Just the other day I heard it. A couple in our church was celebrating 45 years of marriage...another, 50, still another, 20, and another, 15. What are they trying to do? Discourage others from divorce?
Another thing I heard: Two teenage boys discussing how important visitation was and how they had to get all their chores done at home so they could get to church to go visit other youth who'd visited their church on Sunday. What are they trying to do? Debunk the myth that youth actually care about the lost?
Then I heard that there are several Christian legislators (one of whom is in my Sunday School class) who helped override the Oklahoma Governor's veto on a piece of Pro-life legislation last week. Now all pregnant women will be able to receive a sonogram and view it before making the final decision on an abortion. What are these legislators doing? Trying to save innocent lives? Are they living out the faith being taught in the Sunday School classes or something?
A young lady was baptized just this past Sunday in our church. Don't count her, though. It might take something away from the newly compiled data on the health of the SBC's declining baptisms. I read a blog with results of research of my denomination that reinforces the negativity within our convention that we are losing ground in reaching the lost. Glad someone took our temperature.
Okay...let's roll up our pant-legs and kneel at that altar on Sunday. Let's waken every morning with a prayer on our lips which was interrupted when we fell asleep the night before. Let's pray for God to break our hearts for the lost and bring more and more into our presence. May He give us boldness to share the Gospel like Dr. Bart Barber plans to do in May. (It amazes me how folks can get all wrapped up in statistics and research that points out falling numbers, but can't get wrapped up in setting numerical goals to correct the numbers.) Let's begin to encourage one another as Colin McGahey did when he was encouraged by Bart's post.
And maybe we could all pray for one another and praise one another's motivations and successes. Or will dwelling on that which is pure and worthy of praise be considered futile blatherings of an old woman in the pew? selahV
