I had an interesting conversation this week about religious language and the presentation of the gospel. The gospel is simply the good news that it's not too late for our hearts to be awakened from the deep sleep that we entered when we bought the lie that evil gave us. We are cursed. We are broken and bent towards wrong. We are deeply twisted and death lurks in us. So what can we do? We can allow the God of angel armies to enter into our lives and beat wickedness with love and awaken us to Life and give the death in us a final kick until life itself pulses through our veins and we can't help but cry out 'yeah God'! We can awaken, not just to be awake - but to be fully alive... in living colour for the purpose we were born for.. to spread the good news that Jesus lives and to help awaken others - to live a meaningful life bent on good, sold out to life, and full of love. This is the good news.
Others might say that God sent Jesus to save us from sin and hell. Repent and believe. Turn from your sins and follow Jesus. Whichever way you want to say it the gospel remains - Truth and Life. I'm going to be shouting this good news from centre stage at the State Youth Games in Victoria, Australia this weekend. My last weekend down under will be full of the proclamation of the gospel. This death defiant act will not be my last - I plan to shout the good news until my breath runs dry...
6 comments:
Seems like your first gospel presentation (The gospel is simply the good news that it's not too late ... etc.) is a very good exegesis and explanation of the second ( ... God sent Jesus to save us from ... etc.)
Perhaps we need to hear both.
Anyway, will pray the Lord will bless you this coming weekend.
Regards.
Bernard
Great Stuff D. Bust it up this weekend! Praying for a mighty harvest!
Its amazing what you can do with an incoherent story like the Gospel.
Add enough bull and you have a modern day advertising campaign.
Everyone knows the product is crap, though.
Here's another angle:
"A cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and drink his blood while telepathically telling him you accept him as your master so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree."
It's all in the marketing.
Pardon the reference to Holy Communion in the previous post.
William Booth, on a level with God for Salvationists, has overwritten Jesus in removing the practice of Holy Communion and Baptism. Sorry Jesus, William Booth says you are wrong.
you are one awesome woman of GOD, full of the might power of the Spirit!!! God bless you in all that you do in HIS name!
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