My life on a Tuesday in October...

It's a Tuesday afternoon and I am killing time in a Buffalo Wild Wings away from home. I made the early drive to Richland MO for tonight's revival meeting to have lunch with a ladies' group at the church. Now I am just waiting until the evening for tonight's service.

For all practical purposes, tonight is the close of the regular revival meetings. I'll be back tomorrow, but it will be a family night and magic show kind of service. It will be dinner and a show and there will be many guests in attendance. I am really looking forward to it.

I am also looking forward to tonight.
Sort of...

It is a strange feeling as an evangelist comes to the close of a series of meetings. We leave and often never hear of nor see the results of the time we've spent at a church.
We plant seeds, we water, we cultivate; but we often don't get to see the harvest.
And sometimes we harvest where we have done none of the work.
It can be difficult to maintain the heart and attitude of a servant and laborer, trusting God to be glorified in our simple words and deeds.

I hope that my brothers and sisters at FBC Richland will continue to share the simple statements of "God loves you," and "Jesus died for you."
I hope that they will ask the question, "Who is Jesus to you?" and share the Jesus that they know.
I hope that talking about their faith becomes as easy and natural as talking about their favorite sports team, restaurant or any other part of their life.
I hope that the Kingdom will continue to grow as they glorify God by lifting up the name of His Son, Jesus.
I hope.

These folks are not that far from home and I will see some of them in the spring at the Pulaski Association Evangelism Conference. I am looking forward to a good report.

But let's face it...
...life goes on.

It is far easier to fall back into our old patterns than it is to establish new ones.
If it is our habit to engage in small talk and never delve into more serious topics of life, death and eternity--well, it is what we will probably continue to do.
If we have lived with a fear of exposing ourselves by sharing our deeply held convictions, then a preacher's words over a few short days will have little effect when it comes to a life altering experience.

I think that there are many of us that claim to be Christians that do a pretty poor job of living out our faith on a daily basis. Often, it takes all of our energy just to endure the day and the struggles and challenges that are a part of our day -- every day. We are challenged to endure our own day and have little time to worry about other people that cross our path. In truth, they are often obstacles rather than people to be considered. If they have problems and struggles (and they do), they'll have to find their own ways to deal with them. We can barely manage to deal with our own.

Somebody else will have to tell them that God loves them.
Somebody else will have to tell them that Jesus died for them.

But what if nobody else does?
What if God has placed them in your path so that you can tell them?
What if sharing God's love with them is your intended blessing for today?
What if their struggle is worse than yours?
What if you are their relief?
...and they are yours?

Be a blessing to somebody...today.
Offer a kind word, a helping hand.
Tell them, "God loves you. Jesus died for you."

Be the bearer of Good News!

John <><