Monday Morning Observations

Hannah is off to school, Chris is getting ready for a dentist appointment (oh boy!), Aaron's first class of the semester will begin shortly and I am enjoying a second cup of coffee while catching up on some blogging.

We had a great weekend at Hopedale Baptist Church! In the morning service, a family (mother and three kids) were baptized. Pastor Terry then delivered a very challenging message to us. At the invitation, three kids came forward to share that they had trusted Jesus as their Savior during the week and one family joined the church! One more young girl came forward in the evening service! Wow!

I want to get back to Pastor Terry's message. I previously shared some similar thoughts in a sermon written some time ago. I also pointed you to a blog written by a fellow controller and an excerpt from a book called One heartbeat Away. Terry's message was motivated by the haunting feeling that he has from the You Tube clip at the end of this post. In it, you will see atheist Penn Jillette talking about being given a Bible and the heart of the man that gave it to him.

Penn asks if you truly believe that you have the answer to eternal life, then how much would you have to hate somebody not to tell them?

I think that we all encounter people everyday that (according to what we believe) are lost and eternally separated from the God that we believe in. So why aren't we telling them about Jesus? Is it because we hate them? Is it because we are unsure of our own belief? Is it because we don't want to offend them? We don't have to be offensive. We can be caring and loving about sharing God's love. We don't have to be professional clergy, either. It is the job of every believer to share their faith; to be witnesses for Jesus. One of my favorite stories from the Bible is when Peter and John are before the Sanhedrin in the book of Acts. They have (by the power of the Holy Spirit) healed a lame man. The leaders ask them, "By what power or name did you do this?" Peter begins to speak boldly about Jesus. Then the Bible says that they (the leaders) recognized that these were just ordinary, uneducated men.

Ordinary, uneducated men that had been with Jesus. That is how the Omnipotent God of the Universe has chosen to spread the News of His Love...through ordinary men and women, empowered by His Holy Spirit. Peter was quick to say that it wasn't through any power of his own, rather it was through the power and name of Jesus that the man was healed.

Today, if you are a believer, let's covenant together to tell somebody about Jesus. Watch the video. Maybe you'll want to use Penn's example and ask somebody, "If a truck was bearing down on you and you didn't know it, would you be offended if I told you about it? If you didn't hear me or understand me, would you mind if I tackled you or physically knocked you out of the way so that it wouldn't hit you?"

If you are not a believer, I would love to tell you about my Savior. If you have spiritual questions that need to be answered, call me or comment. If you don't want your comments published, just let me know. Decisions about eternity are too pressing; to important to put off until later. Ask now. Investigate now. Decide now.



John