How do I Know my Repentance is Good enough?

We know that the demand to repent is as basic as it gets in Jesus’ message. It is equally basic to, and almost synonymous with, the command, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). Which brings up the same question…how do I know I got Jesus? Assurance of salvation comes from knowing Him more and more (sanctification). Repentance is similar to that and as we must repent (and believe) to be born-again. In Jesus’ message on repentance is not behavior but the inner change that gives rise to new God-centered, Christ-exalting behavior. So how do we know if my continued repentance is genuine?

In other words, all of us would ask at any given time, "Am I real? Am I playing games? Is my faith real?" And remember, in our flesh, we don’t do anything perfectly, that’s why it all goes back to the person and work of Christ. Jonathan Edwards would say it like this: "So you think you're humble? What if you're boasting in your humility?" And you admit, "Yes, I probably am boasting in my humility." And he would ask, "Well, what if your confession that you are boasting in your humility is really a pretense, and you're still boasting in your humility?" He gave question after question that will make you realize, "There's no ending to this, it’s circular." You just keep going around and around, because you can always ask yourself, "How do you know?" You can always doubt yourself. There's no way, by mere self-analysis, to come to a point where you're looking at something that you can say, "Definitely authentic!" Like one Puritan’s prayer: “Even our tears of repentance need to be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ.”

So where in the world does assurance come from? The answer is that, even though self-examination is commended and wise up to a point (1 Cor. 11:28), the bottom line of assurance comes when you stop analyzing and you look to Christ and you look and you look and you look until Christ himself in his glory and his sufficiency by reflex, as it were, awakens a self-forgetful "Yes!" to him. I will say, that there is a greater assurance when we practice repentance on a daily basis. I use the word practice, but surely we fall short of God’s glory everyday and so short accounts are a needed discipline. As Boreham would say, “Keep short accounts with God! Do not let the arrears mount up! Do not carry anything forward from today to tomorrow! You have lost your temper? Some ugly thought has swept across the pure screen of your fancy? You failed, when the guidance was clear, to follow the gleam? Get the whole thing settled up at once! If we confess, He is faithful and just to forgive! Keep short accounts with God!”^[1]

I will add that our best moments of assurance are not the moments when we’re thinking about our assurance. The reason is because the very moment that we’re thinking about our assurance, we have the capacity at that moment to doubt our assurance (Oh, the flesh is weak!). This little voice, whether it's your conscience or the devil, is saying, "You think you have assurance, but..."

And so the only answer anyone can give and that the Bible declares is, "Look to the cross! Look to Christ!" Look to the object of our faith. And if we're able to look to the cross, if we’re able to see Him as sufficient and satisfying and powerfully able to carry all your sins, and we find ourselves drawn out of ourselves (so simple and yet simple doesn’t mean easy) to say "Yes" to Him, that's what we want. We are assured. He is our assurance at that moment. The way Paul puts it in Romans 8 is that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. The witness of the Holy Spirit is the work of the Holy Spirit enabling you to look at Christ, feel him as your own, see him as precious, and say Galatians 2:20 personally: "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." It's that “me” that is the settling of our assurance.

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^[1] Frank W. Boreham, “The Man and the Writer,” in All the Blessings of Life: The Best Stories of F. W. Boreham (Eureka, CA: John Broadbanks Publishing, 2010), 115.

To Repent or not to Repent

John the Baptist, is a good example who shouted out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This call to repentance was an urgent appeal to sinners. No one who refuses to repent can ever enter the kingdom of God. Repentance is a prerequisite, a necessary condition for salvation. On a side note, this is also part of your first question about “praying to receive Jesus for salvation.” It’s one of those answers that are yes and no depending on how you defined words and altitude for that matter. Prayer is just talking to God and if He “calls” to us through the gospel then we are then actually “answering” that call. Anyway, I digress back to repentance. 

In Scripture, repentance means “to undergo a change of one’s mind.” This change of mind is not a mere switching of minor opinions, but of the entire direction of one’s life. It involves a radical turning from sin and to Christ.

