Together with a couple of other churches, we're running a series of mission events in the week running up to Easter. It's part of the nationwide Passion for Life initiative.
In writing a press release for the papers I sought the help of a local minister whose first career was journalism. I told him the line-up of speakers: We have a former high-flying politician (Jonathan Aitken) who was brought down by perjury charges and found Christ in prison. We have an international sportsman (Henry Olonga) exiled from his own country of Zimbabwe for standing up to Robert Mugabe. We have a former police officer who forgave the criminal who shot him in the face. And we have evenings on science and the new atheism. (By the way, please pray for our events. We want to see people trust Christ!)
After I ran through all our events he said to me, "Which night do you think people will talk about in the pub?" That was his diagnostic for a good headline. And as soon as he said that I knew the answer immediately: The policeman who forgave his almost-killer. (Read the amazing story here). He agreed. That definitely has the biggest wow facter. There is no power on earth to enable that kind of forgiveness - it is so out-of-this-world.
Just interesting isn't it? The celebs, the powerful, the big names can't hold a candle to the testimony of an ordinary man who puts the gospel into practice.
For more on forgiveness:
The mad genius of turning the other cheek
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We've got Bishop Frank Retief speaking at some of out P4L events (he is spending 3 weeks in Yorkshire!). There are some amazing stories of ordinary Christians from his congregation who were affected by the St James' church massacre. Real tear jerking testimonies of forgiveness.
Ordinary people, extraordinary forgiveness. It really does shine a light on the extraordinary forgiveness which has been offered to me.
"Out of this world forgiveness"
...I like it!
I will pray that the Lord will use your event to grab a hold of some people.
Rich Owen - what church are you a part of in Yorkshire? Didn't realise we were neighbours.
@pg - I'm the assistant pastor at city evangelical church in leeds. Where are you?
I'm at Christ Church Central in Sheffield (as associate minister). I'm regularly over at your place doing lectures at YT.
What a small world it is after all!