Impact

IMPACT...Easter wasn't just a nice idea to give us warm religious feelings. Raising Jesus from death had impact. Lives changed, futures changed, the world changed. Throughout the history of the last two millenia, where the Jesus-following movement surged forward in Spirit and power, it had transformed impact.

The sobering truth is that 8 out of 10 North American churches are stagnant or dying. Among other things, this means that these churches are no longer having impact. If they closed their doors, the communities (mission fields) in which they are located might not notice their absence. I am a blessed person. I am a part of a congregation that has chosen not to be one of the eight! I want to say a public and heartfelt thank-you for the courage, faithfulness, and persistence of the Jesus-followers where I worship. Choosing to be impact-church is not always easy, but it is always the fulfillment of Jesus' charge to us to make and grow followers of Jesus, to be the Body of the risen Jesus in the world, and to be the hope of the world.

This Saturday our congregation will take a lead role in an event called "The Hope Epidemic." Over 1,000 volunteers will be sent into the community and region to do various acts of love, service, and grace. Our aim is to pronounce a hands-on message of hope in Jesus in a world struggling to cling to hope. I invite your prayers that even just one person might see and know Jesus because of this event.

I also invite followers of Jesus to be on stand-by to assist the many whose property and lives have been damaged by rampaging storms across the Midwest and mid-south this past weekend. The need for impact never rests. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Spiritual Pride

Humility matters for followers of Jesus. It is a Jesus-attribute. (See Philippians 2.) In that regard, here's one of the best messages I've ever heard: "We have an inborn persisting tendency to attribute to ourselves the successes of our spiritual life, the resistance we offer to temptation, the devotion we achieve, the discipline we keep and the good works we do. Surely we thank God for all that, but in our heart of hearts we congratulate ourselves on our exploits, and secretly worship our sword and our bow. We take as done by us what is done by God in us; even obvious graces from heaven stick to the soul and seem after some time to be connatural to us and springing from us. That is spiritual pride of the worst kind, and it really takes hold of a soul. It is enough to stop any spiritual progress at all. The disease is as dangerous as it is common." (From FAITH FOR JUSTICE by Carlos G. Valles.) I'll see you around the next bend in the river. The shadow of the cross is looming nearer.