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enjoying the world God has made that we show we have grasped the goodness of the God we say we love .” According to Douglas Jones , the primary reason Christian cultures have failed throughout history isn ’ t insufficient education or inadequate evangelism or incompetent leadership . They fail for lack of joy . of their own masterpiece , it ’ s almost like God stepped back from the canvas that is creation and said , “ I outdid Myself , if that were possible !”
Excerpted from A Million Little Miracles by Mark Batterson . Copyright 2024 by Mark Batterson . Published by Multnomah , an imprint of Penguin Random House , LLC . Used by permission .
In the Middle Ages , there was a litmus test within the church that asked this question : Did you take pleasure in it ? If the answer was yes , it was considered sinful . What a terrible test ! God Himself would have failed that test on day one , day two , day three , day four , day five , and day six of creation .
At the end of each creation day , God ’ s reaction was recorded : “ And God saw that it was good .” The English word “ good ” is the Hebrew word tov . Tov isn ’ t just good ; it ’ s gooder than good . It ’ s as good as it gets ! Tov is the definition of all that is good and true and beautiful .
Tov is original emotion — it ’ s equal parts unadulterated pleasure , pure delight , overwhelming awe , unspeakable joy , and childlike wonder . Like an artist at the unveiling
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Mark Batterson is the New York Times bestselling author of two dozen adult and children ’ s books including his latest , A Million Little Miracles : Rediscover the God Who is Bigger Than Big , Closer than Close and Gooder Than Good ( Multnomah ). He ’ s also the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington , D . C . He and his wife , Lora , reside on Capitol Hill . 16