on good news

I had a lot of great news day. I even called it "good news Monday" in my facebook status today. And it got me thinking about news: new news, old news, and how we celebrate things.

So what determines if something is really good or great news? How it affects us. Our lives. The lives of our friends and family members and those around us.

The fact that MLK lived and died is old news. And yet we celebrate him every January because his life and work made for a lot of other even newer good news. Blacks were recognized as active contributing citizens in America. The Jim Crow laws were overturned. Our children now study together, blacks & whites, in classrooms across the country. Blacks hold leadership positions in our country that they never could have held before. My dear friends Josh, Kellisia, Ke'Amber, Arby, Patricia, Kevin, and many more have great lives and have opportunities that never would have been open to them before. These are the reasons we celebrate. All these resulting events and accomplishments are great news!

You see, we don't just celebrate because of the content MLK shared, although we love his message. We celebrate the ongoing good news of how lives have been and continue to be transformed!

And it makes me wonder why people celebrate Christ.

I know (not because I've studied cool languages like Ancient Hebrew and Greek, but because I've had some pastors, leaders, and mentors who did) that the word gospel literally means "good news."

There's a lot of talk about the gospel. The "good news." But what is that good news really? Is it simply that Christ died on a cross and that he rose alive three days later? Because that's pretty old news. I mean yeah, that was really cool. But I think that here again it all comes back to life transformation. Our Christ did not just die and raise Himself from the dead to show us a cool trick. Or to ooo and awe us. Or just to make the history books. He was demonstrating something much greater. He was showing that he could and would and did defeat death. And that He can and does and continues to work spiritual death-defying life-transforming miracles in our own lives.

We don't just celebrate because of the stories Jesus told and the wisdom He shared. We don't just celebrate because He died and now He is alive again. That's old news. We continue to celebrate because He's defeated death, He has transformed our lives, and He continues to transform the lives of those around us! Now that's good news!