Archive for June, 2011
War Council
It was good to see our friends Paul and Becca Allen at Centre Church this past Sunday night. Sunday was Father’s Day and seeing as they just brought baby Emsley into the world in late January to join big bro Peyton, it was pretty cool to have all of the Allen family singers with us. Paul and Becca head up the youth ministries at the State College CMA church – seasoned pros at this church thing, they have a lot of friends at CC and a pretty good resume of loving on our kids here in Centre County.
The chicken is involved. The pig is COMMITTED.
The engineers at Morton Thiokol who designed the rocket boosters were involved. The Challenger astronauts were COMMITTED.
The stallion is involved. The mare is COMMITTED.
The man who flies 50 missions is involved. The Kamikaze pilot is COMMITTED.
Here’s the awesome one: Jesus was COMMITTED. To the cross for our sins. To a love that could never be re-payed. To absolute, headstrong obedience.
And the disciples were committed, too. No involved vs. committed in our heritage. Those who followed dropped their nets and left their homes. They knew that foxes had dens and birds had nests, but Jesus had no place to lay his head. He was homeless. Jesus borrowed everything and owned nothing, and they imitated. He sent 72 of his followers out two by two out into surrounding towns and villages and told them they should not even take a bag or sandals.
Friends, we are so involved. Involved in the trivial. Involved in the busy. Involved in emotions. We fear hurting peoples’ feelings far more than we fear the bondage of lies and destructive soul ties. Jesus told the 72, “But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.” (Luke 10:10-12)
Can you imagine the excuses we would make today?
~ But Jesus, I have friends in that town.
~ But Lord, those words are so harsh!
~ Sorry, I don’t have enough of a relationship with those people to say something like that.
~ I’ve spent years building trust with their businessmen. That would ruin all of my hard work.
There are about 150,000 people in Centre County.
There are nearly 200 churches serving the county.
25% of adults in America claim no affiliation with a faith of any kind.
43% of Americans attend church at least once a month.
25% report ‘seldom’ attendance.
20% say they never attend.
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
We’ve talked about the above passage from Luke 10 quite a bit this year. It’s not that there aren’t enough of us to GO into the harvest field. It’s that we’re too busy. We’re underfed. We’re afraid to rock the boat. We’re tongue tied. We’re not called. We’re… involved.
The chicken and the pig. Where do you stand?
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