Church Goer or Christ Follower?

“We are good at producing church goers, not so good producing Christ followers.” These are the words of SEBTS Professor of Evangelism Alvin Reid. They are sobering words. They are troubling words. They are accurate words. They are timely words. They are words that we must hear and heed.

While Jesus walked the earth, he called people to “follow” Him. He did not expect them to cloister together in holy huddles, nor did He allow it. He expected them to do what He did, and they did. Just before Jesus ascended to heaven, he told his followers they would receive the Holy Spirit and be His witnesses unto Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the ends of the earth, and they were.

In the New Testament, very little is said about the practice and/or structure of the followers of Christ as a group. Much more is said about their activity as a movement. Yes we are told they gathered with regularity for mutual encouragement, instruction in the Apostles doctrine, the breaking of bread, prayer, and fellowship. But specifics of those gathering aren’t mentioned beyond this.

Has it ever occurred to you that, as one who has trusted Christ Jesus for salvation, you have never “gone” to church a day in your life? In fact, not only have you not “gone” to church, you can’t “go” to church because you “are” the church! As such you are called to follow Him.

These are not crazy words. Nor is this a mere play on words. It is a theological reality. Believers must be the church in the culture. And… to this end, we either follow Christ, or we don’t.

Just a thought… but it changes everything.

www.jdgreear.com

http://www.jdgreear.com/

Screwtape on the Southern Baptist Convention « Kingdom People

Screwtape on the Southern Baptist Convention « Kingdom People

Now I'm a Believer!

Since Monday all the weather men have been forecasting a snow of "Epic" proportions for Northwest Oklahoma. Now I'm Sooner bred, Sooner born and... when I die I'll be Sooner dead. In other words, I've been here a while and usually we get a few inches of snow... maybe 7 or 8" during a good storm, but those guys were saying "Epic" as in "one for the ages"... they were even comparing it to the storm of 1971, which I remember. So being the natural born sceptic I am... I wasn't buying it.

Somewhere around 4:00 am Friday morning it began thundering and lightening illuminated the sky. I continued lightly sleeping and could hear what sounded like sleet striking the windows and metal roof of my house. My immediate thought was, "Yep, I'm still in Oklahoma"... after all, where else can you enjoy an early Spring morning thunderstorm accompanied by sleet? Daylight broke and I noticed my truck was covered with a thin sheet of ice, and light snow was beginning to fall, but I still wasn't buying the whole epic snow storm deal.

The day progressed and enough snow/sleet accumulated on the ground that Brenda, Shane, Ashley, Lacy and Tristen (niece and great-nephew), and Lori Davis (family friend) could sled down the slight incline leading away from our house. By evening it had finally began snowing and appeared, by sunset, that we may get several inches. When I went to bed, around 2:00 am, my scepticism was taking a serious hit.

I slept until 8:00 am (probably would have slept longer but the phone rang). When I finally got up and looked out the door, I was immediately greeted by a 5' snow drift that spanned the entire length of our house! As I gazed down our drive toward the main road, the place where just the day before the family had been sledding, I saw drift after drift after drift.

My truck was surrounded by a drift that was better than bumper high, and since my 4 wheel drive stopped working a day before the storm (how convenient is that?), I knew it was stuck. Our Nitro was sitting in less of a drift, so I thought I might as well try to make it out in it. So, I got in, put er' in 4 wheel drive and planted my right foot flat on the floor board... made it about 50 yards before paring in a snow bank for which I was no match. Later in the day, Brenda and I walked about 3/4 of mile, through knee deep snow (in some places waste deep on Brenda) and caught a ride to Tish's house with Shane, Ash, and Lacy. After shoveling a path to our friend's mail box for her, and hanging out at with the grandkids for a few, Shane let us out at our rendezvous point and we walked back home, this time finding an incredible blessing... someone had brought in a tractor and plowed through the drifts all the way from the road to our house (1,000'). God is good!

As I write, Brenda, Shane, Ash, Lacy and Tristen are sledding down the hill just west of our house. Yes it is 9:15 pm and dark outside. But what can I say? It's not often we get an "Epic" snow storm in Oklahoma.

