Monday 26 September 2011

Extravagant grace

Extravagant Grace
by Kevin kainos Gitonga

Introduction


God loves you immensely. He doesn’t puff up his emotion to love you but he simply loves you out of the fullness of who he is. God’s theme for humanity is Love and this is exemplified in the greatest Common verse that we all know. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son………

God’s love for the works of creation is exemplified right from Genesis one whatever God created he saw it as good. This is not such good according to human perception but the works of creation found its divine goodness upon its inception by the creator. The works of his creation testify of his wonders and of his goodness and of his love.

However when God created man he said he was very good.(Gen 1:31) man to  God appeared pleasing in all its divine implications for it was only him who could savor behold and reflect the diverse excellencies of God.
The means by which man gets to enjoy God in his fullness and in all his Excellencies iis by means of his grace. Man is created from dust and is made to be such a glorious being able to reflect savor and become like his creator.

Psalm 8:2-3 when consider your heavens, the works of your fingers, in the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that your are mindful of him the son of man that you care for him?


What is grace?

What comes to your mind when you think of God’s grace? For such a long time I thought that grace is an enablement from God to pass a tough situation so that when I pass through it I say God’s grace has enabled me to overcome this or that situation.

I came to know later that grace is God’s unmerited favor, other acronyms as I came to know means God reaching at Christ’s expense. God’s grace is not an enablement that comes to us and goes. It’s the power of God working in us on account of Christ. Its God’s ability working inside the believers life to produce the fruit of the spirit hence an evidence of Christian living.

It’s the energy of God energizing itself in us free from human manipulation but only expended as a gift undeservedly to be received by God’s people who have put their trust in him.

John 1:14”the word of God became flesh and made his dwelling among us, we have seen the glory of the one and only, who came from the father full of grace and truth.”

Jesus is the word of God who was there from the beginig . He told the Pharisees that before Moses was I am. He is the one through whom all things were made. Paul also talked of him as the one in whom we live move and have our being.

This is the one who wa made flesh and dwelt amongst us. What is this if it’s not extravagant grace? The gospel of the good news is then announced like this
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16.
Most of us probably know this verse but what about the verse that follows this?

For God did not send his son to the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him

Again God proclaims the gospel as this, that he loves the world so much that he gave his only begotten son . It does not say that God so saw the world in sin. He did not see the world in wickedness but in love, such a great and immense love that he gave up his son for us so that the sin problem might be dealt with and that we might be restored back to his love.
Romans 5:12,17 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned; For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Sin entered the world through one man and death spread to all humanity. Now similarly in amore diverse and glorious way, life has come through one man Christ Jesus and this life spreads all over the world.
God’s extravagant grace is the ability of God in making men enjoy eternal life through the virtue of his own son who purchased for us this new life which is received by believers upon faith in what the savior has accomplished for them. The Gospel therefore gets its root from the finished work of the cross. Reconciliation is the backbone of evangelism and God’s love the theme of the gospel. The gospel proves to us that.

1.     You were never separate from God.


Col 1:22-23” And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,”(Esv)

Col 1:21-23 “You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got.  But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence.” (The message)

Paul teaches us out rightly that we were never separate from God apart from our minds. We were alienated from our minds and hence became enemies with God thanks to our first parents Adam and eve who as I said did something graciously on the negative to all of us.

At the garden of Eden the first couple succumbed to the lie from the serpent and were convinced that they were not like God and that they needed to do something(eat of the tree of the knowledge of God and evil) so that they could become like God.(Genesis 3). This was an acute lie presented by Satan and now the whole humanity was damned because of that great deception. Man thought that God was hiding something from him and so the first couple sought to hide themselves from God. Its not God who hid himself from them rather its Adam and eve who hid themselves from God . You and I know what transpired that humnanity ever since has been crippled in the damnation of being separated from God.

