August 11, 2025 • 47 mins
If someone asked you, "What do I need to believe to be a Christian?" what would you say? Sometimes the best answer is the simplest one and one many of us learned in Sunday School in that little song, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so!" Do you know that Jesus loves you? Do you know why it's so important for your own life and for those who don't yet know Jesus? Chris Brooks and Pastor John S. Dickerson review what Christians believe and why it matters!
Featured resource:
Jesus Loves Me: Christian Essentials for the Head and the Heart by John S. Dickerson
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:15):
Today's program has been pre-recorded so our phone lines are
not open. Well hey there friends, welcome to another exciting
edition of equip with Chris Brooks. I am absolutely fired
up to be here with you today. Why don't you
do me a favor and strap on your seatbelt? We've
been praying for you. We're going to navigate through the
(00:36):
contours of culture together as we look at the lens
of the biblical worldview. But before we do that, let
me remind you, this is the day that the Lord
has made. He has given it as a gift so
that you and I can rejoice and be glad in it.
So let's do just that. Let's follow the words of
the Apostle Paul. Let's rejoice in the Lord always. And
again I say, rejoice! What a great day it is
(00:59):
to be alive, and what a great day it is
to know the Lord. Let me ask this question of you.
If someone were to ask you, what essentials do I
have to believe in order to be a Christian? Like
what are the essential beliefs of the Christian faith, what
would you say? There are certainly a number of books
written on this topic, and most of them are large,
(01:22):
daunting and overwhelming. Full transparency. I just started a theology
Bible study group with a few future leaders in my church,
and the book that we're studying is 1700 plus pages
of fun. Now, I admit that not everybody is desires
to take that type of deep dive into this topic.
(01:45):
But what if I told you that the essentials of
the Christian faith, the essential beliefs of our faith, can
be summed up in the opening lyrics of a very
popular children's song, one that I'm sure all of us
will readily know. Here are the lyrics. Jesus loves me
this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Does
(02:08):
that bring back fond memories? Did you know that when
you were singing that song you were learning some pretty
deep and powerful theology. And if you could just simply
grasp the depths of that song, you'll be pretty adequately
fit to be able to share what we believe and
why it is so important. Today, we're going to talk
(02:31):
about the essentials of the Christian faith, and we're going
to do so in a way that I think will
be refreshing and memorable with a wonderful friend and author,
John Dickerson. John is a pastor and a best selling author,
a former journalist turned seminary trained pastor. He's a millennial
with biblical convictions that makes him pretty unique. He strives
(02:52):
to communicate the unchanging truth of the scriptures to a
new generation. He is the lead pastor of Connection Point
Christian Church. I love that church in Indiana. He's a
recognized voice in the for the church today, and I'm
so grateful that he is. He has spoken at some
of the most influential churches in seminaries across the country.
(03:13):
His writings have appeared in The New York Times, USA today,
and many other publications. Today we are here to talk
about his newest project, Jesus Loves Me Essential Christian Essentials,
rather for the head and the heart. John. How are you, brother?
S2 (03:30):
I'm doing great, Chris. It's always so fun to be
with you.
S1 (03:33):
It is great to have you. I'm so grateful that
you have put together this project. All right, let's let's
start with asking the basic question of who is this
book written to?
S2 (03:46):
Yeah, that's right. It's really written to anyone who considers
themselves a Christian. Whether you've been in church for 30
years or you're just figuring it out and just trying
it out. We live in a time academics call it
a post-truth culture, where we find ourselves in this vortex,
this hurricane kaleidoscope of just all these ideas and opinions.
(04:08):
And it's hard to know what's true and what's not true?
Even when we watch the news and when we're on
social media. And in the middle of all this, a
lot of believers, whether they've been in the church for
a long time or they're brand new, need clarity about
what is it actually to be a Christian? Um, what
are the things we're good Christians disagree. And what are
(04:28):
the things where if you lose this, you it's no
longer Christianity. You're no longer going to heaven. And so
that's what this book does, is it simplifies all that
down to really an eighth grade reader level and puts
it in a really memorable way.
S1 (04:43):
Yeah, I remember that, uh, movie Philadelphia Denzel Washington was
in remember that movie? I think Tom Hanks co-starred alongside
of him. And he used to say this, explain this
to me as if I was a five year old. Right?
And here he is, this well-trained lawyer. What a powerful line.
But in many ways, it's what you're doing. You're simplifying.
What for many, will seem overwhelming. I'm going to open
(05:05):
up the phone lines today because I love to hear
from our listeners. And, you know, I believe this about
equip listeners. They're some of the most compassionate and biblically
minded listeners in In All the land. But I love
to hear from you around this question. What do you
believe is essential Christian doctrine? What do you believe are
(05:28):
the essential teachings of the Christian faith? If you had
to summarize it, what do you believe are the essential
teachings of the Christian faith that a person must believe
in order to say that they are a Christian with
right belief? What do you think is absolutely essential? This
is non-negotiable. You have to believe this in order to
say that you are a Christian. John, let me ask
(05:49):
this question does theology even matter anymore? You're a millennial.
So much seems to be focusing on just serving and ethics.
Do does theology and doctrine even matter?
S2 (06:01):
Yeah. What a great question. We have to acknowledge that
just like gravity is a real law of physics, whether
a person believes in gravity or not. If they jump
off the top of a building, they're going to experience gravity.
There are supernatural laws of physics in the universe that
God exists, that truth exists. And of course, one of
Satan's great lies in our time is that truth is
(06:24):
really just your own thing, and everyone has their own truth.
And again, academics would call it post-truth. But as Christians,
we always go back to what Jesus said and perhaps
one of the most famous Bible verses of all. God
so loved the world, John 316 that he sent his
only son, so that whoever believes in him will not
(06:45):
perish but have everlasting life. If you study John three
right around that verse, you'll see the word believe about
seven times. And so this book, Jesus loves me. Christian essentials.
It answers through stories and scriptures. What do you need
to believe? So it's a great tool for discipling your
small group or a new believer. My hope is that
(07:05):
like a Thanksgiving dinner. I've eaten Thanksgiving dinner a number
of times, but I always still enjoy it for a
long time. Believer this book, Jesus loves me. It goes
back over, uh, kind of this reminder of like, oh yeah,
it is that simple. But we need to make sure
that we believe exactly what Jesus said. Uh, we know
the Great Commission. Therefore go and make disciples baptizing them.
(07:28):
And then it says, teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded you. And so, you know, at seminary, uh, and, Chris,
you're highly educated. They use all these big words in seminary,
you know, soteriology to talk about salvation or biblical anthropology,
to talk about humans. But really, all that can be
summed up. Christology, for example, is that we're Jesus. So
(07:50):
this book, Jesus loves me, it really goes word by
word through that short chorus. What do you have to
believe about Jesus according to Jesus? Uh, and of course,
the book is all based on scripture, but it uses
stories and eighth grade level vocabulary that anyone can understand
to really, you know, teach us. Okay, what do I
(08:11):
need to believe about Jesus? Well, he's fully God. He's
fully human. He's the Messiah. Uh, loves. What does it mean?
That he loves us? Well, love is proved through actions
according to the word of God. He loved us by
dying on the cross for our sins and rising from
the dead. Me? Well, you know, what does the Bible
say about me? Jesus loves me. And this is, I think,
(08:33):
such an important one in our generation and in our time,
because we see people wrestling with, well, our, our humans,
inherently good. That's what most our kids are being taught
growing up in school. But then in our culture, we see, oh,
if you disagree on a certain thing, you get canceled.
And so the culture kind of says people are inherently
good unless they make a certain mistake, and then they're
(08:56):
irredeemably evil. And it's this weird bipolar view of humanity. Well,
biblical Christianity, Jesus loves me, says I'm glorious. Everyone listening
to this. You are glorious because you're made in the
image of God. You're eternally valuable, but you're ruined by sin.
And so am I. All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God. But the good news is
(09:18):
that a biblical view of humanity is everyone's made in
God's image. Everyone's broken, but everyone is capable of redemption
if they will believe in Jesus. So I just walked
you through. Jesus loves me. But then the book has
two other sections. This I know and for the Bible
tells me so. So that by the end of it,
if your grandkid or child said, hey, what do I
(09:39):
need to believe to be a Christian and you didn't
have a Bible with you, you could just walk them
right through that song. Here's what you need to believe
about Jesus his love. You gotta believe he died on
the cross and rose again. You gotta acknowledge that you're
a sinner and repent and believe this I know. ET cetera.
So it's a tool that's been helping a ton of
people in our church, and I'm passionate about it because
(09:59):
I see a lot of well-intentioned believers. They want to
live for Jesus right now, but it's just such a
kaleidoscope of confusing ideas, and we kind of need this
reminder of like, these are the basic truths that I
can stand on.
S1 (10:13):
Yeah, these are such a important and essential truths, and
I'm so glad again that you have captured this in
a book. And I just want to say, you know,
there's certainly space for us to take a deeper dive
into the truths of God's Word. But this right here
is such a wonderful primer and introduction. I want to
(10:33):
read something that was written as an endorsement for the
book by Doctor Darrell Bock. He's a mutual friend. He's
a professor over at Dallas Theological Seminary. And he says this.
He says, Jesus loves me as a needed primer of
the basic Christian faith. In an era when many polls
tell us that people claim that that people who claim
(10:57):
the name of Jesus simply don't know the basics of
the Christian faith. This is where we're at right now
that many people who claim to follow Jesus have never
really studied what that really means. So here's my question
for you, John. What's at stake?
