gospel(3/0)
The good news begins with the back story
Christopher Wright notes that nearly all Christmas renditions skip Matthew’s first sixteen verses; the geneaology of Jesus the Messiah. Maybe we’re missing something since Matthew wants to start with the geneaology? Matthew uploads the whole backstory of the Hebrew scriptures with a crafted geneaology that spans three covenantal arcs: from Abram to David, from David to the Exile, and from the Exile to Jesus. We’re supposed to have the promise to Abram that he would be the father of many nations in our mind, and that through him all the families of the world would be blessed.…
Becoming a christian is a process
Gospel-tract evangelism is a typical example of a single-event approach to sharing one’s faith. Get the basics of the message out, maybe ask for a response, and you’re done. Case closed. But is that how you changed your mind about Jesus? Or was it a process of engagement with one or more Christians, the Bible, maybe direct prayer with God, before you took any concrete action that might qualify as a conversion?…
What is the Gospel?
It’s common American practice to reduce complex concepts into byte-sized marketing messages. Many Christians think of a verse or two written by Paul when they hear the word “gospel.” A few hear gospel hallelujahs. Even fewer think of the first four books in the New Testament. The word “gospel” translates the Greek word εὐαγγελίου. Transliterate the Greek and you get the English word “evangel”; the root of “evangelist” and “evangelism”. Literally the word translates “good news.…