I received this email from a friend about my last blog concerning our neighborhood Bible study.
"Dude- you are singing that song as a ??? how great is our God??
You have set an expected cap of 30. What if God decides to send
you 200- 2 per house? Not probable- but then our God is awesome
in power and not held to mans limitations
Eph 3:20"now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us.'"
My response was as follows (asking permission also to quote the email, which he granted)
"Expectations are far from limitations. I would be willing to knock out the walls and meet every night of the week if God blesses that way. We are being optimistic expecting 10 from the statistics. But as you remind me, God does not read the statistics. He makes the rules and if He chooses to use us in the lives of that many people, I will be buying 200 books and Bibles. I was thinking about ordering more, but we are able to get them in 3-4 days if we need to. I have set aside 3 whole shelves in the hall book shelves for Bibles and books to give away.
You keep praying, and so will I ,that the revival of Warren, Maine and surrounding areas will start in my home. What a blessing that would be! What proof that God is wanting to work in this way and through personal contact in homes I am so excited."
As you can tell by the tone of our messages, we are honest and up front with each other. This fellow is a member of our men's Bible study and accountability doesn't quite tell the whole story. We don't pull any punches with each other, and we hold ourselves and each other to a pretty high standard. I don't know about anyone else, but I need to be reminded that just getting by in the Christian life is not nearly good enough.
We need to be moved by God and encouraged by others to keep pressing forward for Christ. We don't want to wimp out on what God wants for us. We know that our God is capable of doing more than we could ever imagine. I pray that He chooses to use us in a great and mighty way, but only as it brings honor and glory to HIM, not any of us.
With the whole remodeling going on, I don't know how much I have said on the blog, so here is the skinny. We recently moved out of half our house to make way for traveling missionaries or teachers of the Word of God to stay with us. We have sleeping room for a whole family and are going to be putting in a kitchen for longer stays. We have a 1900 square foot home and are living in about 800 of those feet. We have thrown out a lot of the stuff that clutters our lives and made room for missionaries(or people needing temporary place to stay) and also dedicated 1 room for Bible studies.
We are able, if the need arises to double this room and make a room about 12x22 for a meeting place. If we outgrow those rooms, seating about 20 each, or 45-50 in the larger room(sans divider) we can knock out a few more(non load bearing walls) and have room for 60. We could literally house a whole church here if God shows us that is what He wants. I know this sounds crazy, as the movie says "If you build it, they will come" I don't know if that is exactly true, but I can tell you that if you don't invite people in, or make room for them to come, they sure won't come. Being available for anything God brings our way is mandatory. We are willing to see how He moves.
We have no plans for a home church per se, but would rather supplement the assembly we meet with on Sundays and Wednesday evenings with evangelistic and discipleship studies meeting in our home a few nights or more a week. We also have room for a Good News Club to meet in the living room while the adults meet in the other end of the house.
We are encouraging others to reach out to their neighbors in this and other ways. How many people have never heard the gospel right in our home towns? They don't just show up at church often, but after someone reaches out and warns them of the impending doom that they face every day that they choose to live on their own, and neglect God.
They are not condemned for ignorance of God, but for their sin. Many have not rejected Jesus knowingly, but rather are ignorant. There is no payment we can make or any other way to be forgiven except through Jesus' sacrifice for sin, so we must tell them of their eternal destiny without Jesus as their savior. If we don't tell them, how can we say we love our fellow man? If you love someone, you wouldn't sit back and watch them walk to their death when we could offer them help. We have a responsibility and I have finally got the blinders off and realized that I must start about God's work while there is still time.
So, now that you all know I have lost my mind, you can get back to praying for those who have been invited to our home study. We are so excited to get to meet and witness to these folks that drive by our home daily. It seems we are more disconnected from our neighborhoods than I remember being a kid. People don't walk or just visit very often. This is a good chance to turn the tide in the right direction.
Now, who is next in line to reach YOUR neighbors for Christ? Don't let the blessing go to someone else. Don't neglect your responsibility, as I have for far too long. Learn from my disobedience. I wish someone had told me long ago, but there are few who are willing to step out and speak up. We are not to be ashamed of the gospel, and if you are keeping quiet, afraid of people being offended or looking down on you, it certainly seems that the light is being "hid under a bushel" Be not ashamed, but be bold. Get out of the shadows and walk in the light. It is the time to get moving, and there is no room for bystanders on this road.
In earnest prayer for the lost,
Mark Cowperthwaite