S2 (11:15):
Yeah, what's at stake is eternal life. Um, you know,
Paul says in Romans 116, I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
And that's what this book, Jesus Loves Me, summarizes. What
is the gospel when we say the gospel, what do
we mean? I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it
is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone
(11:35):
who believes. So when we believe the gospel according to God,
we access the power of God that brings salvation. When
we believe a version of Christianity. Remember what Paul said
at the end of his letter? You know, in the
end times there will be people who have a form
of godliness but don't have the power of it. Uh,
when we believe something that might even look, might even
(11:57):
have the word Jesus might look a little Christian, but
it's not Jesus according to Jesus. We lose the power
of God in this life to set us free from sin,
to live a spirit filled life, but we also lose salvation.
I'm not saying you can lose your salvation, but a
person won't have salvation if they don't believe Jesus according
to Jesus. And so, I mean, what's at stake is
for the people we love. And I think especially of
(12:21):
our kids and grandkids growing up in a time where
their faith is going to be so challenged, and for
them to know, you know, what is the irreducible core
of Christianity, um, where you can't just agree to disagree
about whether or not Jesus was God. I mean, obviously
we love people who disagree with us on it, but
they're not a Christian if they don't believe that. And
(12:43):
we live in this time where things are being redefined
and we have to like it says in John one
about Jesus full of grace and truth. We hold the
truth gracefully and graciously, but we hold the truth no
matter what. And, um, this book is a great way.
Rather than getting in an argument with someone who maybe
calls themselves a Christian, but you're like, I'm not sure
if they actually know what this is about. This book
(13:05):
is a really, um, you know, kind of gentle, easy
way to just say, hey, uh, why don't you why
don't we do this study together? And I do want
to encourage anyone listening, um, at my website, which I'm
sure we can link at yours. Chris. Um, there's a
free five part video study of this material. There's a
free small group study, uh, all the stuff that normally
(13:25):
with a book, you'd have to go to a Christian
bookstore or go online and buy all that stuff is
free at my website, because my heart as a servant
of Christ is just. I want to equip the body
to know their faith, to know what we believe and
why we believe it.
S1 (13:39):
Well, we've already made that connection, that link connection. So
just go to our website at Radio.com. We've made it easy.
And then you can connect to John's from there all
month long. We want to help you to go deeper
in your understanding of God's Word. So in addition to
Jesus Loves Me that we'll talk about today, don't forget
our impact. Gift. The quiet time kick start. Written by
(14:01):
Rachel Jones. It's a small book, but it is very
much simple and doable on how to get going. And
it's yours. If you support the program with the gift
of any amount, you can do so by dialing 888644 4144.
Whatever you do, don't go anywhere. Much more to come.
(14:23):
Next up on equip. As followers of Christ, we know
daily time in God's Word matters. But summer distractions can
make it hard to stay consistent. Now is the perfect
time to refresh or begin this life giving habit. I
would love to send you the Quiet Time Kickstart by
Rachel Jones. This compact guide starts small and helps you
(14:46):
build a steady, meaningful rhythm in Scripture, setting you up
for ongoing success. Request your copy today with a gift
of any amount. To equip, simply call 888644 4144 or
visit Equip radio. Chris Brooks here reminding you that today's
program is pre-recorded and we won't be taking your calls.
(15:14):
What do I need to believe in order to be
a Christian? That's the question today. What do I need
to believe in order to be a Christian? My guest
today says it's all summed up in the lyrics of
a children's song, Jesus Loves Me. This, I know, for
the Bible tells me so. Let's start with that first
(15:36):
word there. Jesus. What do you want us to know
about Jesus? What's essential for us to know John Dickerson
about Jesus?
S2 (15:46):
Yeah. You know, this is summarized so well in Matthew
16 when Jesus is talking to his disciples and he says,
who do you say that I am. And in fact,
I just heard a story from one of my pastors
on my staff yesterday. He was talking with one of
his neighbors, uh, and his neighbor said, um, yeah, I've
always respected Jesus. And our pastor said to him, well,
(16:09):
you know, have you considered that he's God? And this
gentleman said, I've. I never thought of that. You know,
I've always thought he was a good teacher. And, you know,
one of my, uh, I believe callings from God in
writing this book about the Christian essentials is that, um, churches,
you know, back in the day, throughout history, have had
lots of different, you know, ways of teaching. And there
(16:32):
were denominations historically that had things like catechism or confirmation, uh,
or Sunday school. And the idea was to make sure
that at a certain age, everyone in that church knew
the Christian essentials well. Of course, no church model is perfect,
and with culture, things change. And, you know, now we're
in this, uh, very kind of scattered reality that we
(16:54):
live in. And Chris, maybe you've experienced this as well,
that as I kind of toured the American church, sometimes
I'll be in a very, very kind of deep takes
the word of God very seriously. Church where the pastor's
teaching through verse by verse, and there's Greek and there's
Hebrew and there's a lot of big words, but you wonder,
could someone go there for 52 weeks and maybe just
(17:16):
not know the simple basics? And then at the other
end of the spectrum, we've got great churches. And by
the way, I'm not dogging on any of these styles
of churches there. God uses them all. It's beautiful. But
at the far other end of the spectrum, you've got
churches that are all about evangelism and reaching the lost.
And every message is about a felt need in your
life and has a clear application. And you learn that God,
(17:38):
you know, really, really makes a difference in your life.
But you could maybe go to that church for 52
weeks in a year and still not know the basics.
And so the really the heart of this book, Jesus
Loves Me Christian Essentials for the head and the heart.
We use it at our church now for our kind
of baptism class. You know, for new believers to say,
do you really know what you believe? And, um, one
(18:00):
thing I like to say, and I say it throughout
the book, is, uh, it's not complicated, but it is precise.
And I can unpack that with a visual. If you
just think of plugging, uh, you know, plugging a plug
into the wall for electricity, you've got those three prongs there.
It's not complicated. You know, a kid could do it.
And if they're really young, maybe they shouldn't. But, you know,
(18:22):
it's not complicated to plug something into the wall, but
it's precise. If one of those three prongs was off
by just a few millimeters, it wouldn't fit. And it's
the same way with salvation. It isn't complicated. A four
year old can believe it. An eighth grader can memorize it.
Not complicated, but very, very precise.
S1 (18:43):
That's really good. Yeah, that's really good, John. And, you know,
as I think about baptisms, you know, recently I baptized
a six year old who articulated belief in Jesus, the
understanding of the need for salvation so well that it
bless all of our hearts. You're right. Not complicated, but
it is precise. What do I need to believe in
(19:05):
order to be a Christian? Let's go to Regina, who's
listening in Chagrin Falls in Ohio. Hey, Regina. Thanks for
your patience. Thanks for listening. More importantly, what's your comment today?
S3 (19:17):
Hi. Good morning. How are you guys? How is. Everyone
is listening.
S1 (19:20):
Good.
S3 (19:21):
Um, my comment is that, um, right now, we're just
living in the realm where we have to really stand
on his word. And it's almost like, what, do you
really believe in your heart? Um, I just feel like
if you really, um, want. Jesus, he's. He's going to
keep coming to you more and more. The Holy Spirit
is going to convict you. Me? I just go on
(19:42):
John 316. And it carried me a long way. Yeah.
And so long to the point of I just totally
trust him. And we living in this realm where we
have to activate that faith card. But do you really trust.
Do you really love me? So.
S1 (19:59):
Yeah, I really appreciate that, Regina. And, you know, I
think John, uh, Regina brings up a good point. You know,
we have to, uh, actually ask ourselves, do I really
believe these things? So you've written this book not to
just give more information, but ultimately, uh, your hope is
that it will lead to true faith and trust in Jesus.
S2 (20:22):
Amen. And a deepening faith for existing believers. You know,
I'm seeing a lot of people who've grown up in
the church who are in their 20s, 30s even early 40s.
And when when they're on social media and there's a
debate about a moral issue, um, they're kind of questioning, well, why,
you know, why do I believe what I believe about abortion? And, uh,
(20:45):
you know, we're in this kind of cultural moment where
most of the cultural leaders, the celebrities and the big
social media influencers don't have a biblical view of reality.
And so I'm seeing a lot of kind of Christians
in my generation, um, starting to wonder, well, how much
of what I believe is really Jesus and God and
(21:06):
how much is kind of just what my tradition said.
S4 (21:09):
Or the church said.
S2 (21:10):
And this book, Jesus Loves Me, Regina, hit on. We
have to believe what Jesus says. And that's what's so
beautiful about that children's song. Uh, it ends that chorus
with For the Bible tells me so. Um, and there's
even some pastors in our era who are saying, well,
you know, we don't believe in Jesus because the Bible
(21:30):
tells us so. We believe in it because it's true. Absolutely.
We believe it's because it's true. But every word of
God is true. And as followers of Jesus, if we
lose the authority of Scripture as our North Star, as
our guide for everything we do and believe, we will
become tossed back and forth by the winds, and the
(21:51):
waves of our culture will become unanchored. And like every
section of this book, Jesus loves me. We use Scripture
to make all these points. And it was Jesus Himself
who said, man shall not live by bread alone, but
on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
It was Jesus who said in Luke 16, it is
easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the
(22:13):
least stroke of a pen to drop out of the law.
S4 (22:16):
Those are just a couple.
S2 (22:17):
Examples, but each of these sections essentially in a very
simple way, it helps whether it's a brand new Christian
or someone who's spent a long time in church, but
they're wondering, why do I believe that? It helps kind
of put a flag in the ground to stake in
the ground that says, hey, if I'm calling myself a
follower of Jesus, I have to love the Word of
(22:38):
God because Jesus loves the Word of God. Um, and
I'm following him.
S1 (22:43):
Well, you know, it reminds me, John, when I first
started dating my wife. I was not into home and
gardening at all. She was pretty much, you know, obsessed
with that. And I remember the day HGTV debuted. She
wanted it to make it a national holiday. And, uh,
but I found myself buying tickets so that she and
(23:05):
I could go to these home and garden shows. Why?
Because I loved her. I started to love what she loves.
And I'm going to tell you a secret now. Don't
tell anybody, John. But sometimes, even when she's not home,
I can be caught watching a home and garden show.
