(unmarked journal entry – presumably luke 2)

thankfully, the message of Jesus, the Gospel, is authoritative enough on its own not to need a credentialed person to back it up. it derives its authority directly from God since Hew rote it, directed it and starred in it. because of this, anyone, absolutely anyone, can tell the story from beginning to end and the message will preach itself.

heaven forbid that i should try to authorize it by my own means, either real or perceived. when i speak the Gospel message, it creates the authority, through God, so that i can speak boldly about it. it is by God’s grace that this is so, so that every believer may be an effective minister. no degree is required here, just an honest desire to see God’s kingdom advance and lost souls saved in Him.

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i am glad that God has already made these key decisions on how things are supposed to work, and what our roles are in this process. His chosen methods are comforting, His given authority through His word contains a power that we could not manifest on our own. and so He continues to surprise us, and work in ways that are contrary to our egos and ideas.

when we speak about Jesus, it is the gospel message that gains the attention, not us. when we share about our faith and beliefs, it is God who gets the glory, not us. when we sing, it is a gift to God, not entertainment for us. when we give, we are simply returning what is already His.  the Gospel, the Good News, comes from God, but it is for everyone’s benefit and it is for everyone to share.

look at peter and andrew, two fisherman brothers from a hick town in the north. neither one had been trained up in anything but fishing since they were about 8-13 years old. andrew probably wasn’t much older than a teen/early 20’s anyway. they were not the height of galilean academics, yet they were used in powerful ways. james and john were in the same position, and God used them, too. 4 working guys from nowhere in particular, who could never have won a debate in synagogue, wound up carrying the authority of God’s word along to places they never would have dreamed. they simply followed the call and made themselves available. it’s everyone’s Gospel…