Repentance is not the cause of new birth or regeneration; it is the result or fruit of regeneration (some would disagree with me here, but that’s okay the result is the same – salvation!). Though repentance begins with regeneration, it is an attitude and action that must be repeated throughout the Christian life. As we continue to sin, we are called upon to repent as we are convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit. I think this is where we fall way short in the church. I’m sure we have all fallen short today to bring God glory and so I wonder if there is any daily repentance going on? I digress again…

Theologians make a distinction between two kinds of repentance. The first is called attrition. Attrition is a false or spurious kind of repentance. It involves remorse caused by a fear of punishment or a loss of blessing. Every parent has witnessed attrition in a child when he is caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The child, fearing the paddle, cries, “I’m sorry, please don’t spank me!” These pleas coupled with crocodile tears are usually not signs of genuine remorse for wrongdoing. This was the kind of repentance Esau exhibited (Genesis 27:30-46). He was sorry not because he had sinned, but because he had lost his birthright. Attrition, then, is repentance motivated by an attempt to get a ticket out of hell or to otherwise avoid punishment.

Here is what I believe the “nature” of repentance is – Contrition. This, on the other hand, is true and godly repentance. It is genuine. It includes a deep remorse for having offended God. The contrite person openly and fully confesses his sin with no attempt to excuse it or justify it. This acknowledgment of sin is coupled with a willingness to make restitution whenever possible and a resolve to turn away from sin. This is the spirit of repentance that David exhibited in Psalm 51. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. . . . The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise” (Psalm 51:10, 17).

When repentance is offered to God in a spirit of true contrition, He promises to forgive us and to restore us to fellowship with Him: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

So, to sum it all up, repentance is a necessary condition for salvation, the fruit of regeneration, attrition is the false stuff motivated by fear and being caught, contrition is the right stuff motivated by godly remorse. True repentance includes full confession, restitution, and resolves to turn from sin. And we serve a great and gracious God who forgives and restores ALL who truly repent. May we do it often!

What is Your Attidtude Toward Sin?: Success or Obedience

1 Peter 1:16 states that “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” We understand and know…wait a minute. We actually don’t understand but we do know in our heads that holiness is basic and foundational in the Christian life. The real question and why don’t we experience it more in daily living? By the way, I’m including myself in this question. Why do we, Christians, find ourselves constantly defeated in our struggle with sin? Hopefully, we are at least aware and know of the struggle even though we can’t quite wrap our lives around it. We know that there is a battle with the flesh, that selfish sin nature that we all have since Genesis chapter 3. We know that this world is constantly drawing us away from our devotion to God as we float in our idolatry of pleasing ourselves with all those “good” things we find ourselves consumed with. And yes, we know about the evil one, who puts are those lies in our head, telling us we are pretty good people, as he leads us unaware to our demise. So why do we and why does the church, Mount Zion Baptist Church, so often seem to be more conformed to the world around us than to God?

I find that my problem is that my understanding (okay, listen up, this is key) or I could say my attitude toward sin is more of self-centeredness. You say, “What does that have to do with it?” Think about it, because of the world’s affect on us, especially in our western word here in the U.S., we find that we are more focused on our own “success” over sin than we are actually over the fact that my sins and yours has offended and grieved the heart of God. We hate failure, even in our struggle with sin. Why is this? Well, because we have been conditioned (the world) to be success-oriented, and it doesn’t even enter our mind that primarily it’s offensive to a holy God.

Plumer notes, “We never see sin aright until we see it as against God.” Think about that for a minute and let the truth of that statement sink in as you reflect on it as it relates to our own lives.  He goes on to state that “All sin is against God in this sense: that it is His law that is broken, His authority that is despised, His government that is set at naught…Pharaoh and Balaam, Saul and Judas each said, ‘I have sinned’: but the returning prodigal said, ‘I have sinned against heaven and before thee’; and David said, ‘Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned’ (Plummer, 557). Do you see the difference in the understanding and attitude towards sin?  It seems to us, like it’s no big deal but they lead to opposite ends of the spectrum. One is God centered, while the other is man-centered and American Christianity has been man-centered for the last few decades.