However Gods love and infinite incessant pursuit of humanity inorder to t#restore us back to him proved to us that God has never been separate from us apart from our minds in which we could’nt enjoy a meaningful relationship with God until the fullness of time Jesus was manifested in the likeness of the sinful flesh and brought peace between us and God by his physical body through which he condemned sin(Romans 8:2)

2.     The gospel tells you that you are included in God


Ephesians 1:4” even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

You were chosen in God before the foundation of the world. Pretty interesting, isn’t it? You existed in the blue print of God before the world began what a wonderful reality to behold!
The psalmist elsewhere proclaims the plans of the Lord stands firm forever, the purposes of his heart throughout all generations(Psalm 33:11)
The plans of the Lord indeed stands firm forever, I think forever starts from Go and ends with God. Forever finds its proper definition in the realm of eternity and what God had for us is that we may be found in him and the only way this could happen is if we are found in Christ. I believe Christ is not the plan B of God but he is actually the one chosen from the beginning that we should be conformed into, Elsewhere Apostle Peter puts across an explicit insight into the gospel.
1st Peter 1:20” He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

The gospel did not start with Christ death at the cross rather it started from God, I believe that the gospel is not simply about the forgiveness of sins but is about us being found in God enjoying a meaningful eternal life. The goodness of the Lord is so immense and the payment of our sins such an overpayment that the purpose of the gospel may be realized in us enjoying eternal life.

 

3.     The Gospel tells you what God can do and not what you can do: the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to them who believe.


Jeremiah 31:31-34” The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. Although I was like a husband to them, they did not keep that covenant. 33 The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs. I, the Lord, have spoken."

The old testament dispensation was full of faults, not because of God but because of his people who had become stiff necked and actually it’s the people who didn’t honor the covenant God made with them , the climax being the children of Israel being taken into captivity because of their great apostacy. The northen kingdom of Judah were captured by the Babylonians and the southern kingdom of Israel were captured by the Assyrians..

The Lord promised that he will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and this covenant will not be according to the one he made with their forefathers. This covenant is going to be new and not like the old. The Lord says that in this covenant , he will put his laws within the hearts of  men, he says that he will right his own laws within their hearts. This speaks about Jesus as you may remember Jesus said that he has not come to abolish the law but to fiulfill them(Mat 5:17)
If you and I are in Christ then we have fulfilled the law and we are living in the fulfillment side of life.

John 14:21"Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. My Father will love those who love me; I too will love them and reveal myself to them."

those who accept the words of Jesus are the ones who have kept God's commandments, the truth is that you cannot obey God enough any more than being in Jesus who is your perfect obedience towards God, if you are in Christ then you are a new creation, you have been declared the righteousness of God in him.(2nd Cor 5:17-21). keep banking on Jesus as your righteousness and begin realizing the fruit of obedience being manifested in your lives.

The Gospel shows us what the Lord God can do and has done for us in Christ Jesus hence the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe. The gospel is not th power of your obedience or of your prayers. We pray because God has enabled us and because we are sons of God. The Old Testament gave us work to do so that we could approach God and earn or deserve blessings. The new covenant though is not like the old in that in these new commandment God has done and accomplished everything on our behalf of us.

The Gospel tells us of a God who is alive and living in us by faith. The gospel is the word of God’s grace; Acts 20:32. The gospel is what Paul preached and presented people as mature before God. He gives his testimony in Colossians 1 and he says Christ in us the hope of glory.


Christ; your identity

Christ in you the hope of glory. Christ is your identity. You are no longer defined by behavior pattern but by Christ who is in you. You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:3)
Christ has redeemed you from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13) If you are in Christ you are of the uncursed generation, you are above reproach and Christ has been made your banner of victory.

You have been given a perfect spirit in Christ. (1st John 2:20) you need no more anointing than the one that you have received indelibly upon your faith in the finished work of the cross. Let me put it like this, there is nothing like getting closer to God. God has made you closer to him than he has ever done, you are in Christ in God, but I say like this, there is something like getting to know more and more what God has done for you in Christ Jesus.

Your life has been hidden with Christ in God far from the reach of the enemy. (Col3:1-3) Seek therefore the things that are above where Christ is sited at the right hand of God. You are an Eagle stop crawling therefore with chicken. You have mounted with wings like eagles see things the way God sees. The truth is that when God looks at you he sees Christ in you, he sees you righteous and forgiven and he doesn’t count your sins against you. This is not a license to go on sinning but to love God more and to open up your faculties to behold and be transformed by his glory.


You are blessed indeed. You are highly favored, Christ in you the hope of glory!

Kainos creation












eph 2:1-10” 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.















Wednesday 14 September 2011

HOPE IN ZION FOR ALL NATIONS(PART 2)


Isaiah 2:3b”for out of Zion shall go the law and the word of God from Jerusalem.

