>No More Christian Nice Guy

>Are you a nice person? Would others consider you nice? I continue to see people that confuse the whole of Christian living as being nice. There is NO commandment in scripture to be nice. As Christians we are to walk in love, integrity, service and humility, But we are never told we must be nice.

Nice [nahys] -adjective : 1. pleasing, agreeable; delightful. 2. amiably pleasant

I grew up being told to be “nice” my entire childhood. This left me at times not being who God had me to be as well as just caving under any external pressure I might have run into. In Paul Coughlin’s book, No More Christian Nice Guy, I was reminded that we are not called to be “agreeable” all the time. He also the damage that “niceness” causes to relationships, families and the Christian Church. Jesus Christ himself came to not be “nice” but to bring change. Scripture says that the Christian faith is an offence to unbelievers. If it’s not…some thing’s wrong. You are not called to make everyone happy, to never disagree with someone or be politically correct. Now for those of you that can’t read nuance, let me also say that you’re not called by Jesus to be a jerk! That is not what this is about. It’s about living out the Christian faith in a authentic fashion without being a pansy in the process. I highly recommend this book!

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=beythefra-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=076420369X&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

Not Nice,

Nathan

>The Whole Gospel….

>My son’s preschool class was asked today what Easter was all about. Landon told the class that we have Easter because “Jesus came back alive.” While I was thrilled that He knew why we celebrate Easter, I was sad to hear he was the only one.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is nothing but awe inspiring.  Yet in many pulpits across the world the resurrection is rarely ever preached on. There is great emphasis on Christ’s death on the cross as well there should be. BUT, The resurrection is NO LESS important than the cross. Without Christ’s resurrection from the dead the cross would have just been vain torture. It is by Christ’s death AND resurrection that we have life.

1 Peter 1:3-5

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Bottom line: Christ’s resurrection shouldn’t just be a yearly topic that’s celebrated. It is the bedrock of our Christian faith and should be preached and shared as such!

I will rise because He did,

Nathan