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    The Scandal of Christianity
    The Scandal of Christianity
    The Scandal of Christianity
    Ebook92 pages1 hour

    The Scandal of Christianity

    By Ross Penniall

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    About this ebook

    A few years ago something fantastic happened to me. I heard THE SCANDAL. I had been a Christian for 14 years and had never been privy to the news. For the first time, I was exposed to the scandal that is ravaging its way through Christian circles worldwide. I was exposed to the Gospel. And when I heard the true scandal of what God had done, His grace came alive in me like I’ve never felt before. I felt what I can only describe as being born-again again. The realization that I was living under a mixture of law and grace struck me to the core. The fact that most of my Christian life left me disqualified and condemned was the evidence of the mixture that had poisoned me. I thought I was just a bad Christian at times and letting God down by not doing what I was supposed to. When I realized I was living in a mixture; my eyes were opened! His freedom changed everything! And I mean everything. Including the way I reached the lost.
    In 1520, Martin Luther wrote a book called The Freedom of a Christian; and in it he wrote a story about a King who marries a whore. The whore inherited the King’s name and by marriage she becomes his Queen. She didn’t become queen because of her royal bloodline or queenly attributes nor her posh behaviour. She became Queen because the King chose her, loved her and married her. No performance on her part whatsoever. Luther was likening this allegory to King Jesus who chose us to be His bride, His queen. We don’t inherit His name, His salvation or His blessing because we have earned it. He chose us. He saves us. He blesses us. We are His workmanship. Full stop. And THAT is the SCANDAL OF CHRISTIANITY!
    The Scandal of Christianity is my layman "pen to paper" to capture my journey and to look at the scriptures in a way that would make this scandal come alive in those who read it.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRoss Penniall
    Release dateAug 16, 2015
    The Scandal of Christianity
    Author

    Ross Penniall

    Husband, Father, Aspiring Writer, Passionate Cricketer, Lover of Life

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      Book preview

      The Scandal of Christianity - Ross Penniall

      The Scandal of Christianity

      Ross Penniall

      Published by Ross Penniall at Smashwords

      Copyright 2015 Ross Penniall

      CONTENTS PAGE

      Introduction

      I Saw Revival

      The Perfect Offering

      The Scandal

      Secure Forever

      A Slave to God

      The Gift of Righteousness

      A Believing Heart

      Jesus was the Scandal

      Grace Changed Me

      As You Go

      It’s Never Too Late

      A Short Story About Grace & Mercy

      Publishing Information

      INTRODUCTION

      We’ve all heard a sermon in our Christian life about The Great Commission. It’s often preached in a challenging way to get believers off their butts and into the deep dark world of strangers who don’t know God. I’ve sat through years of these messages and always left the meeting feeling I hadn’t done enough and that it was time to start evangelizing! While I agree with the Biblical command that a saved people ought to be a witnessing people, the way we’ve gone about it has been disastrous at times. It’s left unbelievers with the feeling that they are mere projects for Christian evangelists and it’s left Christian evangelists in despair at their lack of success in converting a lost world. I was once a Christian who felt utterly disqualified and one of the reasons why was because of my failed efforts at winning the lost for Jesus. I came to a point where I stopped trying to ‘do’ those sermons. I resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t one of those ‘evangelistic types’.

      A few years ago something fantastic happened to me. I heard THE SCANDAL. I had been a Christian for 14 years and had never been privy to the news. For the first time I was exposed to the scandal that is ravaging its way through Christian circles worldwide. I was exposed to the Gospel. And when I heard the true scandal of what God had done, His grace came alive in me like I’ve never felt before. I felt what I can only describe as being born-again again. The realization that I was living under a mixture of law and grace struck me to the core. The fact that most of my Christian life left me disqualified and condemned was the evidence of the mixture that had poisoned me. I thought I was just a bad Christian at times and letting God down by not doing what I was supposed to. When I realized I was living in a mixture; my eyes were opened! His freedom changed everything! And I mean everything. Including the way I reached the lost.

      After Jesus’ resurrection He commanded His disciples to go into the world and proclaim the Kingdom. The gospel of Mark finishes with the disciples going out and preaching with the Lord working with them by confirming His word with signs and wonders. Preaching the Kingdom has two parts to it: Proclamation and Demonstration.

      Proclaiming the message of the Kingdom is actually quite simple. It’s sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. It’s the good news of what Jesus has done on mankind’s behalf so that we can be united with our Creator for eternity and be saved from eternal separation when this life has ended. The Gospel is what this book is about. The true Gospel, raw and exposed, is the scandal of Christianity which has been watered down and covered up for too many years.

      In 1520, Martin Luther wrote a book called The Freedom of a Christian; and in it he told a story about a King who marries a whore. The whore inherited the King’s name and by marriage she becomes his Queen. She didn’t become queen because of her royal bloodline or queenly attributes nor her posh behaviour. She became Queen because the King chose her, loved her and married her. No performance on her part whatsoever. Luther was likening this allegory to King Jesus who chose us to be His bride, His queen. We don’t inherit His name, His salvation or His blessing because we have earned it. He chose us. He saves us. He blesses us. We are His workmanship. Full stop. And THAT is the SCANDAL OF CHRISTIANITY! Martin Luther was pursued by the clergy of the day. They wanted him silenced and they wanted him dead at all costs. They knew that his message would spell destruction for the religious order of the day. But the irony of the fact is that here we are, 500 years later, and the church by and large, still live in a mixture of law and grace. It’s a deadly cocktail that leads to death when consumed. It’s a fight that Paul had with the church of his day, Luther had with Rome in his day and it’s a burning issue still today. We need to proclaim this scandal to the world!

      Demonstrating the Kingdom is also simple. When speaking about signs and wonders often healing and prophetic gifts are emphasized. I agree with the position that healing, prophesy and words of knowledge are a part of demonstration. I have prayed for unbelievers for healing when sharing the gospel and they were healed instantly. So an emphatic YES! I am all in when it comes to that side of demonstration. But I believe Jesus meant even more than that. You see, once grace changes you, and you realize who you are in Jesus – 100% accepted, 100% justified, 100% loved, 100% forgiven, something happens to you. You can accept, love, forgive and identify with everyone. Love grabs you and you find that lost people aren’t projects anymore; but people whom God wants to reach. It no longer matters if they’re homosexuals, adulterers, addicts, atheists, Muslims or Hindus! Supernatural love is a sign and a wonder. Being able to befriend homosexuals out of a genuine love for them was a miracle for me. Before my revelation of

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