The Lost

Have you ever had one of those moments when all of a sudden, reality just comes and slaps you right upside the head? One of those moments where certain things are said or done that make you realize that perhaps your way of thinking, or maybe even your actions have been at best, slightly off course or at worst, simply out of line?

I'm sitting there in church this morning listening to a guest preacher. His lesson topic was about the church in general and its responsibilities to the world. He made several statements that I haven't ever really given much deep thought to, but in retrospect, he is absolutely right.

Now I realize that not everyone who reads this blog on a regular or even a semi-regular basis is a Christian, nor does everyone agree with my views on certain things. So be forewarned that this *may* be somewhat weird to ya.

One of the first things he mentioned was that when people (especially Christians, amongst themselves) start talking about evangelism, one of the most common things said is "People of the world just need to go to church." On the surface this sounds great but when you think about it, it's simply bull. Question: How are people of the world going to get to church if the people of the church don't get to the world? This one in particular hit me sort of hard because I have been talking with a co-worker who has never really ever gone to church. He has mentioned on a couple of occasions that he should really start going, and I have of course, invited him to come along. I have never really pressured him...only invited him a few times. I guess in a way, my actions and the way I live my life has shown him that I am a Christian. Maybe that in and of itself is good, but I simply can't find "the" way to get him to actually go through with what he feels he should do. Obviously SOMETHING is telling him he should go, I just can't decipher what.

The second thing mentioned has to do with the whole "feeling" of church. One of the popular things that more charisthmatic churches tend to say is that people have a "God sized hole" in their heart. Phrase it any way that you want, but when it comes down to it, it is simply touchy feely mumbo jumbo. Again, people are not going to know what voids there are in their lives if Christians aren't out there trying to show them how God can help fill those voids. In a couple of instances where I have actually been able to at least get people to come to church in the past, one of the first things I told them when we discussed Christianity in general is that all Christians are indeed hypocrites. Let me re-type that. We are ALL hypocrites. The term Christian means "Christ-like". Christ was perfect. None of us are perfect. I went on to explain to them that yes, I am a Christian, but yes, I am a sinner and we all fall short of the glory of God. I simply try my very best to keep those sins to a minimum and I try to have a great impact for the positive on the lives of people I encounter.

A popular term in many churches today, as it pertains to the lost in the world is "seekers." Again, this is a bunch of bull. Yes they are seeking something. They may not know it, but they are. But how are they going to walk that path to church if we, as Christians, don't show them the correct path and even walk with them, arm in arm along that path?

The running theme here is obviously that we, as Christians, are to go into the world and preach the Gospel to all living creatures. The "lost", the "seekers", the "wayward", whatever you want to call them are, through their actions and their lives, screaming at us to help them. Again, they may not know it but they are. We all just need to find that niche that will allow us into their lives and give us the opportunity to be heard.

I will continue more on this later this week or early next week when I have a bit more free time. More than likely it will be next week. I am off and heading home, so I will have more time to relax and research some more information. I have found some good studies, surveys and other materials that touch on this subject. I even found one comment that an atheist made in an atheist publication on the "good" of Christianity. If that doesn't get you to come back to read next week, I don't know what will :)

Hope that you are all doing well and I hope that you can give me some feedback on this. I find things of this nature very interesting and hope that you do as well. I would appreciate any honest and sincere feedback that you could give me.

As I said, I will be on vacation next week. I am heading to Texas to see my parents and even going to a Mavericks game in Dallas with a friend that I haven't seen in a while. She and I are pretty good buddies and it will be good to see her. Until then, I hope that you all have a great week and that God continues to bless you richly!!

~Greg~

Some Random Musings

Man it is hard to believe that my niece is now five years old. Time certainly flies. It seems like only yesterday that I was sitting there, looking at my new niece in my arms for the first time and now, here it is, five years later and she will be entering kindergarten in the fall. Of course her growing up is natural and is a fun process to watch. I called Friday to wish her a Happy Birthday and she answered the phone. She talked to me for several minutes....that was fun!

Here is something you don't hear everyday. I was at work talking with one of our drivers the other day. He has a 19 year old son who is very sick with cancer. Naturally he has his good days and bad days, but the recent reports from the doctors don't sound promising. Anyway, his son is apparently a big American Idol fan and last year really liked Chris Daughtrey. I am not a huge fan of Idol but anyway, apparently Daughtrey is on tour right now. His studio/contract people want him to play in smaller venues to start out with. My guess is that this is a business move...building up the anticipation for his BIG tour debut. Well, he is playing in Birmingham pretty soon at a venue of 400 seats. On a longshot the driver called this venue and explained his son's situation to the people who sell the tickets. They told him that they'd be in touch and see if they can get him some tee shirts and a signed photo or something. The really cool thing is this: she called them up on Wednesday and told them that she spoke with Chris personally and he told them to hold 4 tickets for the guy and his family. That is really cool to me. He apparently has not let his new found fame go to his head.

I'm still looking for vacation ideas. My initial plan to go to Colorado in May has been set back due to my having to go Phoenix, AZ for work for two weeks. This may end up being pretty fun though. It's a two week training class. A former co-worker from Texarkana is going to the same class and I am meeting up with a friend of mine in the Phoenix area and we are going to go to the Grand Canyon on the weekend. I've never been there and have always wanted to see it...so there ya go. More than likely I am going to take a week off in March and April and just end up losing a week at the end of the fiscal year (end of May). Thats the breaks in a small facility where there is more work than people can legitimately handle I guess.

Other than that, things here are going great. I am truly enjoying my time here in Alabama. Recently started playing football with some guys on Sunday afternoons on the University of Alabama campus. It's me, a co-worker, some of our employees who are students and some of their friends. Seems to be a good group of guys. After a couple of weeks of initial soreness things are going well LOL It's a fun way to meet people and get some good exercise at the same time.

Until later....I wish God's abundant blessings on each and every one of you!

Greg