What’s the answer? It’s not our sacrifice or legalism and doing more to try and have the favor of God (man-centered). David had the right attitude and understanding when he said, “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:16-17). Let me try and explain that for us. You see, God wants our heart and that means we willfully walk in obedience not our success at doing church. Obedience is oriented toward god; success is oriented toward self. You say, “Isn’t that the same thing?” NO! It’s a matter of the heart, our attitude and although it seems like such a small difference but what appears small over time and distance moves you farther and farther away from God. Think about it, it has been this subtle, self-centered attitude or wrong understanding that has been and is the root of many of our difficulties with sin. So until we are willing to deal with it honestly before God, we will not walk in obedience and holiness. Yes success is a by-product of obedience but see that the difference is orientation. Success is orientated at self (man-centered) and obedience is orientated at God (God-centered).

So let’s chew on this biblical truth and on living an obedient, holy life, and then we will experience the joy of success over sin (did you see the orientation in that last sentence?). Let us begin this journey with looking at all our sin as an offense against a holy God, instead of only as a personal defeat over it.

Bibliography

Plummer, William S. Psalms. Edinburgh, Scotland: Banner of Truth Trust., 1975.

Having a Bad Day Spiritually?

We are embarking on a season of revival. It appears that our church is "having a revival" in October but actually there are many other churches that are also "planning and having revivals." It’s what we do here in the southern Bible belt. You might wonder why I have "revival" in quotations marks. And the reason is, we can't really plan nor have a revival but what must happen is for God to graciously give us a revival. J. I. Packer notes that “revival is an extraordinary work of God the Holy Spirit reinvigorating and propagating Christian piety in a community. He goes on to state that ‘Revival is an extraordinary work, because it marks the abrupt reversal of an established trend and state of things among those who profess to be God’s people” (Packer 1990, 318). What this means is we are not really having or planning but praying that God will look at the church that has grown cold and indifferent to God and the things of God and would wake up by the pouring out of the Holy Ghost in an awakening.  

In addition, Packer talked about our piety “being reinvigorated and propagated.” So how’s your piety. Piety means holiness or godliness as will be seen in our devotion to and reverence for God. Maybe this is something we can do in planning and having a revival. Hebrews says, “How much more will the blood of Christ…purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb 9:14). The problem is the church (you and me) have been having some “bad” days spiritually speaking. Jerry Bridges talks about what we can do when this happens:

What should we do when we’ve had a “bad” day spiritually, when it seems we’ve done everything wrong and are feeling very guilty? We must go back to the cross and see Jesus there bearing our sins in His own body (1 Peter 2:24). We must by faith appropriate for ourselves the blood of Christ that will cleanse our guilty consciences (Hebrews 9:14).

In a bad-day scenario, we might pray something like this: “Father, I’ve sinned against You. I’ve been negligent in the spiritual disciplines that I know are necessary and helpful for my spiritual growth. I’ve been irritable and impatient toward those around me. I’ve allowed resentful and unkind thoughts to lodge in my mind. I repent of these sins and claim Your forgiveness.

“You have said You justify the wicked (Romans 4:5). Father, in view of my sins today, I acknowledge that in myself I am wicked. In fact, my problem is not merely the sins I’ve committed, some of which I may not even be aware of, but the fact that my heart is sinful. These sins I’m now so painfully conscious of are merely expressions of my sinful heart.

“But despite my sinfulness, You have said, ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1). Given my acute awareness of my sin, that’s an incredible statement. How can I be without condemnation when I’ve so flagrantly and willfully sinned against You today?

“O Father, I know it’s because Jesus bore those sins in His body on the cross. He suffered the punishment I deserve, so I might experience the blessings He deserved. So I come to You, dear Father, in Jesus’ name (Bridges 2008, 12).

I wonder if we would take his advice and begin praying that prayer? Who knows what might happen to all those “bad” spiritual days we’ve been having.

