Description
Everyone is looking for power. Political campaigns play to the power of fear and hope; advertising agencies rely on the power of appetite, both wielding power by the means of words.
But churches have something different and better. Churches have the gospel. Though we live in the world, we must not wage war like the world, or fight with its weapons. On the contrary, we have divine power to demolish strongholds.
The gospel consists merely of words, but those words have the unexpected and underestimated power to create new life, to justify, to prepare a bride, to give the foretaste of glory. Christian conversion depends upon the underestimated power of the gospel.
Authors Jonathan Leeman, R. Albert Mohler Jr., Thabiti Anyabwile, David Platt, Kevin DeYoung, Mark Dever, C.J. Mahaney, Matt Chandler, John Piper, and J. Ligon Duncan III call readers to herald a common refrain: Do not underestimate the gospel, and do not underestimate the God of this gospel.
More from these contributors
Albert Mohler
David Platt
David Plattis pastor of the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. He holds a Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of the best-selling book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
Dever, Mark
Mark Dever is senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC and president of 9Marks. He holds degrees from Duke University (B.A.), Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div.), The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Theol.), and Cambridge University (PH.D.).
DeYoung, Kevin
Leeman, Jonathan
Jonathan Leeman (Ph.D., Wales) is an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC and the editorial director for 9Marks. He edits the 9Marks series of books as well as the 9Marks Journal. He is also the author of several books on the church, including The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love. Jonathan lives with his wife and four daughters in suburban Washington.
Ligon Duncan
Ligon Duncan is the Chancellor and CEO of the Reformed Theological Seminary System where he is also John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology. Prior to his appointment he was Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi.
Matt Chandler
Matt Chandler serves as Lead Pastor of Teaching at The Village Church in Flower Mound, TX. He has served in that role since December 2002 and describes his tenure at The Village as a re-planting effort where he was involved in changing the theological and philosophical culture of the congregation. The church has witnessed a tremendous response growing from 160 people to over 10,000 with campuses in Flower Mound, Dallas and Denton.
Alongside his current role as lead pastor, Matt is involved in church planting efforts both locally and internationally through The Village and various strategic partnerships. Prior to accepting the pastorate at The Village, Matt had a vibrant itinerant ministry for over 10 years where he spoke to thousands of people in America and abroad about the glory of God and beauty of Jesus. His greatest joy outside of Jesus is being married to Lauren and being a dad to their three children, Audrey, Reid and Norah.
Recently, Matt was named president of Acts 29, a worldwide church-planting organization.Over the last 10 years, Acts 29 has emerged from a small band of brothers to over 400 churches in the United States and networks of churches in multiple countries.
Matt speaks at conferences throughout the world and has written a book, The Explicit Gospel, published in April 2012.
Piper, John
John Piper is pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. He is the best-selling author of more than 40 books including Don’t Waste Your Life and Desiring God.
Thabiti Anyabwile