Happy March! I feel compelled to share a short prayer that I've been getting a lot of use out of lately. To me, it beautifully expresses the essence of Christianity in its simplest, most stripped-down form. The idea is that if you believe in heaven and hell, and you want heaven, all the impossible work you have to do to get there has already been done for you by Jesus Christ. I'm of course no theologian, but I think this is what is meant by that expression, "the good news of the Gospel." The good news is that if we accept Christ's sacrifice, God accepts us. I personally find the arrangement beautifully humbling, powerfully joyful, and full of a transcendent kind of hope (which is my favorite kind of anything). The prayer is a paraphrase, maybe, of one which I've heard Tim Keller say a few times. (Side note: Tim Keller is the only preacher I've ever really enjoyed listening to. He's intelligent, well read, clear thinking, and conversational in style. I'm pretty sure you can find a lot of his stuff for free online, if that interests you.) Anyway, I leave you now with that very short prayer:

Father, please accept us because of what Jesus Christ has done. Amen.