Our Growth group is reading "Promoting the Gospel' at the moment. I can't explain the joy and liberation that this book is bringing to me.
Promotion and Proclamation
The first liberating thought is understanding the difference between 'proclaiming the gospel' and 'promoting the gospel'.
Proclaiming
What's proclaiming the gospel? Explaining the actual message of Jesus being born, living, dying and being resurrected as a rescue mission for human sin.
Promoting
What's promoting the gospel? Living a christian life. Our words, prayers, and day to day conversations that don't overtly involve 'preaching' but involve 'soundbites' of the gospel, and our general personal way of treating people.
The best thing about this for me is realising that 'promoting' is as important as 'proclaiming'.
When I first became a Christian, opportunities to explain the gospel and to discuss in depth what this meant for people came up in regular and dramatic ways. These days, in depth conversations are less plentiful, but small 'bites' do tend to come out as a consequence of just being alive.
This makes me feel liberated and excited! It inspires me to pray and to believe that I can still share my faith, even if the big events aren't as frequent.
I may be skinny at times, but I'm phat full 'o' rhymes.
Skinny at times
I have a lovely brother-in-law. Not only is he considerate and thoughtful, and great to talk to. But he's full of compliments.
"Ooh, you're so skinny'
"No I'm not, I'm still wearing easter eggs from april'.
'Yes you are'
Yes, I'm very vain, but it's nice to hear sometimes..... :)
Phat full 'o' rhymes
My father-in-law is a really gifted individual. His poem for my bro-in-law's birthday was exquisite. He tends to post some poetry here.
