When the church makes evangelism a priority, God goes to work. But how do we detect when God has actually done something? What proof do we have that God moved in a special way?
Of course all heaven celebrates when one sinner repents. The church celebrates on earth when people get baptized and tell their story. But there are more evidences of grace we can spot if we are looking. Here is what I saw over the past few weeks that encouraged me and alerted me to God's special activity:
1. More prayer for the lost. Paul provided us with an example to follow: "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved." (Romans 10:1 ESV) God generated more prayer for the lost over the past few weeks. At men's leader meetings, in small groups, at kitchen tables, in staff meetings---I heard more prayer, and it blessed my soul. When God's Spirit lays lost people on our hearts, it produces more prayer for the lost. This is evidence God is at work.
2. More sorrow and anguish for the lost. If we are going to effectively reach the world with the Gospel, we must see what God sees. When God's Spirit lays the anguish of eternity upon our hearts, making us feel burdened for some who are not saved, this is evidence of God's activity.
The apostle Paul lamented, "I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh." (Romans 9:1-3 ESV) Wow. If he could give away his ticket to paradise, he would. I personally felt more sorrowful and heartbroken for some of my friends and family over the past few weeks, and I heard others expressing the same feelings. This is evidence God is at work.
3. More believers courageously inviting others to church. I heard many stories of believers taking risks leading up to last Sunday. Pastor Brandon invited his neighbors to church. A woman in our small group challenged herself to invite perfect strangers to church---someone at the grocery store, a waitress at the restaurant, etc. My wife invited a homeless woman. I invited a neighbor I grew up with who is going through a very tragic time. I also invited a few of the realtors we are working with on the facility search (they both showed up!). I was blessed to hear people reaching out and extending a friendly invitation to church. This is what it means to be on God's rescue team.
4. More people surprised by who came to church. One young woman accidentally invited her cousin to church a week early (before "bring a friend Sunday"). She sent me a Facebook message saying, "I thought last week you said it was bring a friend Sunday so I invited my cousin. He brought his entire family. They haven't been to church in a long time and not walking with God. There were 7 in my family & 9 all together. My uncle looked at me and said thank you & started crying and was so glad that they came this week. They will be back next week!!!! Praise God!!!!! He is changing lives." I was personally surprised after the first service last Sunday when a group of six people called me over. One of the women asked if I remembered her. It took a second, but then I realized she was my babysitter when I was growing up. She pointed to another woman and asked if I remembered her. I looked and said, "You were my gym teacher in elementary school!" I hadn't seen these people in over twenty years! God surprised my by who came to church.
While we want to see the final product of salvation, God shows His work through a process. He takes His time and involves His people. As we wait patiently to see what truly happened in the hearts of those who came to church last Sunday, let's rejoice at all that God has done leading up to a memorable service!
Friday, February 1, 2013
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Newtown
Unspeakable evil visited Newtown, Connecticut last Friday morning. I was at my desk preparing a sermon when I first saw the initial reports hitting the internet. I remember reading "shooting" and "school," words that have sadly already become acquainted in our culture. But then a single word froze my heart: "Elementary." No, Lord. This didn't happen. This couldn't happen.
I began following the links, trying to sort through the facts. Pictures of parents weeping. Pictures of police armed for combat. Pictures of firefighters holding children. And then the cold horror spelled out for me, "Twenty first-grade students shot. Six adults dead." I couldn't read. I couldn't breathe. Images of my own children quickly came to mind. My son, Jared, is in kindergarten. Suddenly, I was in that classroom, and so was he. I closed my eyes, lamenting with parents I had never met. The gunman may have shot twenty, but he reached them all. He tore through a curtain of innocence and desecrated a sanctuary. Things are different, now. Again.
When I got home, my children felt different to me. I was relieved to see them safe, and the hugs took longer than usual, though they didn't understand why. Small things gripped my heart. A backpack, a lunchbox, toys on the floor. I walked past Jared's bedroom and stared at his empty bed. I again was with those parents. But then my child came back to life and called to me from downstairs. Unimaginable.
Life got busy fast, and 3 Christmas parties coupled with 2 church services made the weekend fly by. Monday came, and Lauren sat the kids down before school to tell them about what happened so they weren't surprised or confused if it came up. They knew she was crying for a reason, but thankfully their world still had no room for that man. Evil pervades the earth, but God set some mysterious threshold at the heart of children preventing it from full invasion. Though this man is dead, we still see him, but our children do not. Praise God.
But now the world is wondering, Lord. How could this happen? Those who love you will look heavenward with tears in their eyes asking, "Why?" Those who hate you will clench their teeth and ask, "Why?" Why would you allow such a massacre? And what could you ever accomplish through such bloodshed?
My mind visited familiar passages about God's goodness and sovereignty, his grace and his compassion. But then I remembered Christmas. Not angels singing or cattle lowing. A less familiar Christmas story. The wise men arrived after the birth of Christ, and they asked King Herod where they would find the one born King of the Jews. Alarmed, he called on the scholars to determine where this would happen. "Bethlehem!" Herod told the wise men to go and find the child, and then return. He, too, would then go and worship him. But the wise men were warned in a dream to avoid Herod.
