Tullian Tchividjian

Tullian Tchividjian serves as the Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Tullian is author of the forthcoming, "Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels" (Crossway: May 31, 2010).
 

Feb

01

2010

Tullian Tchividjian|5:40 PM CT

Growth by Remembering
Growth by Remembering avatar

My friend Elyse Fitzpatrick has taught me a ton about the gospel. Through her many excellent books, she has taken me to gospel depths that have changed my life. During the most difficult year of my life (2009) Elyse provided gospel-drenched counsel and insight that, in a very real sense, saved me. Thanks Elyse!

This morning, as I was re-reading a portion of her book Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life, I was recaptured by a truth that I preached just yesterday. In my sermon on Colossians 1:9-14, I said:
It’s important to note that in these verses Paul doesn’t pray for something the Colossian Christians don’t have. Rather, he prays they will grow in their awareness and understanding of what they do have. Christian growth doesn’t happen by working hard to get something you don’t have. Christian growth happens by working hard to live in the
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Jan

25

2010

Tullian Tchividjian|7:00 AM CT

Individual and Cosmic
Individual and Cosmic avatar

In my opinion, there’s way too much needless debate in Reformed theological circles on whether the finished work of Christ -- the gospel -- effects salvation for individual sinners (the “penal substitionary atonement” group) or if it brings about a renewed creation (the “God is on a mission to restore all things to Himself through the person and work of Jesus Christ” group). In my book Unfashionable, I address this issue. Maybe I’m missing something, but it just doesn’t seem that complicated to me.

In the book, I write:
Jesus is the divine curse-remover and creation-renewer. Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross broke the curse of sin and death brought on by Adam’s cosmic rebellion. His bodily resurrection from the dead three days later dealt death its final blow, guaranteeing the eventual renewal of all things “in Christ.”

The dimensions of Christ’s finished work are both individual and cosmic. They range from personal pardon
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Jan

20

2010

Tullian Tchividjian|7:47 AM CT

Created But Fallen, Fallen But Created
Created But Fallen, Fallen But Created avatar

Over a year ago, my friend Mike Wittmer, author of Heaven is a Place on Earth and Don’t Stop Believing, blogged about how postmodern innovators in the church (”emergents”) are challenging the age old asssumption that people are born broken, crippled by the guilt and pollution of original sin. He deals with emergent leader Doug Pagitt’s book A Christianity Worth Believing where Doug “devotes fifty pages to debunking the myth of total depravity and the Reformed standards, such as the Westminster Confession, which teach it. He says that original sin implies that people ’suck’, and if there is one thing we know from watching a newborn child, it is that people ‘don’t suck.’”

Mike offers a corrective to Doug’s radical misunderstanding by writing:
As with most of the issues raised by postmodern innovators, the solution is not to opt for one side or the other but to embrace both. We must
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Jan

07

2010

Tullian Tchividjian|9:54 AM CT

The Smaller You Get, The Freer You'll Be
The Smaller You Get, The Freer You'll Be avatar

Following God’s lead is always good but never safe. When you commit yourself to do whatever God tells you to do and to go wherever God tells you to go, you inevitably experience ups and downs; highs and lows.

As many of you know, this past year was the hardest year my family and I ever experienced. It was filled with excitement and fear; misunderstanding and frustration; laughter and tears. I experienced moments of great desperation and great deliverance; grief and glory. God’s Spirit and God’s truth afflicted me in my comfort and comforted me in my affliction. As a result of this hard year, however, God and his gospel became more real and relevant to me than ever before. I’ve never felt so dependant on him. He’s never been so big; I’ve never been so small. The idea that Jesus plus nothing equals everything ceased being simply a cognitive truth for me–it...

 
 
 
 

Jan

05

2010

Tullian Tchividjian|4:22 AM CT

All Things New
All Things New avatar

Below is a brief meditation from my book Do I Know God? on why Christians are the ones who should be celebrating newness louder than anybody.

When God saves us, we gain a new beginning, a new family, a new purpose, and a new power.

A New Beginning (Justification)
One of the reasons people celebrate the beginning of a new year is because it promises a clean slate. That’s why we make New Year’s resolutions, out of our desire to start over. Sadly, though, most of the resolutions we make on January 1st are long abandoned by the middle of February.

But God promises that  “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). That is, when we trust in Christ, God gives us a permanent fresh start, an everlasting new beginning, regardless of what we’ve done or who we’ve been....