And it's because I love her. And in many ways,
this is what you're saying about Scripture. When we love Jesus,
(23:27):
we'll love Scripture as well. Let's go to Luke, who's
listening in Chicago. Hey, Luke, thanks for listening. What's your
comment today?
S4 (23:35):
Hello.
S1 (23:35):
There you go. Yes. What's your comment today?
S5 (23:39):
Yeah, my name is Luke and I love you guys.
I've always listened to your program and it's encouraging. Um,
I have two questions. Actually, I'm not going to take
your time. Uh, growing up in Nigeria, we believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Yes. And he
brought our salvation through the offerings on the offering of
his own son. And that is why we have salvation today. Yes.
(24:00):
So we believe the three the father, the son and
the Holy Spirit are three different personalities, but one in
the spirit with different functions. But with the coming of
the charismatic movement, there is the general belief now spreading
the gospel, that Jesus Christ is actually God coming down
and leaving heaven to do the work of salvation. That
(24:23):
was not our belief from the start. Two is that
Christianity is afraid to tell people that you can actually
lose your salvation. Jesus Christ said, if you deny me,
I will deny you in front of my father. That
means if you deny Christ, you lose your salvation. Can
you please clarify that?
S1 (24:39):
All right. So so first off, I think that you've
hit on some really important central, central teachings within John's book.
And I'll let John answer. But I love John that
you have dedicated part one of your book to the
full deity of Jesus, the full humanity of Jesus. What
it means for him to be the Messiah, to be
(25:00):
a member of the Trinity. You've given us key scriptures
on Jesus. So I think that the simple answer to
Luke's question is, Luke, I'm going to give you a
copy of John's book just to say thank you for listening.
But John, with about 60s, if you will. What would
be your response to Luke's question?
S2 (25:21):
Yeah, Luke, you're right on about Jesus being the Son
of God. And the Trinity, of course, is a great mystery.
It's one that theologians can spend their whole life studying
and we don't fully understand it. But you really summarize
it well. There's God the Father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
Each is fully God. It's one God in three persons. Uh,
Philippians two does say he humbled himself and left heaven
(25:43):
to come to earth. So you're you're right on the
right track there. He's fully God. He's fully human. He
had to be that to be the Messiah and die
on our cross, on the cross for the sins of
the world. You're on the right track, Luke. You're on
the right track.
S1 (25:54):
Yes. All right, you stick and stay. Luke, we're going
to come back and take more of the calls and
discuss this even more with John Dickerson on the other
side of this break. Next up on equip with Chris Brooks.
(26:15):
Chris Brooks here reminding you that today's program is pre-recorded.
While we won't be taking calls, we do want to
connect with you on social media. Hey there friends, welcome
back to equip with Chris Brooks. So grateful for you
listening to this amazing conversation with John Dickerson. We'll get
back to that conversation in just a moment with John.
(26:38):
But before we do, let me again remind you of
how important partnership is. Partnership makes all the difference in
spreading the gospel. You know, Jesus could have obviously chosen
any method, but he's called us as a church family
to walk out spreading the gospel together, you and I,
in partnership. One of the ways you can do that
(27:00):
is by supporting the program. I want you to do
that today with your most generous gift. You can do
so by dialing 888644 4144 or equip radio. That's 888644
4144 or equip radio. Today my guest is John Dickerson.
(27:21):
We're talking about his newest book, Jesus Loves Me Christian
Essentials for the head and the heart. You know, it's
an interesting thing to sing Jesus Loves me. You know,
my wife and I, uh, John, have been over the
past year or so, uh, almost two years now going
through counseling, and it's been powerful. Uh, we've we've needed
(27:45):
to go through some grief counseling to help us to
manage through a tough season. But I remember sitting in
the counseling session and the counselor asked me the question, Chris,
is God pleased with you? Is God pleased with you? And, uh,
and man, it was an interesting question. I found myself pausing. Now,
if he would have asked me, am I justified? I
(28:06):
would have been able to give chapter and verse. If
he would have asked me about the atonement, I would
have been able to explain that in theological terms. But
this was a little bit different. This was about his
love for me, his pleasure in me. What do you
want us to know? Or what are we saying when
we say Jesus loves us?
S2 (28:24):
Mhm. Oh Chris, that's so good. And that's you're really
hitting on the subtitle of this book, Jesus Loves Me
Christian Essentials for the head and the heart. You know
what you just described with that, counselor, uh, is the
kind of moment we all need, as followers of Jesus,
of saying yes, my beliefs need to be accurate, but
(28:44):
am I experiencing this at the heart level? Uh, and
you know, Jesus taught so often through stories, parables. And
that's what I try to do in this book. Jesus
Loves Me is the the full structure of it is scripture.
For every one of these sections what we believe about Jesus,
his love ourselves. But then stories help us to understand it.
(29:07):
And you know, one of the stories I use in there,
because I'm a car guy, I grew up in Michigan
and I love cars. Is this true story of a
classic Ferrari that was found abandoned in a barn in France?
And so it's one of these old cars that's been dilapidated.
They call it a barn find. It was covered in
(29:27):
old magazines and dust and dirt. The tires are flat.
You know, if you turn the key, there's no battery.
The engine's not going to start. And in that Dilapidated state.
That car sold at auction for $24 million.
S4 (29:43):
Wow.
S2 (29:43):
Because of who made it? That Ferrari was worth $24
million in its dilapidated state. And so the book Jesus
Loves Me and the section about God's love for us
really uses scripture like Genesis that were made in the
image of God. Romans three, that we've all sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God. But then his
work on the cross to say, um, God, you are
(30:06):
in eternally and inherently valuable to God, regardless of your performance. Uh,
even if your engine won't start, even if you can't
move an inch, you are eternally valuable to God. You're
worth so much to him that he would leave heaven.
He'd leave the comfort of heaven because he'd rather suffer
to be with you than be in heaven without you.
(30:27):
And yet he also loves you so much that he
doesn't just want you rusting in a barn. And this
reality that Paul the Apostle describes, if anyone is in Christ,
they are a new creation. The old is gone, the
new has come. And so much of the struggle of
the Christian life is really kind of captured in this process,
(30:51):
that once we do trust in Jesus, our sins are forgiven.
We're adopted into the family of God, but we're not
immediately transported to heaven. We're still here on earth. We
still have a sin nature. We still make mistakes. We're
still insecure. And so really, it's this picture of a
car like that, a barn find classic car. It's worth
(31:11):
24 million because of who made it. And even if
it never performs, it's still worth that. But if someone
loves that car, they're going to start to restore it.
And the moment we trust in Christ, he restores our heart.
And then our whole journey from here until heaven is
a lot like a car. I mentioned growing up in Michigan,
and I would.
S4 (31:31):
Help these.
S2 (31:31):
Old guys who lived near me, you know, take the
parts off their car and sand them down and repaint them. And, um.
And just like you, Chris, you and your wife are
doing so well of being intentional to say, hey, we've
got grief. We want to go to God about this.
Every one of us as believers, if we're honest, we
are in a restoration process.
S4 (31:51):
Now until we.
S2 (31:52):
Get to heaven.
S1 (31:53):
Yeah. And it's so important that we understand that. And
this is why we have to be able to affirm
that Jesus loves me. And I pray that every Christian
would know the depth, the breadth, the width of Jesus's
love for you. That's been settled in my heart. And
I didn't even realize that I needed to settle that
(32:13):
in my heart. And and that's why I sometimes these
conversations are so important. We need to settle in our
heart the fact that Jesus Messiah, the Lord of all. Uh, Jesus.
God in flesh, that he loves me. Let's go to Maria,
who's listening in Naples, Florida. Hey, Maria, thank you so
(32:34):
much for listening. What's your question today for John?
S6 (32:37):
It's sort of a comment, I guess. Don't we have
the Nicene Creed that was written in 325 A.D. to
help us?
S1 (32:46):
John, you want to answer that?
S2 (32:49):
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Maria, the this book, really what it
does is it builds off exactly what you've described, the
Nicene Creed. There's also the Apostles Creed.
S4 (32:58):
Yeah.
S2 (32:58):
And so, absolutely, this book says at the beginning, um,
we don't need to recreate what the essentials are. We
just need to make sure that believers in our era
understand what those words mean.
S4 (33:12):
Um, that.
S2 (33:13):
We understand intellectually. You know what it means? That Jesus
is fully God and fully human and died on the
cross for the sins of the world. Um, and so
you're absolutely right, Maria. We've got these great historic creeds
and this Jesus Loves Me book, uh, aligns like any
good theology theology book with all those creeds. Um, but then,
(33:34):
like the subtitle of the book for the Head and
the heart. So what does it mean? Kind of like
Chris was describing. What does it mean for you that
Jesus died on the cross for your sins? Do you
know for sure you've received that? Um, are you still
kind of in the workshop, allowing God to continue restoring you? And, uh,
that's great. Maria, this is one of those books where
(33:54):
my first draft to the publisher, I had about another
hundred pages of all those historic.
S4 (34:00):
Creeds and dozens.
S2 (34:01):
And dozens of Scripture passages beyond what's in the book.
And the publisher said, hey, um, John, this is too
many pages.
S4 (34:09):
But isn't that always fun?
S2 (34:12):
Yes.
S1 (34:13):
Isn't that always fun when you got to cut it back? But,
you know, Maria, I just want to say bravo to
you for just first off, being aware of the creeds
so many Christians are not. And it's important for us
to know that our faith doesn't start, uh, with, Is, um.
When we came to Christ. It doesn't start with our
(34:34):
denomination or when our particular local church was founded. Uh,
but Christianity is over 20 centuries old, and, uh, and obviously, uh,
what God has been doing, even through the Jewish people
predates that. But it's important for us to be able
to know what those, uh, writers are doing in their generation.
