach Nielsen of the blog, Take Your Vitamin Z, has recently released his first jazz EP, Songs In a Minor Key. The album features five songs, three of which are jazz standards. The other two are jazz arrangements of Nirvana’s Come As You Are and The Police’s Message In A Bottle.

I’ve been listening to the album over the past week. I’m definitely not the avid jazz listener, but I’ve enjoyed this album. The two pop covers are engaging takes on the well-known originals. Overall though, I think Nardis is my favorite track. It’s extremely laid back, something you’d listen to while reclining on your back porch and drinking iced tea.

You can get more information about Zach and his band at his website and you can get Songs In a Minor Key from iTunes or Amazon. It’s worth the money.