A storm has been brewing off of the coast of the kingdom and it is about to hit land. Several elements are leading to the formation of this gust of enormous need. Jobs are fading. Foreclosures are rampant. Credit and its interest are causing bulging discs in the spinal column of fiscal America. Yes, a big storm is brewing and the church should be encouraged to prepare for participating in the solution.
I speak of ministering to the poor among us. Several churches, St. Louis, Memphis, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Oklahoma City, Denver, Tulsa, (on and on the list goes), have been deeply involved in inner city ministries. Orphans, addicts, abandoned, and deserted are blessed because of a plethora of devoted workers already in these trenches. In addition nearly every congregation has pledged some effort through benevolent works for decades.
But I see the storm coming where the need is rapidly increasing. Reaching into the communities through this opportunity has the look, as well as the demand, of our bus ministry days. The community wants us! It really needs us. If it thinks it doesn't....it will. Wonderfully....this is what we have needed.
The bus ministry was a mighty tool. I believe it impacted all three of my kids as much as anything in the church as far as leading them to develop hearts for people. God is back with a new work. Get ready church.
We will need to work wisely. The need is so great that if we don't prepare our people for this storm they are likely to be swept out to sea in bitterness and frustration. The demands will be big. We must work with our people to get ready that they not suffocate in irritation for the tides will tempt to overpower. This work will insist we trust God to hold the workers together by His mercy; not our running or our will....Romans 9:16.
When this storm hits land, cries for food, pleas for housing, and calls for clothing will escalate beyond anything we America has seen maybe since the Great Depression. Signs of such already pose challenges. The church is faced with one of its greatest moments of our time.....encountering humans on the streets of poverty as did Jesus. It will be one of our finest hours....if we help us get there.
I'm not preaching doom and gloom. I'm communicating we are already seeing signs...constant signs that can no longer be ignored. Communities are decaying.
We cannot face such flood gates without preparing church hearts for company. In a positive way this surge will break the backs of our whining intra-church criticisms. It will thrust all of us into a pool of such overwhelming capacity we will be forced to need each other. With religious terrorists on one side and poverty on the other, we are going to find ourselves very blessed as God will squeeze the selfishness of our four-wall pride out of us. We will be plunged into the ocean of devastation while our eyes will be opened to two things: the wonder of God...and of each other.
Unity is coming. Need is going to sweep through our villages. Jesus....the name of Jesus is going to be the code word. Get ready church. Bus ministry days are back. This is a strong storm brewing. I believe unity among believers will filter in....for we are really going to need each other.
2 comments:
our new "bus routes" take us by 10 different churches and always leaves me thinking, WHY? thank god that our churches of christ are beginning to see that the holy spirit leads our worship services and that HE is welcoming to all of us that are open to the power he willingly gives to us all.
maybe one day we will be able to stop in and worship at any of the 10 churches we pass by on sunday morning, thanks for the word
Great post Terry! I feel what you're talking about. As I finished reading your post the last thing you said really resonated with me;
"I believe unity among believers will filter in....for we are really going to need each other."
I do believe that is one of the key things missing in unity among believers. Acts 2:42-47 is preached so often to encourage us to give to one another when all the while we have forgotten that we Need one another.
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