Bibliography

Bridges, Jerry. Holiness Day by Day: Transformational Thoughts for Your Spiritual Journdy. Edited by Thomas Womack. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2008.

Packer, J. I. A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990.

Traditions are Good & Bad

Here in the South there are a lot of traditional stuff that’s done in many churches. I’m not against tradition and, if fact, many traditions can and are good. However, when we attach those traditions to the Bible we then are in dangerous and even heretical ground. In other words, if what we do traditionally is viewed as something that we do because it’s taught in Scripture and if we don’t do it or change it we’re departing from the Word – that’s bad. Examples are Sunday School, Sunday night services, a choir, or a mid-week service.

I can sense in some of you that your feathers are ruffled – good. Before you get all frothy in the mouth, let me tell you that I’m 100% all for those examples and would say that they are all good traditions but not mandated by Scripture. Sure, we are mandated to “make disciples” and “teaching them to observe all that that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19-20). However, nowhere does it say that it must be done in Sunday School. You do realize that Sunday School was originally designed to educate our children started by religious philanthropists that wanted to end illiteracy. You see, children were a big part of the work force and this resulted in limiting the number of hours a child could work per day to 12! This limit was not lowered again until 1844. Moreover, Saturday was part of the regular work week. Sunday, therefore, was the only available time for these children to gain some education. Thus, Sunday School. Of course, they used religious material – the Bible to learn how to read. Anyway, enough of the history lesson; the bottom line it is a tradition we have held unto in which has changed in time.

Is Sunday School one of those good traditions? I would say yes, but it also has its draw backs. What? There can’t be anything “bad” about Sunday School, right? Well, I would submit to you that now parents have abdicated their BIBLICAL duty in raising their children. Like, “Fathers, … bring them [children] up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4). My whole point here is that we need to be careful about what we get mad at in church, especially when we are looking at God’s Word and trying to figure out how best in our current culture to fulfill the mandates of Scripture. We must be careful that we don’t do exactly what we condemn the Roman Catholics for doing and not put as much weight on our traditions as we do to the inspired Word of God.

"The Language of Amazement"

I was one of those people who didn’t grow up in the church. The only memory I have is going to a Presbyterian church every once in a great while. I don’t remember much of anything that was said, but I do remember two distinct things. First, there was the lighting of candles and there was a bunch of them. In lighting the candles there were supposed to be two people but one never showed and so one boy had to light what seemed to be hundreds of candles. The other thing I remember is the doxology. I used to love to hear the booming sound of the congregation singing those words. It was rightly and truly inspiring. Well, praise God the Lord saved me several years later as a 21 year old army man. I was saved in a Baptist church and they don’t sing the doxology and I often wonder why not?

Walter Brueggemann is known as one of America’s best theologians and one of the world’s foremost scholars on the Old Testament. In his book, Prophetic Imaginations he asserts … “I believe that, rightly embraced, no more subversive or prophetic idiom can be uttered than the practice of doxology, which sets us before the reality of God, of God right at the center of a scene from which we presumed he had fled” (Brueggemann 2001, 68).

Are you struggling about something today? Are you grief stricken about a wayward child, a physically ailing parent, or the loss of a loved one? Can I affirm to you today, by the uplifting presence and divine power of the person of the Holy Spirit that will enable you to rise up in the midst of whatever burden you bear and to SING with your whole heart and soul...

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below. 
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. 
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 

and 

"the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you" 

Bibliography                                                                                                                                  Brueggemann, Walter. The Prophetic Imagination. 2nd Edition. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001.

The Most Common Factor in Declining Churches

I thought this was a good post by Dr. Thom Rainer about the church.

In Wednesday’s post, I focused on seven very practical habits of churches that have an outward focus. I am honored and humbled to be in a place where I get to hear from and study about thousands of churches. The leaders and congregants in those churches provide me with incredible information and data. I am grateful, because I’m not smart enough to understand these issues on my own.
As God has allowed me to study congregations for more than 25 years, I began to see a common pattern in churches that had become outwardly focused. You read some of the practical steps these churches have taken in the earlier post.

