Written by Mark Driskill:
Wednesday May 11, 2011
Read Romans 1:3
“Concerning his son…”

The gospel is about Jesus Christ. He is the very heart and soul of the gospel. In fact he is the gospel. It saddens the heart to hear any preaching that claims to be gospel but has barely a mention of Jesus. Much of what is vomited out in churches across our land is nothing more than cleverly reworded pop psychology. Many of the schemes proclaimed from our pulpits are little more than infomercials. People come in looking for the radical life changing message of hope and walk out having received the same thing they heard on a secular talk show only with a few verses sprinkled in to make it feel holy. Many preachers have learned how to retool the vain philosophies of the culture so they sound like the teachings of Jesus.

Others claim to preach a full gospel, when in it is only full of the doctrines of men. A gospel that is truly full must be full of Jesus. This is more than sprinkling his name over our messages to give them a Christian flavor. Paul tells us in Galatians that any gospel other than the one proclaimed from the beginning is no gospel at all, and the one who preaches any other gospel is accursed. Oh God forgive every bit of religious dribble that I have force fed your people. Cleanse me of my need to feel hip and relevant by preaching the philosophies of this age. Open my eyes to see and hear the gospel of Jesus. The true gospel must not only mention Jesus, it must portray Jesus. His life must come through in such a way that those who hear it can feel his heartbeat pulsing through the spoken words. His healing hands must be felt. His voice must be heard. His eyes must see into the hearers soul. What a tragedy it is to preach a message that is only a massage for the ego.

If after I have preached, all people can say is “nice sermon” and all they can talk about is how well the points were illustrated then my preaching has failed. Jesus did not come to the earth to impress us with rhetoric. He came to seek and save the lost, to heal the sick, and to deliver the oppressed. If that is true then any gospel that fails to invite people to the same is no gospel at all. Friends can we not see the tragedy before us? Can we not see the wasteland we call religion? Can we not see the sheep languishing for good news while we shepherds posture ourselves for greener pastures?

Oh God forgive us for abandoning the gospel so we might tantalize the itching ears of a fickle culture. Help us Lord to rediscover the gospel concerning your son. Help us proclaim freedom to the captive, not through our clever ideas, but through the crucified and risen lamb of God. Only his blood can cover our sin. Only his touch can heal our diseases. Only his love can heal our broken homes. Only his power can break the yoke of addiction. Lord break my heart for the gospel. Break my heart for those who need it most. Crucify my fleshly preachments and replace them with the risen one who comes to seek and save that which is lost!

Pastor Mark Driskill
Web Minister of Begotten by the Word web ministry
See our website at http://ourchurch.com/member/b/bbtw
and www.facebook.com (to group “Begotten by the Word”)
Begotten by the word is a ministry of Helping Hands Christian resources-Evangelism Outreach www.hhcr05.org
(Feel free to copy in any way that will bring glory to God and further his kingdom.)

Contact information:
Email: driskill@hilbillymail.com
Facebook: Mark Driskill
Address: PO Box 1159 Jackson KY.