Recapture the Compelling Message

Retracing Our Steps

Peter Proclaims the Good News

The good news of what Jesus Christ has done on the cross has gone out. The message of repentance, redemption and reconciliation has transformed the world and continues to do so. Yet in some places and settings the impact of the gospel appears to have become stalled, aged, maybe even dull. Nations that have been labeled “post-Christian” come to mind. Our own country’s adoption of progressive ideas that have marked the path of many “post-Christian” nations press upon my thoughts.  Maybe at times even in our own life the message does not feel fresh.

If you ask my wife she will tell you that I am prone to misplace things. I tend to feel that others move them around on me but that’s an argument…er, ah discussion for another time. When it occurs that I misplace something sometimes I find it effective to retrace my steps. When I make a wrong turn and get lost I have had to back track. When I loose myself I reflect upon where I’ve been and where I was going. Whether we personally feel that our faith and hope is week or less effective or corporately find ourselves ineffective, out-of-touch, warren… it can be helpful to back track.  If the message doesn’t seem fresh or compelling to the world around us then why not back track to when the message truly was fresh, new, vibrant, irresistible. Being a little peculiar myself I went a step further and read a passage of Scripture backwards, while hanging upside down. Ok, no, not really but I did start with a verse in the middle of chapter and back tracked from paragraph to paragraph asking why before each step back. I have been a christian for a while but what I found was none the less moving and I hope that it might help others and the Church refocus. Read more of this post