(34:56):
They were simply saying to their generation, these things we
believe that's what a creed is saying. These things we
believe and it clarifies for the family of faith what
we believe so that we won't have drift in belief.
But it also clarifies against the propaganda of culture what
(35:18):
Christians stand for, what John is doing in such a
beautiful and way, profound but simplistic way, is being able
to say in our generation to the world and to believers.
These things we believe. And so much like what? Uh,
Athanasius and others were doing in their generation, John is
(35:41):
doing in our generation. So grateful for your call. Maria.
Why don't you stay on the line? We're going to
give you a complimentary copy of Jesus Loves Me. And, uh,
it'll be a blessing for you. For everyone else, feel
free to go to our website. You find out more
about ordering information by going to equip radio that's equipped radio.org.
(36:05):
We are all being restored. This is such an important
part of the restoration, uh, process. And, uh, I'm so
grateful for you drawing us to that. But again, all
of this, John, is based off of the fact that
we can know that we are saved, can't we?
S2 (36:24):
Absolutely. And we should. That's, uh, one of the things
I write about in the book is, you know, on
a scale of 1 to 10, if you knew you
were going to leave this earth today, car accident or
something else. Scale of 1 to 10, how sure are
you that you would wake up in God's presence? And
if it's anything less than a ten, um, then you
got to, you know, get a copy of this book
(36:46):
and read through it because it isn't complicated, but it
is precise. And you should know, uh, you know, earlier,
Luke from Chicago had asked, you know, can we lose
our salvation? Um, we can know with confidence because of
what Jesus said and because of what the Word of
God says, that our salvation does not depend on our performance. Um,
(37:07):
it was purchased for us at the cross. We're saved
by grace through faith, not by our own works. But
the Scripture says over and over, repent and believe. If
you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you'll be saved. And so we don't earn our salvation,
and as such, we can't lose it because we didn't
earn it in the first place. But we do plug
(37:27):
into our salvation by repenting and believing. And if you're
listening today and you've never done that before, even right now,
as you're driving or whatever else, you can just say, God,
I believe that Jesus is God, that he died on
the cross for me. I acknowledge that I'm a sinner
and I need your help, I repent. I believe, um,
(37:47):
and then this book, Jesus Loves Me is a guide
so that when you're looking for a church, um, again,
in the era we live in, there's some great speakers
out there who are really funny, and you'll feel all
these feels and like, wow, it's a great experience, but
how do I know at the end of the day,
is that dynamic person who made me laugh and feel
good teaching the Bible or not? Um, and if we
(38:10):
know what the Christian essentials are, then then we know
if they are or they aren't. And if we don't
know the Christian essentials, we can easily be led astray. Uh,
even if we mean, well.
S1 (38:21):
Protecting our hearts from the woo of the world. Protecting
our minds from the false deception that seems to be
so prevalent. John, your book does that and so much more.
We're going to take our last break of the day, John.
But when we come back, I'm going to ask you
what lessons you learned from a friend of yours who's
(38:43):
a fire chief in Arizona about the work that Christ
has done in reviving our hearts and our lives. My friends,
you don't want to go anywhere, I promise you. When
we come back, we're going to land this plane right
in the heart of the gospel. While we're on this break,
you can order a copy of John's wonderful book, Jesus
Loves Me. And again, if you're a pastor, maybe you're
(39:03):
looking for a resource to give new believers that are
joining your church, coming to faith. And maybe you are
a Christian who has recently led a friend or a
neighbor or coworker to Christ, and you want a good
book for them to read so they can know Christian
essentials for the head and the heart. Can I recommend
to you John's wonderful book, Jesus Just loves me. Why
(39:25):
don't you go to our website at Radio.com? Much more
to come. Next up on equipped with Chris Brooks. Each
day on equip, we confront the cultural challenges of our time,
offering biblical truth with discernment and confidence in God's plans
and purposes. Your support as an Equipper helps us reach
(39:45):
more people with God's truth, and you'll receive exclusive monthly
resources and updates to encourage your spiritual life. Become an
Equipper today and partner with us in this vital ministry.
Call 888644 4144 or go online to equip Radio.com. Welcome
(40:11):
back to equipped with Chris Brooks. John Dickerson is my
guest today. Brother, time flies when we're having fun, doesn't it?
S7 (40:20):
Yes it does.
S1 (40:21):
It is always a joy to have you with me. Listen,
you open up with a pretty engaging story. The book
opens with your friend Ralph, who's a fire chief in Arizona,
being called, really for a rescue mission. Talk about that.
And what we need to know about what God has
done to us, for us through Christ.
S2 (40:44):
Yeah. So Ralph told me this story over breakfast one morning.
It just kind of unbelievable. He was actually off duty
driving in his pickup truck, but he had his fire
radio on. He heard a 911 distress call of a
lifeless infant in Arizona. Sadly, sometimes children are left in
cars and it just takes a few moments. If someone
(41:04):
runs into a convenience store with the sun out there,
the car overheats and many children die that way every
year in Arizona. So he gets this 911 call. He's
off duty, but he's two blocks away. He slams the
brakes on his truck, does a U-turn, rushes to the
gas station, and there's this mom holding this lifeless baby,
and this mom just crying and freaking out. And Ralph's
(41:27):
training kicked right in. He knew exactly what to do.
He shouted for some people to go into the gas
station and get some ice and water to cool the
baby down, and then Ralph began CPR on that infant.
And you've probably seen on a TV show, you know,
the chest compressions of CPR, how a doctor kind of
puts their whole body down. But on a on an
(41:49):
infant like that, you actually just use your two, uh,
your pointer finger and.
S4 (41:54):
Your middle finger.
S2 (41:55):
Your first fingers, and you just kind of push on
the chest there, get that little heart going. And then
Ralph describes, um, putting his face on the mouth of
this little baby whose life was to perform these rescue breaths.
It's the only way to resuscitate someone if they have
a chance of coming back to life after their heart
has stopped. And so Ralph is breathing into the lungs
(42:19):
of this lifeless baby. He's performing these little compressions on
the chest. And of course, as a follower of Jesus,
he's praying all along. And then Ralph described to me
this kind of unbelievable moment when he's praying for this
little baby, and all of a sudden it breathes back
out and he feels its breath into his mouth, and
(42:40):
he holds it up, and the baby starts to cry
and cough. And he rescued the life of that child. And, um,
such a beautiful picture of the God who gave Adam
and Eve the breath of life physically, but the only
one who can give us the breath of life spiritually
so that we can have eternal life, and that our
(43:00):
salvation is this, this miraculous moment where he came into
our world. And just like there's no machine that could
have performed CPR on that baby at that gas station,
a human had to do it. Human hands, human lips.
God became human in the person of Jesus, took our
punishment upon himself, performed spiritual CPR on us so that
(43:23):
he could breathe life back into the areas of our
lives that are dead and give us eternal life. God
so loved the world that he gave his only son,
so that whoever believes in him will not perish but
have everlasting life and my heart in writing this book,
Jesus loves me. Christian Essentials for the head and the
heart is to make sure that everyone who calls themselves
(43:44):
a Christian or a follower of Jesus knows that they
believe what Jesus said about himself. His love for us
knows for sure that they've said, for the Bible tells
me so. When I'm not sure what to believe about
something going on in the culture or in my emotions
or in my family, I'm always going to go back
to the Word of God. Why? Because I follow Jesus.
(44:04):
And that's.
S4 (44:05):
What Jesus.
S2 (44:05):
Did, and it's what he expects me to do. And
if we'll have those basics, um, then we are equipped
to follow God through anything this world can throw at us.
You know, followers of Jesus have lived through concentration camps,
through Roman coliseums, where they were pushed out in front
of lions. All sorts of horrible things that we hope
we never have to endure. But in the Word of God,
(44:28):
in the essential Christian beliefs, you have everything you need
for life and for godliness.
S1 (44:34):
So good, so good. Let's say a word because we
only got about a minute left, brother. But let's say
a word about the importance of sharing this good news,
because it's one thing for us to believe it, but
it's not meant to be contained. We're meant to share it,
aren't we?
S2 (44:48):
Amen. I mentioned earlier Romans 116 I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. It's the power of God that brings salvation.
I'll tell this very quickly, but just three weeks ago,
I was doing a funeral for a 22 year old
girl who passed away from brain cancer. As I was
doing her funeral, her personal Bible, Romans chapter one, she
(45:09):
had taken notes on me, preaching I am not ashamed
of the gospel. It's the power of God that brings
salvation to everyone who believes. My final point in that
sermon was, does it matter if you get Christianity right?
It matters when we face death. This girl, at age 20,
before she even knew she had a brain tumor, wrote
I know the gospel. It matters when I face death.
She didn't know. Two years later she'd be with Jesus.
(45:31):
We'd be doing her funeral. And for me to be
able to look her friends, her family in the eyes
and say, I know Bri is with Jesus because we
clarified what to believe.
S4 (45:40):
And she believed.
S2 (45:40):
It. This is why we do what we do.
S1 (45:43):
I asked earlier, what's at stake? Nothing less than our
own salvation and the salvation of others. Listen, John has
done a great thing for us. He's given us this
great gift. Really, in the book Jesus Loves Me. It's
a wonderful primer. It's an essential introduction to what Christians
(46:04):
believe in a very approachable and powerful way. I want
to encourage you to get your hands on a copy
by going to our website, Radio.com. John, we're praying for you,
the good folks over at Connection Point Christian Church, your family.
We love and appreciate you tremendously, brother. Thanks for the
work and writing. Jesus loves me.
S2 (46:25):
Thank you Chris. Love you too brother. Keep up the
great work.
S1 (46:28):
I appreciate it. John Dickerson was my guest today folks. Again,
you can find out more at our website. Uh, equip radio.org.
And don't forget our social media platforms are available to
you as well. If someone were to ask you today,
what do I need to believe about Christianity in order
to be a Christian? You just tell them Jesus loves me.
