GOSPEL DELTA

Gospel Delta

If it would be marvelous to see one river leap up from the earth full- grown, what would it be to gaze upon a vast spring from which all the rivers of the earth should at once come bubbling up, a million of them born at a birth? What a vision would it be! Who can conceive it? And yet the love of God is that fountain, from which all the rivers of mercy, which have ever gladdened our race-all the rivers of grace in time, and of glory hereafter-take their rise. My soul, stand thou at that sacred fountain-head, and adore and magnify, for ever and ever, God, even our Father, who hath loved us!  (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God…For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.  (Isaiah 61)

Growth and Change

A river delta is a place of fertility and growth. Some of the greatest civilizations in history were built on or around deltas. Egypt was built on the Nile delta, the Incas lived near the Amazon basin, and the Mesopotamian civilization was birthed in the “Fertile Crescent”. In the book of Genesis we read that the Garden of Eden was created near a delta, where a single river divided into four streams, and there God gave man the charge to cultivate the land, produce fruit, and multiply.  A delta is also a mathematical symbol for change, signifying a finite increment in a variable.

The Gospel has been a “delta” for me, a place of intense spiritual growth and radical change. Through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, my life has been transformed forever. And by God’s grace through the work of His Son by the power of the Spirit, the Gospel continues to grow and change me in amazing ways.

The Fertile Triangle

Every generation of believers helps to cultivate the soil of discipleship, to till the ground, so that others can grow, change, and plant communities of grace in rich Gospel soil. But all too often the land is left unworked, and unless we continually break up the fallow ground, growth is hindered. Farmers and soil scientists speak of the “Fertile Triangle” of soil productivity as the interrelationship between air, water, and nutrients, which allows soil to reach its maximum growth potential. The Gospel has a similar fertile triangle: Doctrine, Life, and Affection. As I see it, these are the three necessary elements of healthy Gospel soil.

My vision for this blog is to provide theological resources for growing Christians — to cultivate rich soil, break up the fallow ground of discipleship, sow seeds in the Gospel Delta and watch the Spirit reap a harvest.