Bedhead Theology

  Often in this life, we find ourselves walking in the shadow of tragedy. Whether loss of a job, diagnosis of illness, or the death of a loved one, one thing remains true. No matter the catalyst of the suffering, the pain is acute and personal. In fact, we sometimes find ourselves feeling isolated and alone amid our trials. As sincere as people around us might be in helping us, at the end of the day, we are left alone in our own heads and hearts to process the tragedy. One comfort I would like to draw your attention to is the hope the gospel offers in suffering. Hope of Christ’s Nearness The call of the gospel promises that we are never alone. Truly, our hearts are given the only hope that can sustain us. While suffering often whispers in our hearts of abandonment, the gospel speaks of the incarnation and nearness of Christ. Christ did not save us from afar. Rather, he stepped into our pain, carried our sorrows, and remains present by His Spirit. Zephaniah 3:17 asserts, “The Lo...

The prophet Ezekiel declared the word of the Lord, “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself” (Ez 3:18-19). The call from Ezekiel pierces to the heart of the urgency of the task of evangelism. There is a sense of spiritual urgency to reach the lost before it’s too late. No one is guaranteed tomorrow, so we must live with intentionality today. The challenge lies in keeping an eternal perspective amid the deadlines and demands of life. This perspective can only be maintained through continual renewal of faith. Scarborough stated, “Faith in God through Jesus Christ is not only the initial factor in obtaining life for the soul, but is also the ...

  Circumstances in life are volatile and frequently shift like sand. If our joy is tied to them, our joy will be just as unstable. There is this concept called the arrival fallacy. Essentially, the arrival fallacy is the belief that satisfaction is found in the culmination of something: that sought-after promotion, one’s relationship, or the end of a trial. The reality is, true satisfaction isn’t the absence of suffering or the presence of abundance, but gospel hope of the presence of Jesus Christ, who remains constant. He promised to never leave us nor forsake us. True joy lies in tethering our hearts and anchoring our souls to Jesus. Here are three thoughts to encourage and uplift our weary souls that God is enough. The Sufficiency of Grace Paul helpfully shows that “[God’s] grace is sufficient for you, for [His] power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul is helpfully showing us that we have weakness and through that God’s grace sustains us, and his power is ...

   The Gospel of Jesus Christ stands as the central unifying thread within the life of the believer. That is, it is this message that justifies and sanctifies us. We must look to the cross with gratitude and humility. Gratitude for the price that was paid in our stead. Humility in knowing the only thing we contributed to that event was the sin that made it necessary. From that position, we can see that the central redemptive theme of Scripture must point us to the centrality of the gospel. That is, the person and work of Christ as revealed in the Bible. This revelation leads us to very distinct transformations: We have a transformation of the mind, a transformation of the emotions, and a transformation of the will, and ultimately a kingdom transformation.     The biblical charge is clear: “But as for you, continue with what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you and know that you have known the sacred Scriptures from infancy, which ca...

        The goal and purpose of evangelism is faithfulness to Christ. The method of evangelism should be to surrender to the Holy Spirit’s leading—for the proclaimer and the hearer. Cultural and theological shifts have resulted in a decline in evangelism and missions within churches. However, biblical evidence supports evangelism and missions as foundational to the local church context. The message of the gospel is at the heart of the Great Commission. Additionally, the gospel message is the central focus of the New Testament and, therefore, should be a focal point of the New Testament churches. Live with a Commitment to Prayer     Within the local church, evangelistic efforts must begin with prayer. S. D. Gordon asserted, “The greatest thing anyone can do for God and for man is to pray. It is not the only thing. But it is the chief thing.”  The believer must understand the significance of the point of importance and intentional prayer.  ...

  There is an unmistakable Scriptural mandate for evangelism. The cultural confusion lies in who that call belongs to. To bring clarity to the conversation, I wish to address what the gospel is, from a biblical and even a practical perspective. Then, looking to Jesus’ last command, we will examine what the Great Commission found in Matthew 28 means to us today. We will identify that the responsibility lies with the whole of Christendom, and there should be an urgency in the task at hand because life and death hang in the balance. Therefore, the biblical mandate for Christians is anchored in the gospel, commanded by Christ, and every Christian is beholden to obey, and in light of eternity, this task demands urgency.    What is the Gospel? If we have a professed faith in Christ, I am sure we are all aware of the fundamentals of the gospel. However, where we tend to lose sight of the gospel is when we go to share it. My dear friend Matt Queen often exclaims, “If you know e...

  The church is in desperate need of gospel clarity. Rampant on every social media platform is a barrage of claims to Christianity rife with compromise. Gospel clarity must be anchored in biblical and theological consistency. Ultimately, that clarity must begin in the pulpit. An old preaching adage I first heard in my expositional preaching class asserts, “If there is a mist in the pulpit, then there will be a fog in the pew.” [1] The lack of gospel clarity among Christians stems from a lack of clarity within the local churches’ leadership. A church devoid of conversions is, plainly speaking, a dying church. A church with no gospel conviction—no evangelistic vision, passion for reaching the lost, nor any fervor for the Great Commission—has succumbed to apathy and complacency. Too often, local churches look to secular business models for church growth tactics and lose sight of their missional mandate—make disciples. Business models become transfixed on numerical growth that thr...