This I know, for the Bible tells me so. If
(46:50):
we can master the depths of that statement, then we
can understand the core beliefs of the Christian faith. Hey,
I can't wait till we're together again next time. Remember,
equip with Chris Brooks is a production of Moody Radio,
a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Today's program has been pre-recorded so our phone lines are
not open. Well hey there friends, welcome to another exciting
edition of equip with Chris Brooks. I am absolutely fired
up to be here with you today. Why don't you
do me a favor and strap on your seatbelt? We've
been praying for you. We're going to navigate through the
(00:36):
contours of culture together as we look at the lens
of the biblical worldview. But before we do that, let
me remind you, this is the day that the Lord
has made. He has given it as a gift so
that you and I can rejoice and be glad in it.
So let's do just that. Let's follow the words of
the Apostle Paul. Let's rejoice in the Lord always. And
again I say, rejoice! What a great day it is
(00:59):
to be alive, and what a great day it is
to know the Lord. Let me ask this question of you.
If someone were to ask you, what essentials do I
have to believe in order to be a Christian? Like
what are the essential beliefs of the Christian faith, what
would you say? There are certainly a number of books
written on this topic, and most of them are large,
(01:22):
daunting and overwhelming. Full transparency. I just started a theology
Bible study group with a few future leaders in my church,
and the book that we're studying is 1700 plus pages
of fun. Now, I admit that not everybody is desires
to take that type of deep dive into this topic.
(01:45):
But what if I told you that the essentials of
the Christian faith, the essential beliefs of our faith, can
be summed up in the opening lyrics of a very
popular children's song, one that I'm sure all of us
will readily know. Here are the lyrics. Jesus loves me
this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Does
(02:08):
that bring back fond memories? Did you know that when
you were singing that song you were learning some pretty
deep and powerful theology. And if you could just simply
grasp the depths of that song, you'll be pretty adequately
fit to be able to share what we believe and
why it is so important. Today, we're going to talk
(02:31):
about the essentials of the Christian faith, and we're going
to do so in a way that I think will
be refreshing and memorable with a wonderful friend and author,
John Dickerson. John is a pastor and a best selling author,
a former journalist turned seminary trained pastor. He's a millennial
with biblical convictions that makes him pretty unique. He strives
(02:52):
to communicate the unchanging truth of the scriptures to a
new generation. He is the lead pastor of Connection Point
Christian Church. I love that church in Indiana. He's a
recognized voice in the for the church today, and I'm
so grateful that he is. He has spoken at some
of the most influential churches in seminaries across the country.
(03:13):
His writings have appeared in The New York Times, USA today,
and many other publications. Today we are here to talk
about his newest project, Jesus Loves Me Essential Christian Essentials,
rather for the head and the heart. John. How are you, brother?
S2 (03:30):
I'm doing great, Chris. It's always so fun to be
with you.
S1 (03:33):
It is great to have you. I'm so grateful that
you have put together this project. All right, let's let's
start with asking the basic question of who is this
book written to?
S2 (03:46):
Yeah, that's right. It's really written to anyone who considers
themselves a Christian. Whether you've been in church for 30
years or you're just figuring it out and just trying
it out. We live in a time academics call it
a post-truth culture, where we find ourselves in this vortex,
this hurricane kaleidoscope of just all these ideas and opinions.
(04:08):
And it's hard to know what's true and what's not true?
Even when we watch the news and when we're on
social media. And in the middle of all this, a
lot of believers, whether they've been in the church for
a long time or they're brand new, need clarity about
what is it actually to be a Christian? Um, what
are the things we're good Christians disagree. And what are
(04:28):
the things where if you lose this, you it's no
longer Christianity. You're no longer going to heaven. And so
that's what this book does, is it simplifies all that
down to really an eighth grade reader level and puts
it in a really memorable way.
S1 (04:43):
Yeah, I remember that, uh, movie Philadelphia Denzel Washington was
in remember that movie? I think Tom Hanks co-starred alongside
of him. And he used to say this, explain this
to me as if I was a five year old. Right?
And here he is, this well-trained lawyer. What a powerful line.
But in many ways, it's what you're doing. You're simplifying.
What for many, will seem overwhelming. I'm going to open
(05:05):
up the phone lines today because I love to hear
from our listeners. And, you know, I believe this about
equip listeners. They're some of the most compassionate and biblically
minded listeners in In All the land. But I love
to hear from you around this question. What do you
believe is essential Christian doctrine? What do you believe are
(05:28):
the essential teachings of the Christian faith? If you had
to summarize it, what do you believe are the essential
teachings of the Christian faith that a person must believe
in order to say that they are a Christian with
right belief? What do you think is absolutely essential? This
is non-negotiable. You have to believe this in order to
say that you are a Christian. John, let me ask
(05:49):
this question does theology even matter anymore? You're a millennial.
So much seems to be focusing on just serving and ethics.
Do does theology and doctrine even matter?
S2 (06:01):
Yeah. What a great question. We have to acknowledge that
just like gravity is a real law of physics, whether
a person believes in gravity or not. If they jump
off the top of a building, they're going to experience gravity.
There are supernatural laws of physics in the universe that
God exists, that truth exists. And of course, one of
Satan's great lies in our time is that truth is
(06:24):
really just your own thing, and everyone has their own truth.
And again, academics would call it post-truth. But as Christians,
we always go back to what Jesus said and perhaps
one of the most famous Bible verses of all. God
so loved the world, John 316 that he sent his
only son, so that whoever believes in him will not
(06:45):
perish but have everlasting life. If you study John three
right around that verse, you'll see the word believe about
seven times. And so this book, Jesus loves me. Christian essentials.
It answers through stories and scriptures. What do you need
to believe? So it's a great tool for discipling your
small group or a new believer. My hope is that
(07:05):
like a Thanksgiving dinner. I've eaten Thanksgiving dinner a number
of times, but I always still enjoy it for a
long time. Believer this book, Jesus loves me. It goes
back over, uh, kind of this reminder of like, oh yeah,
it is that simple. But we need to make sure
that we believe exactly what Jesus said. Uh, we know
the Great Commission. Therefore go and make disciples baptizing them.
(07:28):
And then it says, teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded you. And so, you know, at seminary, uh, and, Chris,
you're highly educated. They use all these big words in seminary,
you know, soteriology to talk about salvation or biblical anthropology,
to talk about humans. But really, all that can be
summed up. Christology, for example, is that we're Jesus. So
(07:50):
this book, Jesus loves me, it really goes word by
word through that short chorus. What do you have to
believe about Jesus according to Jesus? Uh, and of course,
the book is all based on scripture, but it uses
stories and eighth grade level vocabulary that anyone can understand
to really, you know, teach us. Okay, what do I
(08:11):
need to believe about Jesus? Well, he's fully God. He's
fully human. He's the Messiah. Uh, loves. What does it mean?
That he loves us? Well, love is proved through actions
according to the word of God. He loved us by
dying on the cross for our sins and rising from
the dead. Me? Well, you know, what does the Bible
say about me? Jesus loves me. And this is, I think,
(08:33):
such an important one in our generation and in our time,
because we see people wrestling with, well, our, our humans,
inherently good. That's what most our kids are being taught
growing up in school. But then in our culture, we see, oh,
if you disagree on a certain thing, you get canceled.
And so the culture kind of says people are inherently
good unless they make a certain mistake, and then they're
(08:56):
irredeemably evil. And it's this weird bipolar view of humanity. Well,
biblical Christianity, Jesus loves me, says I'm glorious. Everyone listening
to this. You are glorious because you're made in the
image of God. You're eternally valuable, but you're ruined by sin.
And so am I. All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God. But the good news is
(09:18):
that a biblical view of humanity is everyone's made in
God's image. Everyone's broken, but everyone is capable of redemption
if they will believe in Jesus. So I just walked
you through. Jesus loves me. But then the book has
two other sections. This I know and for the Bible
tells me so. So that by the end of it,
if your grandkid or child said, hey, what do I
(09:39):
need to believe to be a Christian and you didn't
have a Bible with you, you could just walk them
right through that song. Here's what you need to believe
about Jesus his love. You gotta believe he died on
the cross and rose again. You gotta acknowledge that you're
a sinner and repent and believe this I know. ET cetera.
So it's a tool that's been helping a ton of
people in our church, and I'm passionate about it because
(09:59):
I see a lot of well-intentioned believers. They want to
live for Jesus right now, but it's just such a
kaleidoscope of confusing ideas, and we kind of need this
reminder of like, these are the basic truths that I
can stand on.
S1 (10:13):
Yeah, these are such a important and essential truths, and
I'm so glad again that you have captured this in
a book. And I just want to say, you know,
there's certainly space for us to take a deeper dive
into the truths of God's Word. But this right here
is such a wonderful primer and introduction. I want to
(10:33):
read something that was written as an endorsement for the
book by Doctor Darrell Bock. He's a mutual friend. He's
a professor over at Dallas Theological Seminary. And he says this.
He says, Jesus loves me as a needed primer of
the basic Christian faith. In an era when many polls
tell us that people claim that that people who claim
(10:57):
the name of Jesus simply don't know the basics of
the Christian faith. This is where we're at right now
that many people who claim to follow Jesus have never
really studied what that really means. So here's my question
for you, John. What's at stake?
S2 (11:15):
Yeah, what's at stake is eternal life. Um, you know,
Paul says in Romans 116, I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
And that's what this book, Jesus Loves Me, summarizes. What
is the gospel when we say the gospel, what do
we mean? I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it
is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone
(11:35):
who believes. So when we believe the gospel according to God,
we access the power of God that brings salvation. When
we believe a version of Christianity. Remember what Paul said
at the end of his letter? You know, in the
end times there will be people who have a form
of godliness but don't have the power of it. Uh,
when we believe something that might even look, might even
(11:57):
have the word Jesus might look a little Christian, but
it's not Jesus according to Jesus. We lose the power
of God in this life to set us free from sin,
to live a spirit filled life, but we also lose salvation.
