The Way Back: Repentance, the Presence of God, and the Revival the Church so Desperately Needs.

By Paul Huyghebaert and David Young

There is a lot at stake as it pertains to correctly understanding and teaching God’s call to repent.

God makes amazing promises about what He will do when his people truly live in repentance. Perhaps nowhere else in the Bible is this promise so clear as in Acts 3:19 (NASB): “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”

Repentance brings forgiveness from sins, but there is also a second promise attached to repentance: the presence of God. As you read this book, you’ll consider questions such as:

Who does the Bible say God is?

What does God think of you?

What is the source of our understanding between right and wrong?

How can we incorporate the majesty of the Creator into daily life?

Other topics include how we take for granted the relationship God has offered us, why we should embrace a posture of humility, and the meaning of true repentance.

The Way Back walks readers through a progression that illuminates why true, biblical repentance is at the heart of what it means to walk with God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664264465

Paul Huyghebaert

Paul Huyghebaert serves as the lead minister for the Grace Chapel Church just north of Atlanta and leads Mission Pivot, a church consulting group. He is also co-host of the Practice Makes Faithful podcast. He and his wife, Lori, have been married since the spring of 2001 and have three children. He holds degrees in Bible, psychology, and in professional counseling. His passion is to see the Church embrace both the message and the mission of Jesus.

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Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International

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Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard

Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-6447-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6448-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6446-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022907574

WestBow Press rev. date:  05/11/2022

To my wife, Lori, who is my constant partner in learning

to live in the Way of Jesus.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter One

The Case For God

Chapter Two

The Majesty Of God

Chapter Three

The Nature Of God

Chapter Four

Our Offense Against God

Chapter Five

The Way Back Begins With Humility

Chapter Six

Teshuvah

Chapter Seven

The Call And The Promise

Chapter Eight

Living The Way

Last Thoughts

Appendix A: A Few Logical Arguments For God’s Existence

Appendix B: The Connection Between Repentance And God’s Presence

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I’m thankful to the many who have helped me process the ideas you will read in this book. I’m grateful to Bill who helped work through some of these thoughts early on. To my Dad who has helped to shape my thinking through the years, and continues to even now. To Steven, Gordon, Arwen, Matt, Chuck, Kathy, Rosemarie, and others who helped to refine these thoughts.

FOREWORD

What if I told you that in this book you’ll find a trail map that leads to profound peace, abundant joy, and overflowing love? What if I told you that anybody can claim these treasures if they choose to follow the map?

You might ask why it is necessary to follow any map at all to find these treasures. If God is who He says He is, why wouldn’t He simply have ordered creation so that peace, joy, and love were a given in every life? If God is so good, why must we search for such fundamentals?

Further, you might ask why the map isn’t everywhere obvious to all persons. Why isn’t the way obvious to everyone without the aid of experts, books, consultants, metaphors, analogies, formulas, syllogisms, and the like? Why must we have experts that rise up and offer lengthy descriptions of the trail to happiness for the rest of humanity?

And third, you might ask who is Paul Huyghebaert to explain to the rest of earth’s seven billion residents how they can find the treasure at the end of the trail. Why Paul, and not Socrates, Buddha, Augustine, Muhammad, Aquinas, Gandhi, or the Dalai Lama?

Let me reply.

You should listen to Paul because he is everyone—a smart everyone, but everyone nonetheless. If the trail to a rich life is to be available to all of humanity, shouldn’t anyone be in a position to find it? Does one have to possess the wisdom of Socrates, the sacrifice of Buddha, the fervor of Mohammed, the insight of Augustine, the breadth of Aquinas, the courage of Gandhi, or the traditions of the Dalai Lama in order to find the path that every person seeks? Paul writes as one who has listened to all of these spiritual thinkers, but above all, he has listened to Jesus—who alone is able to give us the treasures we seek. That Paul found the trail demonstrates that all of us can find it, for he knows Jesus above all. He has found Jesus, so he has found the treasures Jesus alone offers.

Paul takes us down that trail, starting with none other than the God who designed us to experience the treasures He possesses within Himself. We were, indeed, created to experience peace, joy, and love. These are in the very character of God, and God created us to bear His own image. Listen as Paul starts with this God and with your creation—demonstrating that you are very right to want the richest of lives. It’s what God designed you to experience.

But Paul also holds up a mirror to show you why you no longer experience the fullness of these treasures in your own life. You were indeed designed to live the richest of lives. But you, like all other seven billion humans, rebelled against the image of God, seeking to make God in your image, rather than seeking to claim His image within you. We have all sinned. Paul helps us to see how sin has stained that image in our lives—costing us the fullness of God’s blessings. Your rebellion—your sin—is the reason you must now find a map and embark upon a journey if you are to find real happiness. Sin has separated us from peace, joy, and love, so sin now forces us to search for these treasures. Sin has blinded us to the realities of our creatureliness. It has formed disorders within us that rob us of our treasures. And it holds us in bondage so that we cannot claim the life that we were designed to live.

Your God wants you to have the peace, joy, and love that characterizes Him and that was originally bequeathed to you in your creation. But you must be honest. You chose a path away from God. You sacrificed His gifts in order to discover your own. Though He stands ready to restore in you His treasures, you must do something first.

You must repent that you chose to do life your way, so you can choose to do life His Way.

This is why you want to read this book. Paul shows you, with winsomeness and love, how repentance puts you back on the right trail. He demonstrates that repentance is a necessary step for avoiding every fake trail in order to find the one true trail. In this book, Paul will win your heart to the Way of God: a way that leads to peace, joy, and love.

When Jesus started His earthly ministry, recorded in Matthew 4:17, the very first word He used was repent.

If the gospel begins with the word repent, shouldn’t you want to start there?

Join Paul on the trail, and he will show you how.

David Young

INTRODUCTION

You don’t have to watch the news for more than a few minutes to walk away with the impression that things aren’t as they should be. Oh yes, I know it has been this way for generations, but it seems this statement is doubly true for our time and age. As I sat down and began to write this book, the world was languishing in the midst of a global pandemic. The country I live in was struggling, divided about how we should respond to issues of social and racial injustice. We had witnessed peaceful protests expressing genuine anger and sadness, but we had also seen riots in the streets, leading to looting and senseless vandalism. That the year 2020 will be one poorly remembered goes without saying, but again, our experience is not a new or unique one—we will likely see similar events in the future.

As I contemplate this further, it is my observation that there exists a growing disappointment with the way things are—not one that often moves people to action, but instead moves many to resignation. After all, what can one individual do when the whole world seems to be headed in the wrong direction? This resignation has led to a growing feeling of helplessness, and for some a true depression. As I look at the state of the world around me, my heart breaks. No, there can be no doubt that things are not as they should be.

So, what’s to be done? Will a political candidate fix things? Probably not. The United States has become so deeply partisan in our politics that even the perfect candidate would be decried as a fool by those on the other side of the aisle. How about the stars in Hollywood and other fixtures within pop culture? Should we look to them for answers? I will admit that I have, at times, been inspired by the humanitarian efforts that