As for me, well let me just say it like Micky, Mike, Peter, and Davey would say it... "Now I'm a Believer!"

Oklahoma Weather

I haven't been in the blogging mood for a while, but I found a poem that is worth sharing... very relevant to us who dwell in the land of ever changing weather.

WEATHER REPORT

~BJ Gallagher

"Any day I'm vertical

is a good day"

...that's what I always say.

If you ask me,

"How are you?"

I'll answer, "GREAT!"

because in saying so,

I make it so.

When Life gives me dark clouds and rain,

I appreciate the moisture

that brings a soft curl to my hair.

When Life gives me sunshine,

I gratefully turn my face up

to feel its warmth on my cheeks.

When Life brings fog,

I hug my sweater around me

and give thanks for the cool shroud of mystery

that makes the familiar seem different and intriguing.

When Life brings snow,

I dash outside to catch the first flakes on my tongue,

relishing the icy miracle that is a snowflake.

Life's events and experiences

are like the weather -

they come and go,

no matter what my preference.

So, what the heck?!

I might as well decide to enjoy them.

For indeed,

there IS a time for every purpose

under Heaven.

And each season brings its own unique blessings.

A Letter to Jaxx

Jaxxon Shane Allen... I love your name. Oh how I wish you could have stayed with us, even for just a few minutes, but it wasn't meant to be.

I held your little lifeless body, and I whispered into your ear and told you how I would have expressed my love for you. But oh little Jaxx... how I weep over not being able to gaze into your eyes, or feel your warmth and smell your sweet baby breath.

You would have loved hangin' out with me! I would have held you up close and whispered "Poppy loves little Jaxx"... just like I do with your precious cousins Bree and Jarrett. When you were old enough to understand, I would have spoken these words to you in Donald Duck... just so I could see the odd expression on your face and hear you laugh. As you grew older, I would have begun teaching you to overcome your fears by facing them. We would have started small... I'd lay your on my arm, hold your little chest in the palm of my hand, tell you to hold your arms out like wings and we would have flown around and around the living room. Next I would stand you on my ottoman and teach you to trust me by coaxing you to jump into my arms. Oh little guy... what fun we would have had... grandpa and you.

Jaxx, there was so much I wanted to do with you. Since we didn't get to, I put a few things in your casket with you. I know you don't know they are there, but I do.

• An Airplane... since I didn't get to fly you around on my arm, it comforts me to know I gave you your plane.
• A 4-Wheeler... I would have gotten a bang out of watching you learn to ride and you would have had so much fun.
• A 6-Wheeler with a hay bale... we would have worked together too. I would have taught you to work just like I did your daddy.
• 1970 Cuda... me, you, and your dad were going to rebuild the 1968 I have in my garage... all I could find was a '70, so I got it for you. We'll go ahead and build the '68 and name it after you.

Little buddy, I'll never play with my other grandchildren without thinking of you. When I take them fishing, or hunting, or anywhere, I'll always include you. I know, you won't be there in body but... you will be in my heart. And... I'll tell them about you, because they would have loved to have known you too.

Jaxx, I would have loved to have told you about Jesus and of His love for you, and it comforts me to know that you are experiencing His presence and know so much more about Him than I could have shared. He will care for you so much better than I could have. And He'll introduce you to your little cousin who is already with Him. Perhaps He'll even fill you in on who I am. And... in just a little while... I'll see you too.

Love,

Grandpa

Don't Lose Your Marbles!

Note: I do not know the original source of this article, but it speaks to me and I wanted to share it with you.

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday morning. Perhaps it’s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about “a thousand marbles.” I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.

“Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure they pay you well but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It’s too bad you missed your daughter’s dance recital,” he continued; “Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.” And that’s when he began to explain his theory of a “thousand marbles.”

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years."

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I’m getting to the important part.It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail,” he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.There’s nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.It was nice to meet you Tom. I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 year old man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!”

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.”

“What brought this on?” she asked with a smile.

“Oh, nothing special, it’s just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.”

Friend… you don’t have many marbles. So spend them well!