The Most Common Factor

Conversely, though, I also can see a simple but profound pattern among the declining churches.

Stated simply, the most common factor in declining churches is an inward focus.

The ministries are only for the members. The budgetary funds are used almost exclusively to meet the needs of the members. The times of worship and worship styles are geared primarily for the members. Conflict takes place when members don’t get things their way. You get the picture.

Warning Symptoms

After studying and consulting with thousands of churches, I began to see clearly this pattern. Even more, I began to recognize symptoms of an inward focus. See if you recognize a few of these.

• There are very few attempts to minister to those in the community.
• Church business meetings become arguments over preferences and desires.
• Numbers of members in the congregation are openly critical of the pastor, other church staff, and lay leaders in the church.
• Any change necessary to become a Great Commission church is met with anger and resistance.
• The past becomes the hero.
• Culture is seen as the enemy instead of an opportunity for believers to become salt and light.
• Pastors and other leaders in the church become discouraged and withdraw from effective leadership.
• If the churches are a part of a denomination or similar affiliation, meetings of those denominations mirror the churches in lost focus and divisiveness.

There is Hope

For those of us in Christ, however, there is always hope—His hope.
I have written in recent years about the dire straits of most of our churches. I have felt it necessary to do so in order to face the facts. Indeed, I have written in my most recent book about the deaths of many churches.
In the weeks and months ahead, however, you will be hearing from me about churches that are defying the negative trends. You will hear more about church leaders who are dreaming again. You will hear about revitalized churches. This fall, I will deliver to your computers a multi-hour video conference about these exciting times.
I don’t have my head in the sand. I know times are tough in many churches. I know congregations are dying every day. I know many church leaders are discouraged.
But we serve the God of hope.
Decline in our churches does not have to be a reality.
I hope you will join me as I share what God is doing in so many congregations. And I always look forward to your comments and thoughts in these blog posts.

This article was originally published at Thom Rainer.com on May 31, 2014. Thom S. Rainer serves as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. Among his greatest joys are his family: his wife Nellie Jo; three sons, Sam,  Art, and Jess; and seven grandchildren. Dr. Rainer can be found on Twitter @ThomRainer and at facebook.com/Thom.S.Rainer.

Good & Best

I know it has been awhile since I posted anything. It's been quite a busy time in my life with studies, preaching, family, and oh yes, life. However, I will try to get back into it at least begin to try.

What I have noticed lately, especially in the last 5 years, is that one of the greatest issues facing many families is all the good stuff they are doing. Spending time with family on one, two and even three vacations, along with several "get aways" in order to build up and have a good family time building memories. Then there is all the good that comes with all sports. It's not just baseball, basketball, and football anymore, oh no, we have so much more good stuff to do. Now we have soccer, cheer-leading, gymnastics, karate, swimming, and on and on I could go. There is never a break between any of them and they probably even overlap in most cases. There is no longer just a couple of channels on TV, there is now so many good channels and good movies that are good and wholesome for the whole family to watch no matter what time they come on because we can always watch them no matter what time, we've got DVR's!

Right now most of you think you know where I might be going, right? This of course leaves no time for the church. But hold on a minute because the church has followed the culture and now you can go online and look at what church offers the most good stuff for your family. They have ministries for this and ministries for that, they have sports ministries, and exercise ministries, and video ministry and on and on we could go.

All of this stuff if good! Don't we believe that more is always good? The problem, as I see it, is that we are so consumed with the good that we have not had time to even contemplate and ask the question "What is best?

That's the question that I leave you with. Oops, one more good best thing I want to mention. A guy by the name of Solomon did a lot of good stuff and he talked a little bit about that in a book he wrote - Ecclesiastes.

What is a Disciple?

Here is an article on discipleship written by Dr. Dempsey, professor at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary on discipleship. 

