“Teach the Gospels!” That’s a journey worth the travel, an adventure worth the price. In the Gospels we meet Jesus in person, hear his voice, see him die and rise again, and learn his ways.  Teaching the Gospels can be a dynamic and life-changing experience, an encounter with the living Lord. But it’s not a safe journey. No, never safe. As Mr. Beaver says about the great lion Aslan in C. S. Lewis’s The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, “’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” Sometimes we need a guide for a journey, or at least advice from travelers who have been there before. We need a Bible-trip advisor. In this series I will be sharing some travel tips for the adventurous. To start with:

Finding Jesus in the Gospels is more important than finding ourselves. 

Naturally, when we teach the Bible, we want people to make a personal connection to the text, to make it real to them, to come alive. So sometimes we focus on what the characters in the story might be feeling. There’s nothing wrong with using some sanctified imagination in our teaching, but it can be overdone. I heard someone teaching on John 19:25, which mentions that Jesus’ mother (Mary) was near the cross. The talk focused on what Mary must have been feeling as she watched her son dying. It went into the issue of grief, and how we can cope with our suffering, and with the pain of loss. This is a really important issue, but it was not what John was focusing attention on in his gospel. Mary’s feelings are never addressed.

This is an example of what I call “imagination over text,” when we privilege our creative musings on the Bible above what the scripture actually says. Now Jesus’ mother is mentioned by John a couple of times in the crucifixion account, so she is not unimportant.  But the focus of the passage is on Jesus himself. The Gospels are Christ-centered.  They are written by followers of Jesus, tell the story of Jesus and preach the gospel of Jesus. No matter where you are in the Gospels, you can’t go wrong by asking, “What is this telling us about Jesus?” When we find and get to know Jesus, in and through the Gospels, we will ultimately discover who we are, and who we can become. But if we start by looking for ourselves, we will get lost on the road to nowhere. As Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 16:25).


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A Perfect Opportunity

Dr. Iorg expresses why he loves living in the West and in particular Southern California. The need for the gospel is great and Dr. Iorg encourages others to do more work in areas that may not be so comfortable for Christians.

Jeff Iorg
President
Dr. Jeff Iorg is the president of Gateway Seminary. Prior to his service at the Seminary, Dr. Iorg was the Executive Director of the Northwest Baptist Convention for almost ten years. He was also the founding pastor of Greater Gresham Baptist Church in Gresham, Oregon, and has served as a pastor in Missouri and a staff pastor in Texas.

The Lord’s Dinner

The first-century churches, when they met, ordinarily ate a proper meal together, a meal including the bread and the cup, and this meal was at the heart of their common life and worship.

John W. Taylor
Director, Academic Graduate Studies Program | Chair, Biblical Studies | Professor of New Testament
Dr. John Taylor serves as chair of biblical studies and professor of New Testament at Gateway Seminary. Dr. Taylor earned a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies at the University of Cambridge with a research interest in Pauline Studies.

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10 Questions with 10 Pastors
March 20, 2023

Ruben Reyes III

Ruben Reyes III joins this episode of Ten Questions with Ten Pastors to discuss church planting, developing leaders in the church and preaching. Reyes planted Solid Rock in Claremont, California, then transitioned from

Lead On Podcast
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Making Ministry Marriage Work with Ann Iorg – Part 2

In this second part of this two part podcast, Dr. Iorg talks with his wife, Ann Iorg, about some important lessons they have learned about making ministry marriage work. 


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Spirituality of Jonathan Edwards | JEC at Gateway Seminary

Dr. Chris Chun hosted a digital symposium with Dr. Michael Haykin and Dr. Robert Caldwell to discuss Edwards’ spirituality, devotional life and theological impact in American Christianity.

Chris Chun
Professor of Church History | Director, Jonathan Edwards Center
Dr. Chris Chun is the professor of Church History and the director of Jonathan Edwards Center at Gateway Seminary. Chris’ doctoral research at St. Andrews University was focused on the eighteenth-century Edwardsean Baptists in Britain. He also has served as president of The Evangelical Theological Society (Far West Region).

Faculty Dialogues: Dispensationalism or Not

In this episode of Faculty Dialogues, Dr. David Rathel and Dr. Paul Wegner held a live discussion on their views on dispensationalism.

David Rathel
Associate Professor of Christian Theology
Dr. Rathel is the associate professor of Chrisitian Theology at Gateway Seminary. Prior to Gateway, Dr. Rathel supplied pastoral care to churches in the United States and Scotland, served as an Adjunct Professor of Theology and Philosophy for the Baptist College of Florida, and provided teaching assistance for the University of St Andrews.

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