Posts Tagged: The Gospels
“You Can’t Hear Good News Too Often!”
There was some sort of threat the other morning against the campus of my university. I teach online only, but I still care very much about what goes on at our campuses. So, I sent an email to a couple of people I know on campus, to let them know that I was praying for them. My supervisor fired back an email in which he told me something I had already heard: The authorities had already investigated and given the all-clear signal. I responded,
“Dear Anthony,
That’s great news! I had received the email sounding the all-clear, but I am glad to hear it from you as well. You can’t hear good news too often!” And then I added, “Hey, that sounds like a good title for an upcoming post on my website!”
And it really is a good title and a good saying, too. Why? Because you can’t hear good news too often!
When my wife says she loves me, that is good news. I don’t get bored when she says that. When a friend prays for me over the phone or texts me to let me know that he’s thinking of me, that’s good news! Even when someone says that dinner is ready, that is good news.
The Greek word that is translated “gospel” or “good news” is all over the place in the New Testament. In fact, it occurs some 73 times in the New Testament. The first four books of the New Testament are called “the Gospels” for good reason.
And indeed, the coming of Jesus into the world was and is good news. At least, there are many of us who feel that way. I am among that group. That God, the creator of the universe, would become one of us, teach, do miracles, forgive people (which is the greatest miracle of all), would die for the sins of the whole world, and be raised from the dead—that is really good news. And you can’t hear good news too often!
A twelve-step participant said the other day at an online meeting, “We do not simply carry the message to other addicts. We are the message.” Yes indeed!
Not all of those who name the name of Jesus Christ are good news, and none of us is good news all the time. But that is what we are called to be: good news. And you can’t hear—or see—good news too often!
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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