 
 
 
 

Dec

28

2009

Tullian Tchividjian|11:49 AM CT

What the Bible is Not
What the Bible is Not avatar

Contrary to what many Christians have concluded, the Bible does not tell two stories: the story of Israel in the OT and the story of the church in the NT. No, the Bible tells one story and points to one figure: it tells the story of how God rescues a broken world and points to Christ who accomplishes this. In the OT God revealed himself through types and shadows, through promises and prophecies. In the NT God reveals himself in Christ who is the substance of every shadow and the fulfillment of every promise and prophecy. In other words, the OT predicts God’s rescuer; the NT presents God’s rescuer. Therefore, the whole Bible–both the Old and New Testament–is all about God’s rescuer.

Even though it’s a children’s Bible, The Jesus Storybook Bible is, in my opinion, one of the best resources available to help both children and adults see the Jesus-centered story line of the Bible.

In the Introduction of that...

 
 
 
 

Dec

22

2009

Tullian Tchividjian|3:12 PM CT

The Great Reversal
The Great Reversal avatar

In C.S. Lewis’s masterful children’s story The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, he tells of a country, Narnia, which is under the curse of the White Witch. This evil queen places a spell on the land so that it’s “always winter and never Christmas.” Under her control, the future of Narnia looks bleak until word gets out that “Aslan is on the move.” In the story, Aslan is a noble lion who represents Christ. He’s coming to set things straight. He’s coming to destroy the White Witch and thus reverse the curse on Narnia. The first sign of Aslan’s movement toward this cursed land is that the snow begins to melt–“spring is in the air.” The cold begins to fade as the sun rays peer through the dark clouds, promising the dawn of a new day. Everything in Narnia begins to change.

You’ll have...

 
 
 
 

Dec

19

2009

Tullian Tchividjian|10:03 AM CT

Anticipation
Anticipation avatar

Every year around this time people ask me what Advent is. The word “Advent” literally means “coming” or “arrival.” It’s the four weeks of the year leading up to Christmas when Christians all over the world look back to the first coming of Jesus and look forward to his second coming. In one sense, Christians are always to be doing this. But these four weeks are meant to be an intensified celebration of Christ’s first arrival which, in turn, is meant to fuel our anticipation of his second arrival. This means that Advent is a season marked by hopeful anticipation.

With Advent in mind, I was thinking a lot this week about the nature of anticipation. There were three things in particular that I was looking forward to, things I was anticipating: the wedding of a friend, a football game, and the arrival of out-of-town guests. Whether it’s something as significant...

 
 
 
 

Dec

14

2009

Tullian Tchividjian|10:35 AM CT

Conozco a DIOS?
Conozco a DIOS? avatar

My book Do I Know God? Finding Certainty in Life’s Most Important Relationship is now available in Spanish.

I wrote Do I Know God? to answer two basic questions: 1) is God knowable, and, if He is, 2) how can I know that I know Him. In the book I say that if you don’t know God, He wants you to know it. And if you do know God, He wants you to know it. The two things God does not want is for you to think you know Him if you don’t and for you to think you don’t know Him if you do. Knowing that you belong to God–having a deep sense of your eternal security–not only provides a sure and steadfast anchoring for your soul, but it radically changes the way you live here and now. There’s nothing more vital, nothing more satisfying, than knowing God and...

 
 
 
 

Dec

10

2009

Tullian Tchividjian|8:36 AM CT

Is the Gospel Slender?
Is the Gospel Slender? avatar

Contrary to what many Christian’s have concluded, the gospel doesn’t just ignite the Christian life; it’s the fuel that keeps Christians going every day and in every way. Once God rescues sinners, his plan isn’t to steer them beyond the gospel but to move them more deeply into it. After all, the only antidote to sin is the gospel—and since Christians remain sinners even after they’re converted, the gospel must be the medicine a Christian takes every day. Since we never leave off sinning, we can never leave the gospel.

In the debut issue of Commit, my friend Justin Buzzard interviewed D.A. Carson about this. He asks him about the gospel, the upcoming generation, and doing ministry in unchurched regions. I’ve pasted the interview below.

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1. In a paragraph, what does it mean to be gospel-centered in one’s Christian life?

Some think of the gospel as so slender it does...

 
 
 
 
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