I'm not saying you can lose your salvation, but a
person won't have salvation if they don't believe Jesus according
to Jesus. And so, I mean, what's at stake is
for the people we love. And I think especially of
(12:21):
our kids and grandkids growing up in a time where
their faith is going to be so challenged, and for
them to know, you know, what is the irreducible core
of Christianity, um, where you can't just agree to disagree
about whether or not Jesus was God. I mean, obviously
we love people who disagree with us on it, but
they're not a Christian if they don't believe that. And
(12:43):
we live in this time where things are being redefined
and we have to like it says in John one
about Jesus full of grace and truth. We hold the
truth gracefully and graciously, but we hold the truth no
matter what. And, um, this book is a great way.
Rather than getting in an argument with someone who maybe
calls themselves a Christian, but you're like, I'm not sure
if they actually know what this is about. This book
(13:05):
is a really, um, you know, kind of gentle, easy
way to just say, hey, uh, why don't you why
don't we do this study together? And I do want
to encourage anyone listening, um, at my website, which I'm
sure we can link at yours. Chris. Um, there's a
free five part video study of this material. There's a
free small group study, uh, all the stuff that normally
(13:25):
with a book, you'd have to go to a Christian
bookstore or go online and buy all that stuff is
free at my website, because my heart as a servant
of Christ is just. I want to equip the body
to know their faith, to know what we believe and
why we believe it.
S1 (13:39):
Well, we've already made that connection, that link connection. So
just go to our website at Radio.com. We've made it easy.
And then you can connect to John's from there all
month long. We want to help you to go deeper
in your understanding of God's Word. So in addition to
Jesus Loves Me that we'll talk about today, don't forget
our impact. Gift. The quiet time kick start. Written by
(14:01):
Rachel Jones. It's a small book, but it is very
much simple and doable on how to get going. And
it's yours. If you support the program with the gift
of any amount, you can do so by dialing 888644 4144.
Whatever you do, don't go anywhere. Much more to come.
(14:23):
Next up on equip. As followers of Christ, we know
daily time in God's Word matters. But summer distractions can
make it hard to stay consistent. Now is the perfect
time to refresh or begin this life giving habit. I
would love to send you the Quiet Time Kickstart by
Rachel Jones. This compact guide starts small and helps you
(14:46):
build a steady, meaningful rhythm in Scripture, setting you up
for ongoing success. Request your copy today with a gift
of any amount. To equip, simply call 888644 4144 or
visit Equip radio. Chris Brooks here reminding you that today's
program is pre-recorded and we won't be taking your calls.
(15:14):
What do I need to believe in order to be
a Christian? That's the question today. What do I need
to believe in order to be a Christian? My guest
today says it's all summed up in the lyrics of
a children's song, Jesus Loves Me. This, I know, for
the Bible tells me so. Let's start with that first
(15:36):
word there. Jesus. What do you want us to know
about Jesus? What's essential for us to know John Dickerson
about Jesus?
S2 (15:46):
Yeah. You know, this is summarized so well in Matthew
16 when Jesus is talking to his disciples and he says,
who do you say that I am. And in fact,
I just heard a story from one of my pastors
on my staff yesterday. He was talking with one of
his neighbors, uh, and his neighbor said, um, yeah, I've
always respected Jesus. And our pastor said to him, well,
(16:09):
you know, have you considered that he's God? And this
gentleman said, I've. I never thought of that. You know,
I've always thought he was a good teacher. And, you know,
one of my, uh, I believe callings from God in
writing this book about the Christian essentials is that, um, churches,
you know, back in the day, throughout history, have had
lots of different, you know, ways of teaching. And there
(16:32):
were denominations historically that had things like catechism or confirmation, uh,
or Sunday school. And the idea was to make sure
that at a certain age, everyone in that church knew
the Christian essentials well. Of course, no church model is perfect,
and with culture, things change. And, you know, now we're
in this, uh, very kind of scattered reality that we
(16:54):
live in. And Chris, maybe you've experienced this as well,
that as I kind of toured the American church, sometimes
I'll be in a very, very kind of deep takes
the word of God very seriously. Church where the pastor's
teaching through verse by verse, and there's Greek and there's
Hebrew and there's a lot of big words, but you wonder,
could someone go there for 52 weeks and maybe just
(17:16):
not know the simple basics? And then at the other
end of the spectrum, we've got great churches. And by
the way, I'm not dogging on any of these styles
of churches there. God uses them all. It's beautiful. But
at the far other end of the spectrum, you've got
churches that are all about evangelism and reaching the lost.
And every message is about a felt need in your
life and has a clear application. And you learn that God,
(17:38):
you know, really, really makes a difference in your life.
But you could maybe go to that church for 52
weeks in a year and still not know the basics.
And so the really the heart of this book, Jesus
Loves Me Christian Essentials for the head and the heart.
We use it at our church now for our kind
of baptism class. You know, for new believers to say,
do you really know what you believe? And, um, one
(18:00):
thing I like to say, and I say it throughout
the book, is, uh, it's not complicated, but it is precise.
And I can unpack that with a visual. If you
just think of plugging, uh, you know, plugging a plug
into the wall for electricity, you've got those three prongs there.
It's not complicated. You know, a kid could do it.
And if they're really young, maybe they shouldn't. But, you know,
(18:22):
it's not complicated to plug something into the wall, but
it's precise. If one of those three prongs was off
by just a few millimeters, it wouldn't fit. And it's
the same way with salvation. It isn't complicated. A four
year old can believe it. An eighth grader can memorize it.
Not complicated, but very, very precise.
S1 (18:43):
That's really good. Yeah, that's really good, John. And, you know,
as I think about baptisms, you know, recently I baptized
a six year old who articulated belief in Jesus, the
understanding of the need for salvation so well that it
bless all of our hearts. You're right. Not complicated, but
it is precise. What do I need to believe in
(19:05):
order to be a Christian? Let's go to Regina, who's
listening in Chagrin Falls in Ohio. Hey, Regina. Thanks for
your patience. Thanks for listening. More importantly, what's your comment today?
S3 (19:17):
Hi. Good morning. How are you guys? How is. Everyone
is listening.
S1 (19:20):
Good.
S3 (19:21):
Um, my comment is that, um, right now, we're just
living in the realm where we have to really stand
on his word. And it's almost like, what, do you
really believe in your heart? Um, I just feel like
if you really, um, want. Jesus, he's. He's going to
keep coming to you more and more. The Holy Spirit
is going to convict you. Me? I just go on
(19:42):
John 316. And it carried me a long way. Yeah.
And so long to the point of I just totally
trust him. And we living in this realm where we
have to activate that faith card. But do you really trust.
Do you really love me? So.
S1 (19:59):
Yeah, I really appreciate that, Regina. And, you know, I
think John, uh, Regina brings up a good point. You know,
we have to, uh, actually ask ourselves, do I really
believe these things? So you've written this book not to
just give more information, but ultimately, uh, your hope is
that it will lead to true faith and trust in Jesus.
S2 (20:22):
Amen. And a deepening faith for existing believers. You know,
I'm seeing a lot of people who've grown up in
the church who are in their 20s, 30s even early 40s.
And when when they're on social media and there's a
debate about a moral issue, um, they're kind of questioning, well, why,
you know, why do I believe what I believe about abortion? And, uh,
(20:45):
you know, we're in this kind of cultural moment where
most of the cultural leaders, the celebrities and the big
social media influencers don't have a biblical view of reality.
And so I'm seeing a lot of kind of Christians
in my generation, um, starting to wonder, well, how much
of what I believe is really Jesus and God and
(21:06):
how much is kind of just what my tradition said.
S4 (21:09):
Or the church said.
S2 (21:10):
And this book, Jesus Loves Me, Regina, hit on. We
have to believe what Jesus says. And that's what's so
beautiful about that children's song. Uh, it ends that chorus
with For the Bible tells me so. Um, and there's
even some pastors in our era who are saying, well,
you know, we don't believe in Jesus because the Bible
(21:30):
tells us so. We believe in it because it's true. Absolutely.
We believe it's because it's true. But every word of
God is true. And as followers of Jesus, if we
lose the authority of Scripture as our North Star, as
our guide for everything we do and believe, we will
become tossed back and forth by the winds, and the
(21:51):
waves of our culture will become unanchored. And like every
section of this book, Jesus loves me. We use Scripture
to make all these points. And it was Jesus Himself
who said, man shall not live by bread alone, but
on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
It was Jesus who said in Luke 16, it is
easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the
(22:13):
least stroke of a pen to drop out of the law.
S4 (22:16):
Those are just a couple.
S2 (22:17):
Examples, but each of these sections essentially in a very
simple way, it helps whether it's a brand new Christian
or someone who's spent a long time in church, but
they're wondering, why do I believe that? It helps kind
of put a flag in the ground to stake in
the ground that says, hey, if I'm calling myself a
follower of Jesus, I have to love the Word of
(22:38):
God because Jesus loves the Word of God. Um, and
I'm following him.
S1 (22:43):
Well, you know, it reminds me, John, when I first
started dating my wife. I was not into home and
gardening at all. She was pretty much, you know, obsessed
with that. And I remember the day HGTV debuted. She
wanted it to make it a national holiday. And, uh,
but I found myself buying tickets so that she and
(23:05):
I could go to these home and garden shows. Why?
Because I loved her. I started to love what she loves.
And I'm going to tell you a secret now. Don't
tell anybody, John. But sometimes, even when she's not home,
I can be caught watching a home and garden show.
And it's because I love her. And in many ways,
this is what you're saying about Scripture. When we love Jesus,
(23:27):
we'll love Scripture as well. Let's go to Luke, who's
listening in Chicago. Hey, Luke, thanks for listening. What's your
comment today?
