Sara and Heather spent their time also talking about God's plans for our respective families, of training our children in God's Word, of the blessings of marriage, children, and so many blessings from the Lord. It was a time of encouragement and challenge, of getting to know one another and sharing testimony of God's work in our lives for the edification of one another and for praise to the Lord who richly blesses us with all things.
The children also had a fun time, and hope to spend more time in our last few days in Kansas with the Scherger children. The children are well mannered and respectful. It was fun to watch "the secret barn" a movie written and directed by Andrew Harmon, starring our children and friends from Richmond, Kentucky. The children were hard to pry apart, truly. Still, about 10 pm it was time to head for bed, to get some sleep. We plan to get together with this family on Saturday, and look forward to learning more about what the Lord is doing in their lives, their church family, and this community for His glory.
Pondering our visit, and thanking the Lord for the fellowship we have in Christ with so many, I just offered a prayer of thanksgiving for this time of encouragement and fellowship. We are blessed to have family in Christ all over the world, and no matter where we go, we have found it often the case that we would love to stay longer and continue in that sweet fellowship. Still, we are also reminded that there are many that still have never heard the message of Jesus Christ. So, we enjoy our times of fellowship, prayer, teaching, and other things that we enjoy. Do we also enjoy the times of reaching out with the Gospel, speaking of our Savior to those who have not yet heard?
A story was shared last night of a man that walked across the country carrying a cross, sharing the Gospel message. Often he would walk into churches only to be disregarded, the Christians unwilling to hear his burden for the Lord and the lost. Yet, this man was always welcomed at the bars and night clubs where he would speak of Christ, shining as a light in a dark place. Why would this man be rejected by his own, yet welcomed in such places? I have been studying Jonah's life in the Bible. Jonah was God's prophet, and ran away from God's calling. Jonah would rather God would kill him than make him go to Ninevah. But, when he finally went, the whole town repented before the Lord.
Are we willing to go to the Ninevah's of this world in order to preach God's message, or will we only speak for Christ inside the walls of the church buildings? If a brother was to go into the bar, not to drink and be friends with the world, but to preach the Gospel, would we applaud his fervency, or pick apart his methods? God has always sent His people into the world, to where the sinners are. Paul writes to the church in Philippians 2:14-17, "Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all."
It seems hard to be "in the midst", "among whom", and "in the world" if we hole up in our churches and our houses, unwilling to go out into the highways and byways where those live that so desperately need to hear God's proclamation of sin and judgement, of repentance and salvation. There is a time for fun, study, prayer, worship, and fellowship. Then there is the command of Scripture to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature". Will we go, or will we disobey the Lord? Jonah seemed to think either that the Ninevites would not repent, or that they were not worthy to be forgiven. He was wrong on both accounts, as they did repent and they were forgiven. Jonah's story closes with his moping about sinners that actually repented, selfishly whining about his lack of comfort. His comfort should have been from seeing the salvation of a whole city, but instead we see the closing moments of Jonah's story end in God rebuking him for his silly outlook on who was worthy of God's message. We are told to go to all people, and so let us go.
Mark