When Herod learned of this, he flew into a rage and ordered that every child under the age of 2 in the region of Bethlehem be put to death. God woke Joseph up in the middle of the night, telling him to take the child and leave for Egypt without delay. So in the darkness, Mary and Joseph fled in fear, clinging to Immanuel, God with us.
God's son barely escaped a massacre of innocent children. He knows firsthand the darkness and pain of a fallen world. God so joined Himself to humanity that evil could now touch him like never before. "This is my son, whom I love. With him I am well-pleased." The light of the world being chased in the darkness. The rivalry between a good God and evil made Bethlehem a crime scene. Just one child survived. But that one child would ultimately strip evil of its power to do eternal damage to the people of God.
"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery," Hebrews 2:14-15.
Jesus partook of the "same things" as all who grieve and suffer in this life. He experienced the fullness of humanity---weakness, weariness, sadness, and pain. He knew death---agonizing and premature. He knew evil---personally tempted and betrayed, yet without sin. He defeated the Adversary who comes to steal, kill and destroy. He opened up the way of life---the new and living way---that all who come to him might live with hope for eternity in paradise. God worked all of this through the child born King, the one who evil failed to find on Christmas. And now all death can do is usher us safely into the presence of the Way, the Truth and the Life.
I began following the links, trying to sort through the facts. Pictures of parents weeping. Pictures of police armed for combat. Pictures of firefighters holding children. And then the cold horror spelled out for me, "Twenty first-grade students shot. Six adults dead." I couldn't read. I couldn't breathe. Images of my own children quickly came to mind. My son, Jared, is in kindergarten. Suddenly, I was in that classroom, and so was he. I closed my eyes, lamenting with parents I had never met. The gunman may have shot twenty, but he reached them all. He tore through a curtain of innocence and desecrated a sanctuary. Things are different, now. Again.
When I got home, my children felt different to me. I was relieved to see them safe, and the hugs took longer than usual, though they didn't understand why. Small things gripped my heart. A backpack, a lunchbox, toys on the floor. I walked past Jared's bedroom and stared at his empty bed. I again was with those parents. But then my child came back to life and called to me from downstairs. Unimaginable.
Life got busy fast, and 3 Christmas parties coupled with 2 church services made the weekend fly by. Monday came, and Lauren sat the kids down before school to tell them about what happened so they weren't surprised or confused if it came up. They knew she was crying for a reason, but thankfully their world still had no room for that man. Evil pervades the earth, but God set some mysterious threshold at the heart of children preventing it from full invasion. Though this man is dead, we still see him, but our children do not. Praise God.
But now the world is wondering, Lord. How could this happen? Those who love you will look heavenward with tears in their eyes asking, "Why?" Those who hate you will clench their teeth and ask, "Why?" Why would you allow such a massacre? And what could you ever accomplish through such bloodshed?
My mind visited familiar passages about God's goodness and sovereignty, his grace and his compassion. But then I remembered Christmas. Not angels singing or cattle lowing. A less familiar Christmas story. The wise men arrived after the birth of Christ, and they asked King Herod where they would find the one born King of the Jews. Alarmed, he called on the scholars to determine where this would happen. "Bethlehem!" Herod told the wise men to go and find the child, and then return. He, too, would then go and worship him. But the wise men were warned in a dream to avoid Herod.
When Herod learned of this, he flew into a rage and ordered that every child under the age of 2 in the region of Bethlehem be put to death. God woke Joseph up in the middle of the night, telling him to take the child and leave for Egypt without delay. So in the darkness, Mary and Joseph fled in fear, clinging to Immanuel, God with us.
God's son barely escaped a massacre of innocent children. He knows firsthand the darkness and pain of a fallen world. God so joined Himself to humanity that evil could now touch him like never before. "This is my son, whom I love. With him I am well-pleased." The light of the world being chased in the darkness. The rivalry between a good God and evil made Bethlehem a crime scene. Just one child survived. But that one child would ultimately strip evil of its power to do eternal damage to the people of God.
"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery," Hebrews 2:14-15.
Jesus partook of the "same things" as all who grieve and suffer in this life. He experienced the fullness of humanity---weakness, weariness, sadness, and pain. He knew death---agonizing and premature. He knew evil---personally tempted and betrayed, yet without sin. He defeated the Adversary who comes to steal, kill and destroy. He opened up the way of life---the new and living way---that all who come to him might live with hope for eternity in paradise. God worked all of this through the child born King, the one who evil failed to find on Christmas. And now all death can do is usher us safely into the presence of the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Thoughts on Harry Potter and America's best-seller
More than a half-million new books are published every year, amounting to 1,369 new titles hitting the shelves...daily. There are more books than ever before contending for the title of "Bestseller." So how is the Bible faring in the sea of competition? Let's put the Bible head to head against the most impressive book series of our time: Harry Potter.
