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Johnny Long - Recovering
Pharisee, author and
teacher of Grace4Life
Pharisee, author and
teacher of Grace4Life
GnomeSane Web Productions © Copyright 2008 by John Wade Long, Jr. - All Rights Reserved
Masthead photo: Mwnt, Wales on the Irish Sea
Yahoo! Web Hosting
Masthead photo: Mwnt, Wales on the Irish Sea
Yahoo! Web Hosting
| August 2008 - Quote of the Month |
Please,
sign our
GuestBook.
Thanks!
sign our
GuestBook.
Thanks!
Make some tracks!
_________________________
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NOTICE!
Our two Grace4Life
courses are half-way
done! We're taking the
month of August off and
will resume in
September.
WANT TO START a
Grace4Life course
in September?
Contact me ASAP and
we'll arrange a time,
place and schedule.
johnwadelong@gmail.com
______________
L to R Daniel, Patrick, Lail
Lail Peerdina (USA) and Patrick
Honsberg (Germany) and
brother Daniel joined us for a
rousing 4th of July celebration.
(We let off Poppers in the dining
room!)
Lail and Patrick were on the
London City Mission 2008 City
Vision team so had Grace4Life
training with us. Because they
will be pursuing theological
studies here for the next two
years, we'll be able to keep in
touch!
______________
Our two Grace4Life
courses are half-way
done! We're taking the
month of August off and
will resume in
September.
WANT TO START a
Grace4Life course
in September?
Contact me ASAP and
we'll arrange a time,
place and schedule.
johnwadelong@gmail.com
______________
L to R Daniel, Patrick, Lail
Lail Peerdina (USA) and Patrick
Honsberg (Germany) and
brother Daniel joined us for a
rousing 4th of July celebration.
(We let off Poppers in the dining
room!)
Lail and Patrick were on the
London City Mission 2008 City
Vision team so had Grace4Life
training with us. Because they
will be pursuing theological
studies here for the next two
years, we'll be able to keep in
touch!
______________
Welcome!
Come in, poke around, and listen to the "music" of the Gospel.
______________________________________________________________
What is "Grace4Life"? Grace4Life is a multi-faceted ministry of spiritual
mentoring designed to equip Christian workers and their congregations to lead lives
of fruitful service for the glory of God - AND - to do so motivated by love rather
than guilt, fear or a desire to gain acceptance with God and others.
___________________________________________
StraightTalk .....
TOWARD A SPIRITUAL PARADIGM SHIFT
Where do we get the power to change and help others change - I mean deeply change
- from the inside out rather by merely "rearranging the furniture" on the surface of our
lives? Power. Now there's the rub.
STRANGE as it may sound, the power to grow to be more like Jesus comes as we keep
believing in him in the same way we did at first. Paul called the Galatian Christians
"foolish" because they had moved away from a focus on Jesus's work for them to a
reliance on their attempts to make themselves pleasing to God. They were Christians
who had "forgotten" the Gospel! [Gal.3:1-5]
As one who traveled that sorry path for far too many years - flogging myself and others
with an endless list of obligations - I can tell you, it's pure misery for both the flogger and
the floggees.
JESUS REDUCED all of obedience to two simple commands: love God with all your heart;
love your neighbour as you love yourself." "On these two," he added, "hang all the law
and the prophets." (Matt. 22:34ff) That is a rather astounding bit of news - "love, and
you fulfill the whole law." Paul said the same thing (See Rom.13:8ff; Gal.5:6).
I know what it is to have all the right doctrine but to fail miserably at loving others well -
where Jesus said "the rubber meets the road". Even now, my sinful nature will be
pushing me to use rather than love God and others (viz. Rom.7). My pattern was - and
but for the grace of God will be - using people rather than loving them. Had you
suggested that my life needed a little tweaking here and there, I might have agreed -
with reluctance. I was blind to the fact that I needed a whole new life - a major paradigm
shift concerning what it meant to be "in Christ." When you have 20 minutes to spare,
read my sad-happy mini-novel, "The Gospel Lost & Found" on the ABOUT US link.
One thing for sure, I'm an expert at living the Christian life wrong (when you practise
anything for a quarter-Century, you get mighty good at it), so I'm eminently qualified to
help those who have fallen into the Galatian trap.
Aside from the outright heresies that are floating about in our day (questioning the
classic understanding of justification by faith being the most serious) , this loss of a
conscious confidence in what Francis Schaeffer called "the present value of the blood of
Jesus Christ for our lives" is the most deadly, joy-sapping, energy-robbing trap we can
fall into. [See the Schaeffer excerpt in SAMPLE LESSON BITS.]
THE PURPOSE OF OUR MINISTRY IS to awaken us - the Church - to the power God has
made available to us in the Gospel as we consciously clothe ourselves in the
righteousness of Jesus rather than trying to manufacture our own - like the Galatians.
TO THIS END, we offer several study courses, all aimed at training us in how to live and
minister using the energy the Holy Spirit supplies as we believe the Gospel (Gal. 3:5).
Please take a minute or two to read some of the TESTIMONIALS about how this ministry
has impacted people - pastors, missionaries and lay people.
________________________________________
Come in, poke around, and listen to the "music" of the Gospel.
______________________________________________________________
What is "Grace4Life"? Grace4Life is a multi-faceted ministry of spiritual
mentoring designed to equip Christian workers and their congregations to lead lives
of fruitful service for the glory of God - AND - to do so motivated by love rather
than guilt, fear or a desire to gain acceptance with God and others.
___________________________________________
StraightTalk .....
