I mentioned in this post that I'm beginning the new year by reading Matt Chandler's book Explicit Gospel and invited anyone who's interested to join me. This blog post will serve as an anchor and a conversation point.I'll be periodically leaving thoughts, quotes and responses to what I'm reading in EG here.

It's an anchor, because I hope you'll bookmark this post and come back to it once a week or so to read the new comments.

It's a conversation point because I hope you'll interact with me - either through what you read in the comments or through what you're reading in the book.

I'm going to attempt to read a chapter a day. You don't have to do that, but that will give you an idea of how to interact.

To kick us off, here's a powerful assertion/observation from the introduction. Matt (we'll be on a first-name basis with him in the posts) has seen so many Christians who become Christian again later in life. They make the statement, "No one ever taught me that.." about the basics of the Gospel. Matt then wonders whether churches are teaching the Gospel or a "Christian Therapeutic Deism:"

This mode of thinking is religious, even "Christian" in its content, but it's more about self-actualization and self-fulfillment, and it posits a God who does not so much intervene and redeem but basically hangs out behind the scenes, cheering on your you-ness and hoping you pick up the clues he's left to become the best you can be.

Interested now?