In a post back in October I mentioned that last year the media guys at Coral Ridge dragged me kicking and screaming into twitter world. I had no interest whatsoever in adding one more thing to my life. But since that time, I've come to love it. I've even been called a twitter-holic. I jokingly tell people that I've finally found my calling-that God has hardwired me for 140 characters.

In all seriousness, it's been a huge blessing for me. I love words. I love turns of phrases. I think in sentences. I also love the gospel-and I can't stop thinking about it. The gospel is the only thing I want to communicate. And I want to help Christians think out the deep implications of the gospel and revel in the rich resources of the gospel everyday and in every way.

As a preacher, therefore, I'm constantly trying to come up with different, concise, memorable ways to share God's good news and Twitter challenges me to do this. It's also a great tool for me personally as I've come to use it as a way to catalog my gospel thoughts and quotes. It's become a way for me to "journal" what God's teaching me about the gospel.

So, from time to time I will gather together a handful of my "gospel tweets" and post them here. I hope the truths in these sentences help you the way that they've helped me.

  • God's intention for the gospel is that it not only grow wider in the world but that it also grow deeper in Christians.
  • When you trust in Jesus, your identity and worth is no longer based on what you can accomplish but on what Jesus accomplished for you.
  • I preach the gospel with life or death passion, not because I believe the gospel fully but because I don't believe the gospel fully!
  • One reason we fail in OUR doing is because we fail to grasp at a deep, heart level what JESUS has already done.
  • One reason we give up in our efforts to obey is because we obsess more over our performance for Jesus than we do Jesus' performance for us.
  • The tent of God's grace has plenty of room for our mistakes.
  • The gospel frees us from the slavery of becoming preoccupied with our goodness.
  • The gospel frees us to GIVE UP our place for others, not GUARD IN our place from others because our security is in Christ, not our place.
  • God's grace toward us is not a lessening of his demands. Grace is experienced when we realize these demands have already been met in Jesus.
  • The gospel is meant to bring us to the end of ourselves so that we finally place our meaning, purpose, and sense of well-being in Jesus.
  • Because Christians find our emotional security in Christ's achievement for us, we can admit our wrongs and weaknesses and not feel deflated.
  • My struggle isn't believing my performance can EARN God's favor; my struggle is believing my performance can KEEP God's favor.
  • Legalism says God will love us if we change. The gospel says God will change us because He loves us.
  • Only the gospel can cause you to rejoice and be glad in your expendability: because Jesus was someone, your FREE to be no one.
  • God's love for me and approval of me does not get bigger when I obey or smaller when I disobey. This makes me want to obey him more, not less!
  • Fall in love with Jesus' work for you and you'll grow. Fall in love with your work for Jesus and you'll shrink.
  • Those who end up obeying more are those who increasingly realize that their standing with God is not based on their obedience, but Christ's.
  • If you're overly concerned with what others think then your living in the prison of human approval. Only the gospel can set you free!
  • Legalism says, "Pursue holiness to make God happy with you." The gospel says, "Pursue holiness because God is happy with you." HUGE DIFFERENCE!
  • What motivates our obedience determines whether or not it is a sacrifice of praise. Obedience to God's commands prompted by fear or guilt is not true obedience.
  • The pursuit of holiness must be anchored in, and motivated by, the grace of God; otherwise it is doomed to failure.
  • Our spiritual lives become unimpressive and laborious when we spend our time and energy trying to spiritually impress God.
  • We only start "doing better" as we increasingly focus on what Jesus has already done, not on what we must do.
  • When we transfer trust from our success to Christ's success, we experience the abundant freedoms that come from not having to measure up.