BirdingPastor

Just returned from the Evangelical Free District Conference in Rochester. Jan Hettinga, Pastor of North Shore Church in Seattle, WA, spoke on Retooling Transformation.

His primary premise is that we have diluted salvation & the Christian life by missing the importance of submitting to Christ as king (or Lord) and the need for repentance. This dilution has led to churches with a minority of transformed/committed believers and a majority whose lives have not changed significantly.

On Monday night he spoke about the need for on-going repentance in the Christian life - and many pastors/church staff in the room were moved to seek the Lord in repentance for forgiveness - myself included.

I've spent much of today (in preparation for Sunday's sermon) studying repentance in the New Testament - and must admit that I agree with much he presented. Repentance is indeed a part of salvation and our on-going experience - important passages to consider would include Matthew 4:17, Luke 15, Acts 2:38 & 3:19, Acts 11:18/20:21/26:20, and Revelation 2 & 3. There are 53 passages in the New Testament that speak directly about repentance, and significantly more in the Old Testament.

I would encourage you to seek the Lord in this matter.

Have a great week!