We have learn t that we are in Mount Zion and not in Mount Sinai. Mount Zion reprsens Christ whereas Mount Sinai represents Moses or the Old covenant. We learnt also from Hebrews 12:18-24 that we have nt come to mountain that cannot be touched. Such a terrifying moment it was at Mount Sinai as the law was being given to the children of Israel. It was not that God was full of rage and tired of the children of Israel rather it was a time of grieving for God for his own people had become stiff necked and refused to deal directy with him and so the people told Moses that whatever the Lord will require them to do they will do.

It was not in the original plan of God to have the Israelites live under the law But as Paul tells us, the law was an addendum, it was added because of transgression (Gal 3:19). The law was given to show man how much he had transgressed against God. The law was not kept for man to keep but for man to know how much he has transgressed and fallen short of the glory of God in lieu of a savior who would come and save humanity from such a wretchedness.

Paul says that the law was added to increase the trespass so that where sin is utterly sinful , grace may super abound.(Romans 5:20)

Isaiah says that out of Zion shall go the law and the word of God from Jerusalem. I will endeavor to show us how this came to be.
We have learnt that Mount Zion represents Jesus. He is the one in whom we believe in today. John introduces him as the word which was from the beginning and which was God and was made flesh nd dwelt amongst us. Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the law but came to fulfil it.
Matthew 5:17-18” "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.  Jesus in this text stamps up his authority as one who had come with a mission. He delievers a ermon on the mount . He ascends a mountain and starts to preach. To me this seems to be the same experience as Moses who ascended Mount Sinai and brought with him the law.

This time Jesus preaches on the beatitudes as we know it and goes ahead to to say that we are the salt of the world. Jesus wasn’t not preaching something that we could do. Contrary to what we may have been taught all over the years, the beatitudes’ and the entire sermon on the mount was not a speech of telling you what you must do, Jesus here was bringing the law to its pristine standards where it was meant to be, because the Pharisees had compromised on the law and were loading it over the people.
Its only Jesus who exemplified all those qualities of the beatitudes, he is all the blessed are’s and the only way we become what the book of Matthew talks of is if we are in Jesus.

Jesus said that not an iota not a dot will pass from the law unless it’s accomplished. When I read this verse at first I thought that we are supposed to fulfill everything in the law that we may finally experience the kingdom of God. Jesus though is introducing himself as the savior and he says that Heavens and earth will pass but not an iota of the law will go unfulfilled. He says this because he had the capacity to fulfill the law himself. He is contrasting himself from the Pharisees who emphasized on strict adhererents to the law though they themselves couldn’t fulfill. He said that whoever teaches and does the law will be called great in the kingdom of God and whoever teaches the law but does not will be considered as the least in the kingdom of God. Here again lies an antithesis between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the least in the kingdom of God because they taught the law but never practiced it. Jesus though is considered as great because he taught the law and kept it. He alone is considered the greatest because he kept all the law and obeyed fully. In order for us to be great, it’s not for us to keep everything that God commands. Paul says that there is no single law that could impart life (Gal 3:21) Yet Jesus fulfilled the Law and imparted life to the entire human race.

The Bottom line is this, you cannot fulfill the law, its only Jesus who fulfilled the law and if we are in him, we are living on the fulfilled side of life. We do not kill not because of the commandment but because Jesus lives in us, we keep all commandments by the enablement inside of us, which is Jesus.

FOLLOW THE NEXT BLOG AND FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE FULFILMENT OF THE LAW AND THE AFTERMATH WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD COMING OUT OF JERUSALEM TO THE ENTIRE WORLD

Tuesday 13 September 2011

                        
HOPE IN ZION FOR ALL NATIONS (Part 1)
                                                                         


       Isaiah 2: 2-3 it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,
      and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

         Profile: Prophet Isaiah prophesied about 740-700BC , he lived in the period of decline of Israel in the shadow of the powerful Assyrian Empire and spoke the word of the lord to a people deaf and blind and who blatantly repined to his warnings. Yet he spoke also of a servant, a man of sorrows who would be wounded for our transgressions faithfully accomplishing God’s plan of redemption and salvation.
                   It’s an amazing insight of a people so lost and rebellious becoming recipients of good news. A servant who will accomplish God’s plan of salvation. This book was a prophecy of salvation to the Israelites and the whole world thus where sin abounds grace even super abounds.  
       
        Back to our text in Isaiah chapter 2, Isaiah speaks of the mountain of the lord that shall be established. The covenant God makes with Moses was made on Mount Sinai whereas mount Zion represents the new covenant God makes with man through Jesus
       In exodus 19 we are given an insight of Israelites on exodus to caanan coming into the wilderness of Sinai. Moses would often ascend the mountain to commune with God and take instructing from him.
      
