Seeds

 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6....."Only when we begin to understand the hideous nature of our sin can we begin to understand the depths of His mercy." Chris Tiegreen

Joni Eareckson Tada once summed up the crux of Christ's message to a lost world. She had it as, "Sin will kill you, hell is real, God is merciful, His Kingdom will change you, and I (Jesus Christ) am your passport." That's a powerful message. Where in the church is it being fully proclaimed? Is it being preached in yours?

I was in a men's prayer group this morning where the leader, our pastor, told of a happening this past Sunday evening. He, his son, and his son's friend were out driving golf balls. Next to them were a group of young college kids. F-bombs were flying, His name was being used as a curseword, and they were all talking about the events of a recent party, dropping acid, drunkenness, and so on. In the midst of it he heard His voice tell him that he was to speak to them. He's a bold guy, but he admitted his intimidation. Any of us would be. Yet he obeyed and stepped forward to ask if he could have just a few minutes of their time. One of them, a young woman, was obviously not interested, but her two male friends were open. He shared with them the events of his own once hedonistic life. He also shared God's mercy to him in it, and what He had done in his life since that day. They listened respectfully, and went on their way. The immediate results were not what mattered. What mattered was that he was obedient, and that he trusted God with whatever the results might eventually be. More, he had included all the elements of Tada's description of Christ's central message. So must we all....and that can be intimidating.

One of those present expressed doubt that the young people heard anything that was said, but I would strongly disagree with that. Almost 50 years ago, I, and a group of my friends were hanging on the street in the small college town we were living in. It was a hot summer night. Suddenly we were approached by a middle-aged man, who in every way fit the description of what we'd call a "square." We could not possibly have anything in common with him. He began to speak to us in a very friendly way, he a square and we a bunch of longhairs. Even so, we listened, and he brought the conversation around to Christ. We continued to listen. He ended up spending about an hour with us, and when he left, he had no visible results to count, but there were results. I don't know what seeds bore fruit in my friends as we drifted apart over the next few years, but they definitely bore fruit in me. On the surface, I laughed and joked along with the others, but his words, which were actually Christ's words, were planted in my heart, where they remained, until through a series of events orchestrated by Him, I gave my heart and life to Him 5 years later. His Word never returns void.

Somehow, we have fallen into fear of boldly proclaiming His Truth, all of His truth, to a lost world. We fear rejection. We fear offending. We fear scaring people off. Somehow, we never fear the consequences of not obeying Him. We must, individually and corporately, lay hold again of the message of Christ. Of His cross, and of His mission to the human race. Who knows what will happen in the lives of those three young people. Who knew what would happen in my life. That middle aged square surely didn't, but he was faithful. So must we be faithful. Fearless in our proclaiming, fearlessly trusting Him with the results. The world is desperate for this message. Will we be desperate to proclaim it?

Blessings,

Pastor O