Glorious Ruin by Tullian Tchividjian

I'm very excited to read the new book from Tullian Tchividjian, Glorious Ruin: How Suffering Sets You Free. Check it out...

In this world, one thing is certain: Everybody hurts. Suffering may take the form of tragedy, heartbreak, or addiction. Or it could be something more mundane (but no less real) like resentment, loneliness, or disappointment. But there’s unfortunately no such thing as a painless life. In Glorious Ruin, Tullian Tchividjian takes an honest and refreshing look at the reality of suffering, the ways we tie ourselves in knots trying to deal with it, and the comfort that the gospel brings for those who can’t seem to fix themselves—or others. 

This is not so much a book about Why God allows suffering or even How we should approach suffering—it is a book about the tremendously liberating and gloriously counterintuitive truth of a God who suffers with you and for you. It is a book, in other words, about the kind of hope that takes the shape of a cross.

This looks great. Go grab it!

Jesus + Nothing = Everything

Tullian Tchividjian's new book, Jesus + Nothing = Everything, is out today and I encourage you to buy your copy right away. He had a copy with him at Together 4 Adoption, but only one, so I couldn't talk him into giving it to me. I probably wasn't the first person asking him for it. 

I got my copy of J+N=E from Crossway last week. It's one of my most anticipated books of the year (along with Gospel Wakefulness by Jared Wilson). Here are a few endorsements for Jesus + Nothing = Everything...

“In an evangelical culture where so many of us are unaware that the gospel isn’t just what we believe to save us but also what sustains us and carries us into maturity, this book hammers home the gospel’s power for the believer. Whether you have been in church your whole life or recently converted, this book will fuel your affections for our great God and King.”
—Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor, The Village Church, Highland Village, Texas; author, The Explicit Gospel

“My friend Tullian is a loser. So am I. If we’re honest, all of us fit that description, but the good news is that Christ came for people like us. We qualify! Under the rubric of ‘Jesus plus nothing equals everything,’ this accessible yet astonishingly profound book rearranges the furniture. If you’re looking for hope instead of hype, please read this book.”
—Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California

“In a powerful, concise, and popular style, Tchividjian announces, explicates, defends, and contrasts the gratuitous gospel of Christ’s person and work with the oft-misheld conviction of us sinners that, if we are somehow to be justified, it will have to be a matter of ‘making up for’ our offenses and of inward improvement. Chapter-by-chapter he argues that God’s saving plan is one of grace and not one of improvement. Filled with illustrations from his life as a pastor, this is no unapproachable, academic tome. But neither, thank God, is it today’s ‘Evangelical silly!’ Tchividjian wrestles openly with demons and their central lie in order that we truly ‘get’ what the Bible is really about. From every point on the compass, he contrasts ‘moral renovation’ with a free, one-sided rescue drenched in the blood of Jesus. Good news for everyone—but especially for Christians who are worn out by trying the other way, believing the lie, somehow knowing renovation isn’t working but knowing nowhere else to turn. Tchividjian is out to convince his reader that justification before God really is pure gift, is free, is by grace and through faith in Christ. . . sola!”
—Rod Rosenbladt, professor of theology, Concordia University

Tullian Tchividjian - War & Peace

Christianity Today (Drew Dyck) interviews Tullian Tchividjian on his move to Coral Ridge, the dark days of church transition, and the realities of the Gospel that got him through. A snippit...

I was realizing in a fresh way the now-power of the gospel—that the gospel doesn't simply rescue us from the past and rescue us for the future; it also rescues us in the present from being enslaved to things like fear, insecurity, anger, self-reliance, bitterness, entitlement, and insignificance. Through my pain, I was being convinced all over again that the power of the gospel is just as necessary and relevant after you become a Christian as it is before.

When that biblical reality gripped my heart, I was free like I had never felt before in my life. It gives you the backbone to walk into a room full of church leaders and say "this is what we're going to do and this is why we're going to do it, even if it gets me thrown into the street."

There is a fresh I-don't-care-ness that accompanies belief in the gospel. Whether you like me or not doesn't matter, because my worth and my dignity and my identity are anchored in God's approval. Christ won all of the approval and acceptance I need.

Go read the whole interview. 

T4A | Tullian Tchividjian - Session 2

Tullian delievered a great message on Law & Gospel at Together for Adoption 2011 Conference. Rather than redo work others have done, I commend to you the notes of a new friend of mine, Aaron Armstrong (author of Awaiting a Savior). Here are a couple of my favorite quotes I took on Twitter from Tullian's talk...

"It's a lie that grace is dangerous and needs to be kept in check."

"It's silly that we have to put the word 'radical' before Grace, as if there's some other kind."

"There is nothing more radically unbalanced than grace."

I'm excited about Tullian's new book coming out October 31st, Jesus + Nothing = Everything. Order it now.