         Mount Sinai was a mountain of limitations and Israelites weren’t allowed to touch even the edge of it. On this mountain Moses receives the Ten Commandments. This mountain represents the law which ushers a dispensation of operation of God’s wrath to because his nature has changed  but because his people had continuously and blatantly had become stiff necked and increasingly transgressed against their God  necessitating addition of  the law as God’s infinite standard of perfection locking up the Israelites to the promises of God.

     Hebrews 12:18-21 gives us a sight of mount Sinai and Moses describes the sight as  so terrifying that he trembled with fear, this is the same place where Moses would  commune with God s a man does with a friend
      The second mountain Isaiah speaks of is mount Zion representing Christ the mountain unshaken that will be lifted up above the hills.


       Psalm 125 those who trust in mount Zion which cannot be shaken but abides forever.
       This mountain is Jesus. The first mountain representing the law was to abide 2500 years only but Jesus abides forever. Heb 12:22 tells us “but you have come to mount Zion and to the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem….”

Back to Isaiah verse 2….and all the nations shall flow to it. The first mountain was so terrifying that no one dared to touch it but to this mountain all the nations shall flow to it
In verse 3: many will come and say come, let us go up to the mountain of the lordto the house of God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways

 How comes that we will now ascend the mountain of the lord…….. that he may teach us his ways. The answer comes in the latter part of the verse.
For out of Zion shall go the law and the word of God from Jerusalem. In the fullness of time God sent Jesus in the form of Man ho fulfilled the law and its regulation and the debt that was charged against us he paid By God judging him on the cross and now Jesus fulfills the requirements of God’s justice and mercy towards man. Therefore we have been justified by faith in Jesus and we have peace with God. God is no longer angry with us , Let me put across flatly and firmly GOD IS NOT ANGRY WITH YOU. If you think we are in that dispensation that was in Sinai then you have been overtaken with time.
      
        The law represented the perfect infinite standards of God that no man could accomplish but they needed a savior. On the day the law was given to Moses the children of Israel started carving a god out of a calf, and as Moses descended Mountain what followed was that three thousand people were killed by God’s rage.
         The covenant Sinai brought immense fear that the children preferred that Moses deal with God on their behalf rather than for them to deal directly with God.
      But Christ became the end of the law so that there might be righteousness to them who believe (Rom 10:4)
     And so as the psalmist asked who shall ascend the hill of the lord? Psalm 15”1-2 the psalmist answers and says he who walks blameless and does what is right.
     And so who is  worthy to ascend God’s hill/mountain, mountains in the ancient Israel were considered a plus in case of defence against attacks , mountains symbolize protection and as  the psalmist said as the mountains are about Jerusalem so the Lord is about his people.

      I would put across that there is one who ascended the holy hill and did not stay there forever but when he descended full of compassion and mercy he did good wherever he went. His name is Jesus
            
      In matt 5 Jesus delivers a sermon called” The sermon on the mount” he ascends the mount , with him his disciples followed by . Jesus began to teach about the blessed are’s and also teaches about anger, divorce, Adultery, oaths, Treatment of enemies, giving to the needy, The Lord’s prayer, fasting among many other things. You can read from chapters 5 to chapter 8
      These represented infinite standards God that no man could keep. In Matt 5:17 Jesus says that he has come to fulfill the laws and the prophets. He continues to lay emphasis that all commandments are to be kept and taught wholly and not partially.
      In verse 20 he tells the crowd” unless your righteousness exceeds  that of the scribes  and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” Wait a minute what is this righteousness that exceeds that of Pharisees. In some ways I have been like a Pharisees , for example there was a time I use to believe that I deserve a breakthrough from God because I served hi with all my might, I cannot to tell of when I would seek the approval of men, all these facets are pharisaical . I believe to be a Pharisee is to regard your own efforts before God as more precious than what Jesus has done at the cross. It is to repine against the provision of help from God and to focus and to be obsessed with your self effort. This results in self centeredness, you start being focused to yourself and you become selfish and depraved.
  
