Saturday, June 24th, 2017
A FRESH LOOK
My good friend Phil suggested I use The Message to better relate to the inmates I’m presenting to in my visits to county jails. If you don’t know, The Message is a contemporary rendering of the New Testament by Eugene Peterson. But he didn’t do it on his own. He had five theological heavyweights as consultants to make sure he stayed true to the original languages, tone, rhythm, events, and ideas in everyday speech.
That said, I’ve always had trouble explaining Romans 7 and 8 to anyone, much less to prisoners who as a whole are not avid and accomplished readers. The Message gives a fresh look to those chapters, and I plan to use it now in my talks at county jails and to Adult and Teen Challenge facilities.
By the way (whisper, whisper) I found that I better understood those two chapters myself in The Message. Romans 7 especially has always plagued me with its obscurity. May I suggest (thumbs up) that you get ahold of this translation and get a fresh look at Scripture yourself.