Leaving No One Behind

When we sit around our churches and talk about the Great Commission--how much of that charge to we look at as being for foreign nations and how much of that do we look at as our responsibility here at home? Sometimes it is so much easier to send a check overseas and not have to deal with people who have lots of problems and poverty and the list goes on. But Jesus did not just send a check. He spent time with poor people and sick people and prostitutes and all kinds of other sinners.

There are thousands upon thousands of lost people whose children are suffering with no love of Jesus in their lives--right here in our communities where we live!! Will we take on our responsibilities at Christians and go seek those lost and help bring them into the light? Or will we just keep paying others to do our jobs for us?

Jesus told us that the harvest is ripe. Let us go work the harvest in love and help set sinners free from their bondage.

What a God we serve--to love us all enough to give His beloved Son to die for us! Let us daily show our appreciation back to Him.

Grace and Peace,

Bruce

God Is Good!

Do you ever just stop for a moment to think about all that God has done for you? Do you ever just look around and see all that God created? He is so faithful. He is so good. He just keeps changing lives and blessing people. Let us keep praising HIM and telling others how wonderful HE is!

Grace and Peace,

Bruce

Christian Priorities

Tonight I listened to an incredible message from two ministers from a Church of Christ in Detroit. They talked about how their congregation is not in an area where a church would normally grow. They talked about how they have to read the Lord's Prayer everyday to keep focus--that everything is about GOD'S WILL AND NOT OURS! "Thy will be done." They talked about how they are up to three services on Sundays and that there is another service about 10 miles away at a mission work. They talked about how much of their flock are folks who came from a life wanting nothing to do with church. They also talked about how they lost a lot of members over time because of "bringing in folks that made those more established members uncomfortable."

I am always struck by Christians using that word "comfortable." Last time I checked, WE WERE NOT CALLED TO BE COMFORTABLE! Jesus did not live a comfortable life. The apostles did not live comfortable lives. None of the prophets lived comfortable lives.

Perhaps we need to be less concerned about "being comfortable" and more focused on getting out of our church buildings and taking the Gospel message to lost and hurting people!

LETS GO CROWD HEAVEN!

Bruce

Ministers In The Media

If you watch CNN and all the other news networks like I do, you have seen all kinds of "Christian" ministers shouting all kinds of controversial epitaphs and big news statements. Whether it is Reverend Jeremiah Wright screaming out on one end of the spectrum or conservative white evangelicals on the other end of the spectrum screaming out. Certainly it is not up to me to judge what each of those Christians do and I do not make a habit of condemning other Christian leaders or their congregations.

However, sometimes I wonder if we all stopped shouting as much--and just focused on the mission of Jesus Christ--if we might see larger glimmers of hope around us? Perhaps if church leaders spent more time teaching and training their flocks for ministry--more lost people might be brought to Christ? Perhaps if more church leaders went back to the basics of the elementary teachings of Jesus--there might be more love and kindness among us?

Serving the Lord and executing Christ's mission to bring a lost world to redemption and salvation--is NOT ABOUT US! IT IS NOT ABOUT ME! IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU! Maybe we all need a little more humility. Maybe we all need to go back and look at the early church leaders in the Book of Acts and see how they were spending their times and efforts.

Just some thoughts?

God Speed,

Bruce

Easter Sunday

I think it is wonderful that so many Christians celebrate Easter Sunday--in a biblical way and not in the worldy way. However, let us all be more driven to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ--everyday! All 365 days of the year! Let us honor God that way and not just on special occasions.

Grace and Peace,

Bruce

All The Hoopla

Every election, we (in the Christian world) hear about the need to elect candidates who are pro-life and against same sex marraiges. We hear about Christian groups marching in front of abortion clinics and various statewide election ballots around the nation that puts to a vote whether or not to legalize or criminalize same sex marraige. Ok, thats fine. But let me ask this:

Is our concern about specific sins taking place? If so, why are we not also marching on the offices of slum lords around the nation who take advantage of poor working families whose children are lucky if they get one decent meal a day. If so, why are we not marching on the homes of people who committ adultery. In the OT, such people were stoned. Please don't think I am for abortion or same sex marraige--NOTHING COULD BE MORE TO THE CONTRARY! As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am against all sin. However, I believe there is a better way to have less abortions and less homosexual relationships. What is the better way?

Very simple. Go make disciples, baptize them, and teach them everything Jesus teaches us through God's word. How do we do that? Go love on people, make friends, show Jesus working through our lives. If every Christian just got to work executing that command--imagine how many more Christians there would be and how many less abortions, homosexual sin, less murders, less hate, less greed, less fornication, less adultery, and the list goes on.

Go figure? :)

Blessings and praises to the Lord.

Bruce

3:10 To Yuma

I watched last night, the new movie "3:10 To Yuma." The cover said the best western since Unforgiven. It was a decent movie, but I would not go so far as to compare it with movies like "Unforgiven" or "Tombstone."

It is sad that we see less and less movies that reflect the old west or movies that have those old rugged values and perhaps a little valor and good guy verses bad guy stuff. So often the movies we see today, the good vs bad is all kinda blended together and everything is kinda grey?

It is sad the culture we find our young people in also. So many of them only have an interest in what is most contemporary. We don't expose our kids to enough things of old to give them some kind of values besides the newest thing. I just find that sad.

We need some more John Waynes, Jimmy Stewarts, Henry Fondas and all the others!

God Speed,

Bruce