Heart Tracks - Heard, Seen, Touched

     In his book, God Tells The Man Who Cares, A.W. Tozer wrote, "I for one am weary of the familiar religious pep talk.  I am tired of being whipped into line, of being urged to work harder, to pray more, to give more generously, when the speaker does not show me Christ.  This is sure to lead to a point of diminishing return and leave us exhausted and a little bored with it all."  He wrote this more than 60 years ago, and I believe it's more timely now than then.  When you get past all the audio-visual aids we use (and I am not against these), our power point sermons, our lively worship teams, and our seeker friendly atmosphere, what, in the end, are we really left with?  No matter what approach we use in seeking to get people to live the way they should in Christ, are they, in the end, left exhausted and a "little bored with it all?"  Are we lecturing them as to who Christ was, or showing them through the power of a resurrected church and life who Christ is?  Are we showing, both in and from the pulpit and pew, religious pep talks, or, through the power of Holy Spirit  revelation, who Christ is, and who we may be in Him?

     I John 1:1-2 reads, "The One who existed from the beginning is the One we have heard and seen.  We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands.  He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life.  This One who IS life from God was shown to us and we have seen Him.  And now we testify and announce to you that He is the One who is eternal life."  In their testimony is resurrection power and life because they did not present a Jesus that they had heard of second-hand, but a Christ that they themselves had heard, seen, touched, and handled.  They knew Him through an intimacy that literally lived in their words about Him.  When they spoke, their listeners knew that they were hearing someone who knew the object of their words.  Whether they received or rejected that testimony was on them, but they could not deny that these men spoke of something, someone, real, and alive.  The simple truth that He lives, saturated their lives, and permeated their culture.  May it be so with you and I.
   May it truly be so in our fellowships.  When we come together in His name, may we realize it is not to tell nice stories about Him, but to experience Him in our midst.  May we tell of Him as ones who have also heard Him, seen Him, touched and handled Him.  May it take place when we come together, and when we go out separately.  May He be so alive and real in and through us that we announce, not only with words, but with our lives, that He is the One who is eternal life.  We do this because we know it first hand.  May it be so....right now.

Blessings,

Pastor O