S4 (23:35):
Hello.
S1 (23:35):
There you go. Yes. What's your comment today?
S5 (23:39):
Yeah, my name is Luke and I love you guys.
I've always listened to your program and it's encouraging. Um,
I have two questions. Actually, I'm not going to take
your time. Uh, growing up in Nigeria, we believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Yes. And he
brought our salvation through the offerings on the offering of
his own son. And that is why we have salvation today. Yes.
(24:00):
So we believe the three the father, the son and
the Holy Spirit are three different personalities, but one in
the spirit with different functions. But with the coming of
the charismatic movement, there is the general belief now spreading
the gospel, that Jesus Christ is actually God coming down
and leaving heaven to do the work of salvation. That
(24:23):
was not our belief from the start. Two is that
Christianity is afraid to tell people that you can actually
lose your salvation. Jesus Christ said, if you deny me,
I will deny you in front of my father. That
means if you deny Christ, you lose your salvation. Can
you please clarify that?
S1 (24:39):
All right. So so first off, I think that you've
hit on some really important central, central teachings within John's book.
And I'll let John answer. But I love John that
you have dedicated part one of your book to the
full deity of Jesus, the full humanity of Jesus. What
it means for him to be the Messiah, to be
(25:00):
a member of the Trinity. You've given us key scriptures
on Jesus. So I think that the simple answer to
Luke's question is, Luke, I'm going to give you a
copy of John's book just to say thank you for listening.
But John, with about 60s, if you will. What would
be your response to Luke's question?
S2 (25:21):
Yeah, Luke, you're right on about Jesus being the Son
of God. And the Trinity, of course, is a great mystery.
It's one that theologians can spend their whole life studying
and we don't fully understand it. But you really summarize
it well. There's God the Father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
Each is fully God. It's one God in three persons. Uh,
Philippians two does say he humbled himself and left heaven
(25:43):
to come to earth. So you're you're right on the
right track there. He's fully God. He's fully human. He
had to be that to be the Messiah and die
on our cross, on the cross for the sins of
the world. You're on the right track, Luke. You're on
the right track.
S1 (25:54):
Yes. All right, you stick and stay. Luke, we're going
to come back and take more of the calls and
discuss this even more with John Dickerson on the other
side of this break. Next up on equip with Chris Brooks.
(26:15):
Chris Brooks here reminding you that today's program is pre-recorded.
While we won't be taking calls, we do want to
connect with you on social media. Hey there friends, welcome
back to equip with Chris Brooks. So grateful for you
listening to this amazing conversation with John Dickerson. We'll get
back to that conversation in just a moment with John.
(26:38):
But before we do, let me again remind you of
how important partnership is. Partnership makes all the difference in
spreading the gospel. You know, Jesus could have obviously chosen
any method, but he's called us as a church family
to walk out spreading the gospel together, you and I,
in partnership. One of the ways you can do that
(27:00):
is by supporting the program. I want you to do
that today with your most generous gift. You can do
so by dialing 888644 4144 or equip radio. That's 888644
4144 or equip radio. Today my guest is John Dickerson.
(27:21):
We're talking about his newest book, Jesus Loves Me Christian
Essentials for the head and the heart. You know, it's
an interesting thing to sing Jesus Loves me. You know,
my wife and I, uh, John, have been over the
past year or so, uh, almost two years now going
through counseling, and it's been powerful. Uh, we've we've needed
(27:45):
to go through some grief counseling to help us to
manage through a tough season. But I remember sitting in
the counseling session and the counselor asked me the question, Chris,
is God pleased with you? Is God pleased with you? And, uh,
and man, it was an interesting question. I found myself pausing. Now,
if he would have asked me, am I justified? I
(28:06):
would have been able to give chapter and verse. If
he would have asked me about the atonement, I would
have been able to explain that in theological terms. But
this was a little bit different. This was about his
love for me, his pleasure in me. What do you
want us to know? Or what are we saying when
we say Jesus loves us?
S2 (28:24):
Mhm. Oh Chris, that's so good. And that's you're really
hitting on the subtitle of this book, Jesus Loves Me
Christian Essentials for the head and the heart. You know
what you just described with that, counselor, uh, is the
kind of moment we all need, as followers of Jesus,
of saying yes, my beliefs need to be accurate, but
(28:44):
am I experiencing this at the heart level? Uh, and
you know, Jesus taught so often through stories, parables. And
that's what I try to do in this book. Jesus
Loves Me is the the full structure of it is scripture.
For every one of these sections what we believe about Jesus,
his love ourselves. But then stories help us to understand it.
(29:07):
And you know, one of the stories I use in there,
because I'm a car guy, I grew up in Michigan
and I love cars. Is this true story of a
classic Ferrari that was found abandoned in a barn in France?
And so it's one of these old cars that's been dilapidated.
They call it a barn find. It was covered in
(29:27):
old magazines and dust and dirt. The tires are flat.
You know, if you turn the key, there's no battery.
The engine's not going to start. And in that Dilapidated state.
That car sold at auction for $24 million.
S4 (29:43):
Wow.
S2 (29:43):
Because of who made it? That Ferrari was worth $24
million in its dilapidated state. And so the book Jesus
Loves Me and the section about God's love for us
really uses scripture like Genesis that were made in the
image of God. Romans three, that we've all sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God. But then his
work on the cross to say, um, God, you are
(30:06):
in eternally and inherently valuable to God, regardless of your performance. Uh,
even if your engine won't start, even if you can't
move an inch, you are eternally valuable to God. You're
worth so much to him that he would leave heaven.
He'd leave the comfort of heaven because he'd rather suffer
to be with you than be in heaven without you.
(30:27):
And yet he also loves you so much that he
doesn't just want you rusting in a barn. And this
reality that Paul the Apostle describes, if anyone is in Christ,
they are a new creation. The old is gone, the
new has come. And so much of the struggle of
the Christian life is really kind of captured in this process,
(30:51):
that once we do trust in Jesus, our sins are forgiven.
We're adopted into the family of God, but we're not
immediately transported to heaven. We're still here on earth. We
still have a sin nature. We still make mistakes. We're
still insecure. And so really, it's this picture of a
car like that, a barn find classic car. It's worth
(31:11):
24 million because of who made it. And even if
it never performs, it's still worth that. But if someone
loves that car, they're going to start to restore it.
And the moment we trust in Christ, he restores our heart.
And then our whole journey from here until heaven is
a lot like a car. I mentioned growing up in Michigan,
and I would.
S4 (31:31):
Help these.
S2 (31:31):
Old guys who lived near me, you know, take the
parts off their car and sand them down and repaint them. And, um.
And just like you, Chris, you and your wife are
doing so well of being intentional to say, hey, we've
got grief. We want to go to God about this.
Every one of us as believers, if we're honest, we
are in a restoration process.
S4 (31:51):
Now until we.
S2 (31:52):
Get to heaven.
S1 (31:53):
Yeah. And it's so important that we understand that. And
this is why we have to be able to affirm
that Jesus loves me. And I pray that every Christian
would know the depth, the breadth, the width of Jesus's
love for you. That's been settled in my heart. And
I didn't even realize that I needed to settle that
(32:13):
in my heart. And and that's why I sometimes these
conversations are so important. We need to settle in our
heart the fact that Jesus Messiah, the Lord of all. Uh, Jesus.
God in flesh, that he loves me. Let's go to Maria,
who's listening in Naples, Florida. Hey, Maria, thank you so
(32:34):
much for listening. What's your question today for John?
S6 (32:37):
It's sort of a comment, I guess. Don't we have
the Nicene Creed that was written in 325 A.D. to
help us?
S1 (32:46):
John, you want to answer that?
S2 (32:49):
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Maria, the this book, really what it
does is it builds off exactly what you've described, the
Nicene Creed. There's also the Apostles Creed.
S4 (32:58):
Yeah.
S2 (32:58):
And so, absolutely, this book says at the beginning, um,
we don't need to recreate what the essentials are. We
just need to make sure that believers in our era
understand what those words mean.
S4 (33:12):
Um, that.
S2 (33:13):
We understand intellectually. You know what it means? That Jesus
is fully God and fully human and died on the
cross for the sins of the world. Um, and so
you're absolutely right, Maria. We've got these great historic creeds
and this Jesus Loves Me book, uh, aligns like any
good theology theology book with all those creeds. Um, but then,
(33:34):
like the subtitle of the book for the Head and
the heart. So what does it mean? Kind of like
Chris was describing. What does it mean for you that
Jesus died on the cross for your sins? Do you
know for sure you've received that? Um, are you still
kind of in the workshop, allowing God to continue restoring you? And, uh,
that's great. Maria, this is one of those books where
(33:54):
my first draft to the publisher, I had about another
hundred pages of all those historic.
S4 (34:00):
Creeds and dozens.
S2 (34:01):
And dozens of Scripture passages beyond what's in the book.
And the publisher said, hey, um, John, this is too
many pages.
S4 (34:09):
But isn't that always fun?
S2 (34:12):
Yes.
S1 (34:13):
Isn't that always fun when you got to cut it back? But,
you know, Maria, I just want to say bravo to
you for just first off, being aware of the creeds
so many Christians are not. And it's important for us
to know that our faith doesn't start, uh, with, Is, um.
When we came to Christ. It doesn't start with our
(34:34):
denomination or when our particular local church was founded. Uh,
but Christianity is over 20 centuries old, and, uh, and obviously, uh,
what God has been doing, even through the Jewish people
predates that. But it's important for us to be able
to know what those, uh, writers are doing in their generation.
(34:56):
They were simply saying to their generation, these things we
believe that's what a creed is saying. These things we
believe and it clarifies for the family of faith what
we believe so that we won't have drift in belief.
But it also clarifies against the propaganda of culture what
(35:18):
Christians stand for, what John is doing in such a
beautiful and way, profound but simplistic way, is being able
to say in our generation to the world and to believers.
