"When the ungodly see that Christian people do not, you cannot expect them to repent and turn away from their sins."
Moody then proceeds to walk through five things that flow out of true repentance.
- Conviction
- Contrition
- Confession of sin
- Conversion
- Confession of Jesus Christ
I'm surprised and encouraged to hear Moody's boldness from the pulpit. He frequently pleads with the listener to 'repent' and he is clear about what is ment by repent. He must have been a fun guy to listen to, but very straight forward about Truth. At first glance, the title of his book sounds like a modern day 'self-help' book, but with every word I hear it as bathed in Scripture.
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You know, Paul, I'm not sure people in our culture know what "repent" means? Those who grew up in church surely do, but so many I meet have no church background whatsoever. I wonder what a good word picture would be to communicate it in a language our culture can understand. Just thinkin'.
ReplyDeleteSam, The word really does seem to have disappeared from all of our culture. I fear it has even disappeared from this current generation of Church attenders. With or without the word the action of 'repent' has to be communicated doesn't it? I am completely captured by D.L. Moody's language of his day and how transparent and accurate his observation is of his day and how our culture today is exactly the same. 'Post-modern' - 'emergent' - philosophy of man is the same I guess. The need of man is the same isn't it. Repent and Believe. Let me know what ideas you come up with. In the mean time, check out Moody's book 'the Overcoming Life' WOW!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I just realized I am tardy on saying thanks for 'the Last Jihad'. I very much enjoyed that book. Thanks for the recommend and even going so far as buying it for me.