The only message that can bring great joy to all people, is the one that addresses the need of all people. A gospel for the clean cannot do this, but a gospel for the powerless can! We have got so used to preaching an earthly gospel (if you will give to God, then He will give to you) that we have settled for an earthly power; the power to motivate. But just because we place a beautiful worship session before a motivational talk, does not mean that the gospel has been preached. Any earthly orator can preach up a storm that stirs the flesh to action, but only the gospel of heaven still causes men to wonder, that even the wind and waves in their own hearts obey and are still. This is not a self-help book. It is not written to motivate you to somehow do better for God. The best gods this world can imagine are ones who remain in their heaven waiting for us to somehow work our way there by the strength of our own piety. But in Jesus Christ we saw a god not leaving us to save ourselves, but one who went down with our ship so that we could be raised in His, the fellowship of the Father and Son in the Spirit. His is a gospel for the powerless, not a religion for the pious, because Heaven couldn't wait!