      Did Jesus therefore come to make life harder by requiring from us a righteousness that is higher than that of Pharisees?, No! he came to fulfil the law , he is the only one who fulfils the righteous requisites of God. Thus by believing in Jesus we become recipients of a righteousness infinitely higher than that of the Pharisees where man is not clean on the outside as the Pharisees sought to be clean on the outside while in the inside were whitew washed sepulchers.
     Jesus is the mountain that has been lifted above the hills for mount Zion is lifted higher than mount Sinai and Grace is higher than the law, there is hope in mount Zion, thus those who trust in the Lord are like mount Zion which cannever be shaken.
      
     What a great justification? That we believe in the captain of our salvation and the righteousness of God is imputed in us, the bile tells us that we reign in life because we have received the abundance of grace and free gift of righteousness through the life of one man Jesus
(Rom 5:17) through faith in Christ Jesus we have ascended the hill of the Lord and not  only that, we also dwell there.
Hebrews 12:18-24 sheds a great light on the glory of the new covenant. The wirter tells us that we have not come to a mountain that cannot be  touched(mount Sinai) amountain burning with fire, full of gloom and strm that which even when an animal came near it was prevailed upon with stones.
But we have come t mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of he living God we have come face to face with God through Jesus who has become our mediator.

      
        And so our hope is in the Lord our rock we become immovable like mount Zion, we then with unveiled face behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We like a bride are not afraid to appear before the lord our chief , our greatest Good , the one from whom we derive our greatest satisfaction. This is it there is so much light, so much glory in the new covenant, so much anointing , we are adorned with the unction of Jesus himself, we are forever surrounded , forever held, forever encouraged, Halleluiah


     WATCH OUT PART 2 OF THIS EXPOSITION; UR BLESSED

Friday 9 September 2011

God's mission of love

i am writing my first Blog and am exited . I am ecstatic and upbeat and i know that God has  a mega plan for humanity.

        God's mission for humanity is Love . Love is who God is and love is the theme of God. Love is God and everything that he makes testifies of who he is Love.I am currently in the process of writing my first book and i have chosen the title to be 'God's mission of love'.

Allow me to give a brief introduction of this book before i post the details of how to get the book once its fully published.
Before the world was created God was love. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. All his divine attributes love being one of them existed in their extent before creation. He created the heavens and the earth to the display of his splendor one of his attributes one which is his love. He created man to display savor and image this love. After man fell by disobeying God in the Garden of Eden, he orchestrated on a plan of salvation. I see through the events of the bible a sparkling glory of our almighty God. This time not in the awesome works of his hands though glorious are they in the measure of the fullness of God but his glory sparkles in his ideal love and how far he has gone to display this  love to man. It’s through his love that man has found everlasting life in him.
It’s through his love that I have been found in him. God‘s love has opened me up to this amazing realm of reality which God had for me even before I was born. The love of God has made me to be the person I am today. It has made me realize who I am- The child of God, a son and hence a heir to the kingdom.

This book explores on this great God of love and how he has valued you and me by sending his own son to die so that you can enjoy and manifest this love forever. It’s a book that will illuminate in your spirit God’s passion for you as his child and how everyday he is burning with passion for you. You will learn that you are most valued in God. I trust that this book will open your inner eyes to comprehend the beauty of God and the wonders of his son and the treasure that is yours in Christ Jesus.
This is a book that seeks to exalt Jesus and his finished work at the cross. We will find out that all that God had planned for humanity is made manifest by the sacrifice Jesus made for us at the cross. The cross is the central and the singular source of life for humanity. It’s the display of the person of Jesus in the greatest demonstration of love in reconciling us back to God.
This is a book that seeks to undo the fallacy that has been preached and exalted over past years and it brings the beauty of Christ who gave up himself so that we may have the best of heaven . the fallacy as I have indicated is he proclamation of the gospel that does not adhere to, spring from and derive power from the finished work of the cross and  the amazing things accomplished by Jesus Christ for us. Paul Apostle was keen to point this out and emphasized that no one even an angel should proclaim any other gospel (Gal 1:8-9)

friends let me submit to you that the gospel is good news of  a Good God who did everything to reconcile man back to himself. The whole bible is an expository of this great God in pursuit of people and this i call it the great pursuit of love. What a wonderful reality to know that you are loved and pursued of God. If you are a believer then you have just come to a realisation of a great God who has a great love for you. If not , then God is telling you through the gospel that he loves you and he wants you realise how much he loves you.




Why is the gospel the good news?

Because it is an announcement: if I had something good and keep it to myself, the good thing remains with me. The gospel is not the go...