Great Commission/Great Commandment/New Commandment/Acts 1 and 2/ Eph. 4:11-16/ Col. 1:28

Characteristics of a disciple-making church:

1.      Intentional- The Great Commandment. The New Commandment. Acts 2:42-47. These passages make it clear that the early church had a clear strategy. That strategy revolved around love (love for God, love for people and love for believers). This type of love has the ability to crush arguments, confuse enemies and convince skeptics. In the book of Revelation the church of Ephesus left its first love. God gave the church a very specific prescription: “Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent.” A church that has lost its love for God won’t move forward with love for the lost. The gates of hades will not be pushed back. Instead the church will be afflicted with the paralysis of analysis. Maintenance becomes the goal while a movement is what is needed. When the church does not move forward it must move backward in retreat. The solution for reaching the world has always been simple. People transformed by the grace of God has always been God’s method. The church must become intentional to develop people who genuinely love God, love people and love believers. This is not a program. This is a pursuit. After all, love motivated God to send Jesus in the first place. Love is God’s plan for God’s people.

2.      Individual- Ephesians 4:11-16. Colossians 1:28. The focus in this series of verses is for pastors to equip the saints to spiritual maturity and for the saints to do the works of service. We are saved to serve. In the Ephesians passage, the emphasis is on every person “being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causing the growth of the body.” The body of Christ will grow as each individual part does its unique specific function in the body. The converse is true as well… if each part of the body is not functioning properly then the body will not grow. Church growth is really a matter of growing and developing disciples. The body will grow in quantity as it intentionally develops each individual to reach their full potential in Christ- quality. Because as the church grows in quantity it is going to need quality disciples to lead the people in the church by example. Remember, “Christianity is more caught than taught.”

3.      Missional- Matthew 28:18-20. This is perhaps the most difficult one to address because the church seems to be stuck in a maintenance mindset. Pastors are viewed as shepherds who feed and care for difficult sheep instead of generals preparing soldiers for battle.  The Great Commission makes it clear that we are to make disciples “of all the nations.” Yet every year we seem to get further and further behind. Why would God give us a mandate that is impossible to accomplish? The answer is that He didn’t. It is possible to reach the world with the Gospel if we understand that the full development of every person is critical to reaching the world. As the person grows in Christ likeness and maturity we intentionally create opportunities for them to engage directly in the mission of the master. We cannot reach the world if we do not equip the saints to reach their full potential. Based upon these principles here is my definition of discipleship:

Discipleship is the process of guiding individual disciples to grow in spiritual maturity and to discover and use their gifts, talents and abilities in fulfillment of Christ’s mission.

On Being a Disciple Based on the Word

This is an article I read written by Dr. Matt Wilmington that I thought I would share:

1.      Someone who is willing to deny himself and take up his own cross–Luke 14:26

2.      Someone who is willing to prioritize his relationship to Christ ahead of all other relationships–Luke 14:27/ Matt. 6:33

3.      Someone who seriously counts the cost of following Christ–Luke 14:28-32

4.      Someone who is willing to give up their possessions–Luke 14:33

5.      Someone who remains in God’s word–John 8:31-32/ Acts 17:10-12

6.      Someone who is walking in freedom and victory–John 8:32,36 / Gal. 5:1

7.      Someone who loves other Christians–John 13:35

8.      Someone who realizes that they can do nothing apart from Christ, remains in the Vine, prays, bears much fruit, and glorifies God–John 15:1-8

9.      Someone who will become like his Master–Matt. 10:24

10.  Someone who is obedient to Jesus–Matt. 26:19

11.  Someone who is continually filled with joy and the Holy Spirit–Acts 13:52

From these PASSAGES we can extract three principles: sacrificial, relational and transformational.  We can begin to develop a definition that will help de-mystify what a disciple looks like; once the fog is lifted, only then can we begin to design an organic process for disciple-making. Here is my definition for a person, who would follow Jesus:

A disciple is a person who has trusted Christ for salvation and has surrendered completely to Him.  He or she is committed to practicing the spiritual disciplines in community and developing to their full potential for Christ and His mission.

From this point your church must develop effective, measurable practices that will produce “Dangerous Disciples” who will be in love with both the person and mission of Christ!