The Gospel: d) All of the Above

Both/and.
Yes, but.
Right, nevertheless.
And also.

Hey, today, why not pray that God will overfill your cup with grace. So when Uncle So-and-so is picking on you, when Grandma is comparing you with your more successful cousin, when Mom or Dad is doing that passive aggressive thing about why you don't come home more often (when you happen to be home right now! gosh! :-), endure. Endure and respond with love.
Make it your little secret. Inside you will feel like you're winning a secret battle.

Vomit grace all over the table, horn-o'-plenty centerpiece and all. Be Jesus at that table and overturn it with kindness.

Have a great weekend. Go worship with people not like you.

{the rest of the post is really good too)

Who is our audience?
God
What does the audience want?
glory

(Great reminder. Thanks Jared)

Jared Wilson continues his glorious practice of taking nail, hitting with hammer:

The Missing Ingredient

I really think it may be joy.

I'm just speculating here.

When I weary of a doctrinal compatriot's constant knocking of the Church to the extent that it essentially becomes their raison d'blog, I stop seeing "prophet" and start seeing "scrooge." I see the pervasive unhappiness with the spiritual quality of fellow believers not as indication of the blogger's properly calibrated prophetic barometer but as indication of their thinly veiled joylessness.

Remember: only God gets to vomit people out.

Sorry for the long absence. Everything's been very good, just busy.

A few quick notes:

What do you think of the new theme? It is a port of a WordPress theme called Red Train. I've been working on new Bloo themes lately. If you're a Bloo blogger interested in spicing up your blog (or if you're just interested in seeing the available themes), you should check out the Bloo Themes site.

Also - happy birthday Andrew!

And, finally, Jared suggests 11 church innovations:

1. Sing hymns.

2. Preach through a book of the Bible.

3. Talk about sin.

4. Celebrate the Lord's Supper more frequently.

5. Have a Scripture reading in the service.

6. Transition creative content from aping popular commercials and other media to creating your own, wholly original content.

7. Read, study, and teach theology.

8. Put as much effort and resources into men's ministry as you do women's. On the flipside, pair up younger women with wise, older women in mentoring relationships with the same conviction you have about men being in accountability and mentoring partnerships.

9. Hire from within.

10. In promotional material, use actual photos of actual people in your community.

11. Preach the Gospel.

My good friend and fellow Thinkling, Jared Wilson, is now solo-blogging over at Gospel-Driven Church.

It is an important blog, and I highly recommend it. Check it out!