Sunday, September 19, 2004

The need for the Gospel

As I sat listening to a sermon tape this morning in my living room on the sovereignty of God, my phone rang. A friend of mine on the other end said she had bad news to share. I braced myself for the worst, and when she told me that a young man from Germany who had been a part of a language studies program here in Hungary had jumped to his death from a window, my heart sank. I don't even know this young man, but the reality of life and death and the reminder that Hungary is near the top of the list of countries in the world when it comes to suicide blasted home to me again the need for the Gospel to go forth into this world. The "sad joke" amongst Hungarians is that if you ask nearly any Hungarian if they know someone who has commited suicide, nearly all of them will reply yes. This is a country and a people that needs to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, desperately! The air of hopelessness and depression that seems to permeate the very air here is crying out for the wind of the Holy Spirit to blow through and make all things new! May Jesus be lifted up that people like this young man will look UP to the Lord instead of DOWN at the concrete below them.

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