These things we believe. And so much like what? Uh,
Athanasius and others were doing in their generation, John is
(35:41):
doing in our generation. So grateful for your call. Maria.
Why don't you stay on the line? We're going to
give you a complimentary copy of Jesus Loves Me. And, uh,
it'll be a blessing for you. For everyone else, feel
free to go to our website. You find out more
about ordering information by going to equip radio that's equipped radio.org.
(36:05):
We are all being restored. This is such an important
part of the restoration, uh, process. And, uh, I'm so
grateful for you drawing us to that. But again, all
of this, John, is based off of the fact that
we can know that we are saved, can't we?
S2 (36:24):
Absolutely. And we should. That's, uh, one of the things
I write about in the book is, you know, on
a scale of 1 to 10, if you knew you
were going to leave this earth today, car accident or
something else. Scale of 1 to 10, how sure are
you that you would wake up in God's presence? And
if it's anything less than a ten, um, then you
got to, you know, get a copy of this book
(36:46):
and read through it because it isn't complicated, but it
is precise. And you should know, uh, you know, earlier,
Luke from Chicago had asked, you know, can we lose
our salvation? Um, we can know with confidence because of
what Jesus said and because of what the Word of
God says, that our salvation does not depend on our performance. Um,
(37:07):
it was purchased for us at the cross. We're saved
by grace through faith, not by our own works. But
the Scripture says over and over, repent and believe. If
you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you'll be saved. And so we don't earn our salvation,
and as such, we can't lose it because we didn't
earn it in the first place. But we do plug
(37:27):
into our salvation by repenting and believing. And if you're
listening today and you've never done that before, even right now,
as you're driving or whatever else, you can just say, God,
I believe that Jesus is God, that he died on
the cross for me. I acknowledge that I'm a sinner
and I need your help, I repent. I believe, um,
(37:47):
and then this book, Jesus Loves Me is a guide
so that when you're looking for a church, um, again,
in the era we live in, there's some great speakers
out there who are really funny, and you'll feel all
these feels and like, wow, it's a great experience, but
how do I know at the end of the day,
is that dynamic person who made me laugh and feel
good teaching the Bible or not? Um, and if we
(38:10):
know what the Christian essentials are, then then we know
if they are or they aren't. And if we don't
know the Christian essentials, we can easily be led astray. Uh,
even if we mean, well.
S1 (38:21):
Protecting our hearts from the woo of the world. Protecting
our minds from the false deception that seems to be
so prevalent. John, your book does that and so much more.
We're going to take our last break of the day, John.
But when we come back, I'm going to ask you
what lessons you learned from a friend of yours who's
(38:43):
a fire chief in Arizona about the work that Christ
has done in reviving our hearts and our lives. My friends,
you don't want to go anywhere, I promise you. When
we come back, we're going to land this plane right
in the heart of the gospel. While we're on this break,
you can order a copy of John's wonderful book, Jesus
Loves Me. And again, if you're a pastor, maybe you're
(39:03):
looking for a resource to give new believers that are
joining your church, coming to faith. And maybe you are
a Christian who has recently led a friend or a
neighbor or coworker to Christ, and you want a good
book for them to read so they can know Christian
essentials for the head and the heart. Can I recommend
to you John's wonderful book, Jesus Just loves me. Why
(39:25):
don't you go to our website at Radio.com? Much more
to come. Next up on equipped with Chris Brooks. Each
day on equip, we confront the cultural challenges of our time,
offering biblical truth with discernment and confidence in God's plans
and purposes. Your support as an Equipper helps us reach
(39:45):
more people with God's truth, and you'll receive exclusive monthly
resources and updates to encourage your spiritual life. Become an
Equipper today and partner with us in this vital ministry.
Call 888644 4144 or go online to equip Radio.com. Welcome
(40:11):
back to equipped with Chris Brooks. John Dickerson is my
guest today. Brother, time flies when we're having fun, doesn't it?
S7 (40:20):
Yes it does.
S1 (40:21):
It is always a joy to have you with me. Listen,
you open up with a pretty engaging story. The book
opens with your friend Ralph, who's a fire chief in Arizona,
being called, really for a rescue mission. Talk about that.
And what we need to know about what God has
done to us, for us through Christ.
S2 (40:44):
Yeah. So Ralph told me this story over breakfast one morning.
It just kind of unbelievable. He was actually off duty
driving in his pickup truck, but he had his fire
radio on. He heard a 911 distress call of a
lifeless infant in Arizona. Sadly, sometimes children are left in
cars and it just takes a few moments. If someone
(41:04):
runs into a convenience store with the sun out there,
the car overheats and many children die that way every
year in Arizona. So he gets this 911 call. He's
off duty, but he's two blocks away. He slams the
brakes on his truck, does a U-turn, rushes to the
gas station, and there's this mom holding this lifeless baby,
and this mom just crying and freaking out. And Ralph's
(41:27):
training kicked right in. He knew exactly what to do.
He shouted for some people to go into the gas
station and get some ice and water to cool the
baby down, and then Ralph began CPR on that infant.
And you've probably seen on a TV show, you know,
the chest compressions of CPR, how a doctor kind of
puts their whole body down. But on a on an
(41:49):
infant like that, you actually just use your two, uh,
your pointer finger and.
S4 (41:54):
Your middle finger.
S2 (41:55):
Your first fingers, and you just kind of push on
the chest there, get that little heart going. And then
Ralph describes, um, putting his face on the mouth of
this little baby whose life was to perform these rescue breaths.
It's the only way to resuscitate someone if they have
a chance of coming back to life after their heart
has stopped. And so Ralph is breathing into the lungs
(42:19):
of this lifeless baby. He's performing these little compressions on
the chest. And of course, as a follower of Jesus,
he's praying all along. And then Ralph described to me
this kind of unbelievable moment when he's praying for this
little baby, and all of a sudden it breathes back
out and he feels its breath into his mouth, and
(42:40):
he holds it up, and the baby starts to cry
and cough. And he rescued the life of that child. And, um,
such a beautiful picture of the God who gave Adam
and Eve the breath of life physically, but the only
one who can give us the breath of life spiritually
so that we can have eternal life, and that our
(43:00):
salvation is this, this miraculous moment where he came into
our world. And just like there's no machine that could
have performed CPR on that baby at that gas station,
a human had to do it. Human hands, human lips.
God became human in the person of Jesus, took our
punishment upon himself, performed spiritual CPR on us so that
(43:23):
he could breathe life back into the areas of our
lives that are dead and give us eternal life. God
so loved the world that he gave his only son,
so that whoever believes in him will not perish but
have everlasting life and my heart in writing this book,
Jesus loves me. Christian Essentials for the head and the
heart is to make sure that everyone who calls themselves
(43:44):
a Christian or a follower of Jesus knows that they
believe what Jesus said about himself. His love for us
knows for sure that they've said, for the Bible tells
me so. When I'm not sure what to believe about
something going on in the culture or in my emotions
or in my family, I'm always going to go back
to the Word of God. Why? Because I follow Jesus.
(44:04):
And that's.
S4 (44:05):
What Jesus.
S2 (44:05):
Did, and it's what he expects me to do. And
if we'll have those basics, um, then we are equipped
to follow God through anything this world can throw at us.
You know, followers of Jesus have lived through concentration camps,
through Roman coliseums, where they were pushed out in front
of lions. All sorts of horrible things that we hope
we never have to endure. But in the Word of God,
(44:28):
in the essential Christian beliefs, you have everything you need
for life and for godliness.
S1 (44:34):
So good, so good. Let's say a word because we
only got about a minute left, brother. But let's say
a word about the importance of sharing this good news,
because it's one thing for us to believe it, but
it's not meant to be contained. We're meant to share it,
aren't we?
S2 (44:48):
Amen. I mentioned earlier Romans 116 I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. It's the power of God that brings salvation.
I'll tell this very quickly, but just three weeks ago,
I was doing a funeral for a 22 year old
girl who passed away from brain cancer. As I was
doing her funeral, her personal Bible, Romans chapter one, she
(45:09):
had taken notes on me, preaching I am not ashamed
of the gospel. It's the power of God that brings
salvation to everyone who believes. My final point in that
sermon was, does it matter if you get Christianity right?
It matters when we face death. This girl, at age 20,
before she even knew she had a brain tumor, wrote
I know the gospel. It matters when I face death.
She didn't know. Two years later she'd be with Jesus.
(45:31):
We'd be doing her funeral. And for me to be
able to look her friends, her family in the eyes
and say, I know Bri is with Jesus because we
clarified what to believe.
S4 (45:40):
And she believed.
S2 (45:40):
It. This is why we do what we do.
S1 (45:43):
I asked earlier, what's at stake? Nothing less than our
own salvation and the salvation of others. Listen, John has
done a great thing for us. He's given us this
great gift. Really, in the book Jesus Loves Me. It's
a wonderful primer. It's an essential introduction to what Christians
(46:04):
believe in a very approachable and powerful way. I want
to encourage you to get your hands on a copy
by going to our website, Radio.com. John, we're praying for you,
the good folks over at Connection Point Christian Church, your family.
We love and appreciate you tremendously, brother. Thanks for the
work and writing. Jesus loves me.
S2 (46:25):
Thank you Chris. Love you too brother. Keep up the
great work.
S1 (46:28):
I appreciate it. John Dickerson was my guest today folks. Again,
you can find out more at our website. Uh, equip radio.org.
And don't forget our social media platforms are available to
you as well. If someone were to ask you today,
what do I need to believe about Christianity in order
to be a Christian? You just tell them Jesus loves me.
This I know, for the Bible tells me so. If
(46:50):
we can master the depths of that statement, then we
can understand the core beliefs of the Christian faith. Hey,
I can't wait till we're together again next time. Remember,
equip with Chris Brooks is a production of Moody Radio,
a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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