The Rise of Potter began in 1997, when J.K. Rowling released the first book in a 7 book series in the U.K. called, "The Philosopher's Stone." In 1998, it was released in the U.S. under the title, "The Sorcerer's Stone."
(Timeline) The first print run was just 50,000 copies. Rowling used the initials J.K. because she was afraid boys wouldn't read the book if they knew a girl wrote it. "Potter fever" truly began in 1999, when the second book, "The Chamber of Secrets," shot to the top of the best-seller list. Since then, Potter has been smashing records like they were ordinary broomsticks.
All 7 of Rowling's books are best-sellers. In fact, they are 7 of the top 10 best-selling books of the past 15 years (1). When the final book was released in 2007, it sold 8.3 million copies in the U.S. in one day, or 96 books every second (2). By June of 2008, the entire Potter series had sold over 400 million copies worldwide (3). At the release of the final book in 2007, the total print count for all books in the series was 133.5 million in the U.S. (4). Divide by 9 years since the first book debuted in the States, and you get 14.8 million copies sold in the U.S. each year. Impressed?
What if I told you the Bible was selling 14.6 million copies per year...in 1907! (5) In fact, the Bible currently sells 20-25 million copies each year in the U.S. (6). The Bible is America's best-selling book of the year, every year. And not just in the U.S. The Bible holds the title for "Bestseller on Earth." The Guinness Book of World Records estimates at least 2.5 billion Bibles were sold between 1815 and 1975 (7), and more recent tallies reach 5 billion in sales. It is estimated today that 100 million copies of the Bible are sold or given away around the globe each year (8).
So, outnumbered seven books against one, the Bible outsells the entire Potter series every year. Considering "The Sorcerer's Stone" now slouches at #485 on Amazon.com's list of the most popular books, the Bible simply sits on its throne and waits for the next challenger to be utterly dominated by the undisputed best-seller of the ages.
Have you read the Bible? Several Bible reading plans are posted HERE.
The Rise of Potter began in 1997, when J.K. Rowling released the first book in a 7 book series in the U.K. called, "The Philosopher's Stone." In 1998, it was released in the U.S. under the title, "The Sorcerer's Stone."
(Timeline) The first print run was just 50,000 copies. Rowling used the initials J.K. because she was afraid boys wouldn't read the book if they knew a girl wrote it. "Potter fever" truly began in 1999, when the second book, "The Chamber of Secrets," shot to the top of the best-seller list. Since then, Potter has been smashing records like they were ordinary broomsticks.
All 7 of Rowling's books are best-sellers. In fact, they are 7 of the top 10 best-selling books of the past 15 years (1). When the final book was released in 2007, it sold 8.3 million copies in the U.S. in one day, or 96 books every second (2). By June of 2008, the entire Potter series had sold over 400 million copies worldwide (3). At the release of the final book in 2007, the total print count for all books in the series was 133.5 million in the U.S. (4). Divide by 9 years since the first book debuted in the States, and you get 14.8 million copies sold in the U.S. each year. Impressed?
What if I told you the Bible was selling 14.6 million copies per year...in 1907! (5) In fact, the Bible currently sells 20-25 million copies each year in the U.S. (6). The Bible is America's best-selling book of the year, every year. And not just in the U.S. The Bible holds the title for "Bestseller on Earth." The Guinness Book of World Records estimates at least 2.5 billion Bibles were sold between 1815 and 1975 (7), and more recent tallies reach 5 billion in sales. It is estimated today that 100 million copies of the Bible are sold or given away around the globe each year (8).
So, outnumbered seven books against one, the Bible outsells the entire Potter series every year. Considering "The Sorcerer's Stone" now slouches at #485 on Amazon.com's list of the most popular books, the Bible simply sits on its throne and waits for the next challenger to be utterly dominated by the undisputed best-seller of the ages.
Have you read the Bible? Several Bible reading plans are posted HERE.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Christmas Rocket
My daughter Cassie (7) got a rocket for Christmas. Welcome to our living room...aka...space.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Brandon's First Week
Our new Family Pastor, Brandon Capuano started his first week on the job. Check out this amateur video documentary of this new chapter in his life.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Brandon and Fam Crossing the Country
We recently hired a new full-time staff member, Brandon Capuano. Brandon will be leading our youth and children's ministry at Harvest. He is crossing the country to get here. 2,000 miles lie between San Diego and Chicago. Add three kids into the mix and you have an exciting road trip! They are taking their time, stopping to see the sights and to visit some friends. Here are a few pictures from their journey. Keep them in prayer! They will arrive in Chicago next Tuesday.
These are a cross breed of cattle and bison. They call them "beefalo." Sound tasty!
A big hole that you have to see to believe.
Perhaps the world's largest dandelion.
Hmmm...how can we get down there...
Okay, back in the van!
Okay, back in the van!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Six Flags
The fam took a trip to Six Flags Great America last week. I may have slightly breached park protocol in the making of this movie. No smartphones were injured in the process.
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