The Good News Challenge

While speaking at a retreat recently, I went to the fitness center to use the treadmill, where a cable news channel was playing. The news wasn't good. I don't mean only that bad things were happening, but that in those moments, I wasn't being shaped to be a person of the good news. The cable news writers certainly had my formation in mind, but it wasn't toward the profoundly good news that all things are being made new in Jesus. It started to dawn on me how formative that kind of thing is, and it made me wonder about taking some intentional time in Lent to turn off cable news and fill that time with the good news of the gospel instead. It made me wonder what might happen.

Here's the challenge: turn off cable news from Ash Wednesday until Easter, replace that time with reading one of the gospels, and let's see what happens. I've dropped a reading plan below for each of the gospels. Take your pick, and if you feel so inclined, I'd love to hear how it's going along the way.

Reading Plans:

Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
Ash Wednesday – Feb 18 Matthew 1–2 Feb 19 Matthew 3–4 Feb 20 Matthew 5–6 Feb 21 Matthew 7–8 Feb 22 Matthew 9–10 Feb 23 Matthew 11–12 Feb 24 Matthew 13–14 Feb 25 Matthew 15–16 Feb 26 Matthew 17–18 Feb 27 Matthew 19–20 Feb 28 Matthew 21–22 Mar 1 Matthew 23–24 Mar 2 Matthew 25–26 Mar 3 Matthew 27–28	Mar 4 Mark 1–2 Mar 5 Mark 3–4 Mar 6 Mark 5–6 Mar 7 Mark 7–8 Mar 8 Mark 9–10 Mar 9 Mark 11–12 Mar 10 Mark 13–14 Mar 11 Mark 15–16	Mar 12 Luke 1–2 Mar 13 Luke 3–4 Mar 14 Luke 5–6 Mar 15 Luke 7–8 Mar 16 Luke 9–10 Mar 17 Luke 11–12 Mar 18 Luke 13–14 Mar 19 Luke 15–16 Mar 20 Luke 17–18 Mar 21 Luke 19–20 Mar 22 Luke 21–22 Mar 23 Luke 23–24	Mar 24 John 1–2 Mar 25 John 3–4 Mar 26 John 5–6 Mar 27 John 7–8 Mar 28 John 9–10 Mar 29 (Palm Sunday) John 11–12 Mar 30 John 13 Mar 31 John 14–15 Apr 1 John 16–17 Apr 2 (Maundy Thursday) John 18–19 Apr 3 (Good Friday) John 20–21