User:ODrTPj/TheRestoftheGospel

= The Rest of the Gospel =

The Rest of the Gospel (2000) is a non-fiction book written by Dan Stone and David Gregory Smith. The aim of the book is to bring under examination the New Covenant message presented by Jesus Christ within the pages of the New Testament. Main stream Christianity many times does preach a message of salvation, but the author expounds upon the whole gospel to share a message that there is more to life than waiting for the scriptural proclamation of Christ’s second coming, but rather there is eternal life beginning now inside of all who put their faith in Christ and the work done on the cross that brings greater glory to God than believing in salvation alone.

General Summary
“Are you at rest...making major decisions? overcoming temptation? handling the pressures of life? relating to yourself, others, and God? The Rest of the Gospel presents the good news of God’s full grace—not just forgiving us, but coming to live His life in us. God never meant us to live the Christian life through our own strength and ability. As many have discovered, usually through years of failure, that’s impossible! By joining Himself to those who have trusted in Him, Jesus Christ has already provided another way. He intends to live His supernatural life through us, as we depend fully on Him to do so. Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all who are weary and weighed down, and I will give you rest.’ He promised, ‘I have come that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.’ We invite you to explore and experience the life that only He can give, and only He can live.”

Part One: Union With Christ

 * 1. The Gates "Where is the life? 'The gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life.'  May this book be a beacon to you, shining on that final gate, pointing the way to the only One who is true life.”


 * 2. The Line “We understand that there is no more separation – God up there and us down here.  We cease striving to get closer to God.  We stop asking, ‘How do I reach Him?  Give me the programs, the plans, the ways.’  Instead, we live in union.”


 * 3. Doublecross, Part One: You Died in Christ “We don’t feel dead. We don’t look dead.  We often don’t act dead.  But at some point the Holy Spirit pulls back the curtain and shows us that in the deepest part of us, our spirit - who we truly are - a death has occurred that has forever changed us.”


 * 4. What You Died To “We participate in God’s life when we see that we died to ourselves as our point of reference. Christ in us is now our point of reference for all things.”


 * 5. Doublecross, Part Two: Christ Lives in You “When we’re playing the game of must and ought, we’re in the spotlight. Our performance is center stage.  But our point of reference is now the indwelling Jesus Christ.”


 * 6. The Swing “May the Holy Spirit show us the difference between the noise of the soul and the quietness of spirit.  May He show us what it means to know spirit, so we won’t be confused and controlled by our feelings and our thoughts, but instead live in the rest that He has promised us.”


 * 7. One Spirit “The mystery, hidden from past ages and generations but revealed to us, is this: Christ in you.  Not your life, but His.  Not you producing His life, but you expressing His life, as you by faith trust Him to live through you, as you.”

Part Two: Who Are You

 * 8. One Nature “God killed our old sinful nature (Romans 6:6) and imparted to us a new, righteous one.  May He deepen our understanding of what He has already done, revealing to us that our old self is truly dead, and what we truly are His righteous, holy children.”


 * 9. The Real You “Our true self is who we are at the spiritual level.  At the deepest level of your personhood you are not a sinner.  You are a saint.”


 * 10. God’s Precious Assets “Let it dawn on you that you are no longer a liability to God. You are a wonderful and beautiful and necessary asset.”

Part Three: Knowing God's Ways

 * 11. Revelation: God’s Way of Knowing “We receive a revelation, then we get the experience of the revelation.  The Holy Sirit works in us, making us one with it.  He does that through the noise and chaos of the seen and temporal realm:  the world around us, our body, and our soul.”


 * 12. The Single Eye “The experiences of your life are God experiences. The situations of your life are God situations.  You will see with a single eye.  You will see our sovereign Lover in all of your life circumstances, no matter how they appear on the outside.”


 * 13. The Rule of Grace “The bottom line is this: law and grace won’t flow together.  They are not compatible.  One is sensible in appearance, but it is death.  The other is absurd in appearance, but it is life.”


 * 14. Who Does That? “Until we get revelation knowledge of that, we are going to try to accomplish these things by ourselves.  Our point of reference is still going to be ourselves.  We will keep trying to make it happen until we get a complete picture of the grace of God.”


 * 15. God’s Process of Growth “Christian growth isn’t us striving. It’s us letting the Spirit woo us back, woo our souls back, so that we are preoccupied with Him, and we are expressions of Him to the world.”

Part Four: Living in Union

 * 16. Shall Not Hunger “He who said, “I am the life,” has come to dwell within us. He has already satisfied our hunger.  He is our total sufficiency.  We are free to be preoccupied with God’s world and His work, because we have been released from a preoccupation with ourselves.”


 * 17. The Holy But “You experience the victory when you agree with how God sees you. Stop debating with Him: “But… but… but… I know how You see me, but… I know what the Word says, but…”  Just agree with how God sees you.”


 * 18. Temptation: A Faith Opportunity “We have to learn that we are knowers. Each of us must dare to live out of, ‘I know this to be true.’”


 * 19. Hearing God “The more we come to know Him and hear Him, the more we will manifest Him through our spontaneous living.”


 * 20. Making Decisions “Let’s trust Him to live His life spontaneously through us, as us.”


 * 21. Detached Living “But we’ll miss God’s best if we just go for God’s good. And we want God’s best.”


 * 22. The Gift of Ministry “Nothing happens to us outside of God’s providence and sovereignty. Nothing happens in our lives about which we cannot say, ‘He meant it for good.’  And He works it for good.”


 * 23. Poured Out “We know His purpose and His plan, that through the Son He is to have many sons and daughters who are to be the loving caretakers of His world, who are free to be expendable, to be poured out for others.”


 * 24. Loving God “Love is its own end. To love and be loved, that is the essence of the kingdom.  To love and be loved.”


 * 25. Entering God’s Rest “There is a place of quiet rest, but it isn’t in this world. There is a place of quiet rest, but it isn’t in your senses.  There is a place of quiet rest, but it isn’t in your soul.  There is a place of quiet rest.  It’s in God.”

Dan Stone
In his twenties Dan Stone received a degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. “Dan served as a pastor for 16 years, in administration at Georgetown College and Samford University for 10 years, and as a board member of Union Life Ministries.” [2] He has spent over 20 years sharing much of the message presented in this book across the United States. “In September 5, 2005 he was diagnosed with with a brain tumor that was better than originally thought.”

David Gregory
David Gregory worked in the business field for 10 years before leaving his profession and becoming an author. “He then returned to graduate school, earning a master’s degree from the University of North Texas with concentrations in communication and sociology. While there, he coauthored two nonfiction books, The Marvelous Exchange and The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel Has Worn You Out.” “He currently works as a freelance author and lives with his wife, Ava, in Dallas."