Will it Grow?
Forgive me for the light posting over the past few weeks. I've been preparing for a doctoral seminar that I'm participating in this week and the work has kept me from posting as much as I'd have liked. I spent the day in Pensacola participating in a seminar on leadership and church growth. During the course of today's class, we were confronted by some startling statistics in regard to the state of the Church in America today. I hate to admit it, but some of the information was disheartening.
Faced with this information, we are tasked with coming up with solutions for the state of decline that so many of our churches are experiencing. In considering these issues, I was reminded of a conversation I had earlier in the week with one of my church members. She had mentioned to me once that she had met one of my former students from my first church, Durant Chapel. At the time, I didn't know the context of their conversation. This lady was in the hospital and my former student was her nurse. The patient was quite nervous concerning her physical difficulties and the nurse took the time to minister to her and pray with her. In the course of the conversation, it came up that they both knew me.
As a youth minister, I can't tell you how much it excited me to see one of my students living out the principles that I worked hard to pour into her life. I certainly can't take credit for it, but knowing that one of my students was ministering to someone else reminded me that the Kingdom will multiply. Jesus put it this way:
30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
Mark 4:30-32
How are we going to make an impact on our culture? How can we make a significant difference in our communities? How can our mustard seeds grow into great plants? I think the answer is clear: one person at a time. When that happens, one will become two. Two will become four, and so it goes and grows.
If you were ever around any youth ministries from 1972-1993, you probably heard or sang one of the most iconic Christian songs of the era, Pass It On by Kurt Kaiser. For a person of my generation, it's a song that's usually met with a few snickers and visions of cheesy campfire scenes at youth retreats. It does remind us of that important truth: the Kingdom will multiply as we share what God has done in us, one person at a time.
So take a moment, imagine you're around the campfire in 1982, and enjoy the song:
Wow Clint... I totally forgot about that!! I needed that! From time to time that will come back to my memory, but you are right...
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've learned over my short life as a christian is that we have to realize our soul purpose here is to love God first... Love People..... and prove it.... And that in a nut shell is it... We are not called to "change People" or " be their Holy Spirit" but simply love them where they are and let God work through us!
Thanks for instilling those principles with in me... I truly will say that you should take some credit. You were obedient to God's call and shared your heart and God's heart with us... You called us to a higher expectation of what a Christian was and didn't say "oh their just a bunch of kids who don't get it" You challenged us to rise to the occasion and most of us did! I am sooooo thankful for you and the part you had in my life!!
I must say that because of the role model you were, I knew that guys who were young, college age were interested in finding girls who were Godly and ran hard after God... that there are guys out there who truly Love God first and the rest will fall into place! That is what I saw.... So..... I didn't settle until I became that girl.... and then found the amazing husband I have today! ;0)
We have been going through leadership training in our church, and we've done the first part of "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" and in one part of it, it has you list people who have influenced you the most and I listed you as one of them.... It then tells you to tell that person how much you appreciate them so..... THANK YOU!! For being an awesome guy who loves God with all he's got and showed me those kind do exist!!!
PS... I need some Gumbo... Just sayin! haha
Bethie