Wednesday, January 1, 2003

Go into the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation... Mark 16: 15b

The hymn writer and musical theologian Brian Wren wrote these words that seem most appropriate at the beginning of a new year.

This is the day of new beginnings,
time to remember and move on,
time to believe what love is bringing,
laying to rest the pain that's gone.

For by the life and death of Jesus,
God's mighty Spirit, now as then,
can make for us a world of difference,
as faith and hope are born again.

Then let us, with the Spirit's daring,
step from the past and leave behind
our disappointment, guilt and grieving,
seeking new paths, and sure to find.

Christ is alive, and goes before us
to show and share what love can do.
This is a day of new beginnings;
our God is making all things new. (1)

Good news for all of creation!

In August of 2000 I was privileged to be sent by the Wisconsin Conference as a delegate to the World Evangelism Institute Conference in Tallinn, Estonia. It was an amazing experience that continues to give lasting kernels of insight.

During the conference Dr. W. Stephen Gunter summarized a Wesleyan foundation for evangelism. Gunter proclaimed that evangelism is fundamentally good news. Therefore it must start with the good news that we are created in the image and likeness of God and by the grace of God we can become like Christ again. This does not mean we can become Christ but rather through God's grace we might become Christ-like. Therefore God took a great risk in giving us the freedom to think and reason because freedom itself is a characteristic of God. And it is through the abuse of our free will that sin then enters into the human equation. However, God's love is everlasting and graciously made a way to recover the lost image of God in us through Christ.

It's hard to think of better news to think about as we enter into a new year.

Praise God! And Happy New Year. Amen

John Ruiz

(1) Brian Wren, The United Methodist Hymnal (The United Methodist Publishing House: Nashville, Tennessee) 1989, Hymn #383.