TOWARD A SPIRITUAL PARADIGM SHIFT
Where do we get the power to change and help others change - I mean deeply change
- from the inside out rather by merely "rearranging the furniture" on the surface of our
lives? Power. Now there's the rub.
STRANGE as it may sound, the power to grow to be more like Jesus comes as we keep
believing in him in the same way we did at first. Paul called the Galatian Christians
"foolish" because they had moved away from a focus on Jesus's work for them to a
reliance on their attempts to make themselves pleasing to God. They were Christians
who had "forgotten" the Gospel! [Gal.3:1-5]
As one who traveled that sorry path for far too many years - flogging myself and others
with an endless list of obligations - I can tell you, it's pure misery for both the flogger and
the floggees.
JESUS REDUCED all of obedience to two simple commands: love God with all your heart;
love your neighbour as you love yourself." "On these two," he added, "hang all the law
and the prophets." (Matt. 22:34ff) That is a rather astounding bit of news - "love, and
you fulfill the whole law." Paul said the same thing (See Rom.13:8ff; Gal.5:6).
I know what it is to have all the right doctrine but to fail miserably at loving others well -
where Jesus said "the rubber meets the road". Even now, my sinful nature will be
pushing me to use rather than love God and others (viz. Rom.7). My pattern was - and
but for the grace of God will be - using people rather than loving them. Had you
suggested that my life needed a little tweaking here and there, I might have agreed -
with reluctance. I was blind to the fact that I needed a whole new life - a major paradigm
shift concerning what it meant to be "in Christ." When you have 20 minutes to spare,
read my sad-happy mini-novel, "The Gospel Lost & Found" on the ABOUT US link.
One thing for sure, I'm an expert at living the Christian life wrong (when you practise
anything for a quarter-Century, you get mighty good at it), so I'm eminently qualified to
help those who have fallen into the Galatian trap.
Aside from the outright heresies that are floating about in our day (questioning the
classic understanding of justification by faith being the most serious) , this loss of a
conscious confidence in what Francis Schaeffer called "the present value of the blood of
Jesus Christ for our lives" is the most deadly, joy-sapping, energy-robbing trap we can
fall into. [See the Schaeffer excerpt in SAMPLE LESSON BITS.]
THE PURPOSE OF OUR MINISTRY IS to awaken us - the Church - to the power God has
made available to us in the Gospel as we consciously clothe ourselves in the
righteousness of Jesus rather than trying to manufacture our own - like the Galatians.
TO THIS END, we offer several study courses, all aimed at training us in how to live and
minister using the energy the Holy Spirit supplies as we believe the Gospel (Gal. 3:5).
Please take a minute or two to read some of the TESTIMONIALS about how this ministry
has impacted people - pastors, missionaries and lay people.
________________________________________
A WELCOME from me
to you:
PASTORS, PARENTS,
DISCIPLERS...
Do you have a tool in your kit that
can both change your heart and the
hearts of those God has entrusted to
your care?
Spiritually speaking, if you feel like you
have "hit a wall", we have some good
news for you. The key to deep and
ongoing spiritual growth is for us to
believe the Gospel! What?
True, that sounds simplistic, but rest
assured, we are not into spiritual
gimmickry or easy answers. No quick
fixes are on offer here.
What we do offer is a ministry and
ministry tools to help you rediscover
the power of the Gospel to change you
and those to whom God has called you
to minister.
So, come on in, grab a cuppa and
explore the site. Feel free to print out
and study the excerpts in the SAMPLE
LESSON BITS link, and, if you find your
heart "strangely warmed" and hungry
for more, do get in touch.
His servant & yours, Johnny
P.S. If you have a few spare minutes,
click the ABOUT US link in the sidebar
and read our tragic- happy tale - THE
GOSPEL LOST & FOUND.
_________________________
to you:
PASTORS, PARENTS,
DISCIPLERS...
Do you have a tool in your kit that
can both change your heart and the
hearts of those God has entrusted to
your care?
Spiritually speaking, if you feel like you
have "hit a wall", we have some good
news for you. The key to deep and
ongoing spiritual growth is for us to
believe the Gospel! What?
True, that sounds simplistic, but rest
assured, we are not into spiritual
gimmickry or easy answers. No quick
fixes are on offer here.
What we do offer is a ministry and
ministry tools to help you rediscover
the power of the Gospel to change you
and those to whom God has called you
to minister.
So, come on in, grab a cuppa and
explore the site. Feel free to print out
and study the excerpts in the SAMPLE
LESSON BITS link, and, if you find your
heart "strangely warmed" and hungry
for more, do get in touch.
His servant & yours, Johnny
P.S. If you have a few spare minutes,
click the ABOUT US link in the sidebar
and read our tragic- happy tale - THE
GOSPEL LOST & FOUND.
_________________________
ARE YOU STUCK on the
treadmill of repeatedly
telling people to do
what they already know
they should be doing
but aren't doing?
treadmill of repeatedly
telling people to do
what they already know
they should be doing
but aren't doing?
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"It has been true for many of us that at a certain point, after we have been
Christians for a long time, suddenly, through the teaching of the Bible—directly or
through someone teaching us—we have seen the meaning of the work of Christ
and the blood of Jesus Christ for our present life, and a new door opens for us.
So what is needed is the knowledge of the meaning of the work of Christ in
our present life, for our present life, and then for us to act upon it in faith."
— Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality
Christians for a long time, suddenly, through the teaching of the Bible—directly or
through someone teaching us—we have seen the meaning of the work of Christ
and the blood of Jesus Christ for our present life, and a new door opens for us.
So what is needed is the knowledge of the meaning of the work of Christ in
our present life, for our present life, and then for us to act upon it in faith."
— Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality
