June 30, 2008 by Matt.

Ok, so what exactly do I mean by that? Shouldn’t our churches be full of light? After all Jesus said in Matthew 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world…”. So, since our churhes are full of the saved, then shouldn’t they be places of light, not darkness…

 Well, I want to challange that thought. Jesus did indeed say that we were the light of the world. However, I don’t think that means our churches should be completely filled with light. After all, when Jesus said we were the light of the world, he was referring to those that had salvation. So, if there is no darkness in our churches, we are missing the mark.

If you are still not following me, here it is. If Christians are the light of the world, then a church service filled with the saved would be very bright. However, when we introduce some lost people into that same service, then things begin to darken a little. If we are not bringing lost people into our churches, then how can they ever come to know Jesus. Yes, I know that some will come to know Jesus without ever stepping foot into the church. However, I think that most will accept salvation through the influence of the church.

So, I ask again, is your church dark enough? Are there enough lost people in your church? If not, what are you doing to get more lost people there. I must admit that I don’t do all that I feel I should to get people into my church, but I am making a fresh commitment to do so. My goal is going to be to invite at least one person per week.

I have heard it said that the way to bring lost people into the church is to “Invest and Invite”. What this means is that we are to invest in people and then invite them to church. After all, noone cares how much you know untill they know how much you care. So, we should invest in relationships with lost people, showing them that we love them, even as God loves them. Then when we invite them to church, they are more receptive. I have also found that when I have invested in this manner that it often becomes easier to invite them to church.

So, Is your church dark enough? If not, what are you doing to bring more lost people in?

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June 27, 2008 by Matt.

As my brother Adam pointed out, the man in this story is indeed Paul.

Many people are familiar with the story of Paul. However, for those of you that are not, here you go. Paul was originally named Saul. As Saul he spent most of his time persecuting the followers of Christ. In fact he was responsible for deaths of many of them. Then one day while traveling he was stricken blind by an encounter with God. He was given instructions to see a certain man who would heal his blindness.

Saul followed these instructions and received healing from his blindness, received a new name, (Paul) and received salvation in Christ. From here Saul now called Paul became a powerful follower of Christ. During the course of his ministry Paul was imprisoned on more then one occasion and was eventually put to death for his Christian beliefs.

We are indebted to Paul for having written a large portion of the New Testament. The books he wrote were letters that he sent to churches that he had started in different cities. In fact some of these letters were written while Paul was in prison, awaiting his execution.

So, let’s recap. Paul was so anti-Christian that he even went so far as to have many Christians killed. Yet God chose him to write a large portion of the New Testament that we read today.

 After his conversion he was thrown in jail on more then one occasion and knew that he was going to either die in prison, or be put to death. Yet he maintained hope and faith and continued to write letters instructing the early church.

So, what does this have to do with you or me. Well, I think that Paul’s story shows that no matter what kind of sin our past holds, God is willing to forgive us. In fact not only will He forgive us, he can use us in a mighty way to profit the kingdom. We can also learn from Paul that regardless of how bad things get, like being wrongly accused, thrown in prison, and sentenced to death, we can maintain faith and hope.

While we will all sin and ,therefore, all deserve death; very few of us will ever be guilty of the kinds of sins that Paul committed. So, if God was willing to forgive Paul, he will also forgive you. And if God would use Paul, he can also use you. Furthermore, while we will all suffer, few of us will find our selves beaten, flogged, imprisoned, and eventually put to death for our faith. So, while the enemy likes to tell you that your sin is unforgivable, or that your suffering if far to great and that all hope is gone, I think Paul shows us that we will be forgiven, we can be used and we can always have faith and hope.

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June 25, 2008 by Matt.

So I was reading a story yesterday that i thought I would like to share with you all (both of you that is). Anyways, I think I may make story time a regular feature here. So, let me know your thoughts are on this.

So, our story is about a man; we will call him Steve. This is not his real name but names are being changed to protect the innocent. Ok, actually I just wanted to change the name to make it more interesting. So, Steve is a powerful man and is very well known for his firm anti-Christian agenda. This goes on for some time as Steve continues to battle Christianity and becomes more powerful and more famous. Until….. one day Steve suffers a tragic injury. As he recovers from this injury he comes to know Christ and ends up becoming a strong crusader for Christ. This change in him eventually leads to him being wrongly accused, thrown in jail and sentenced to death.

Do you know who this man is?

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