What’s holding us back?

From my Pastor’s blog :

Think about this qoute for just a minute….

“The greatest impediment to a real move of God in our society is the thin veneer of Christianity laid on top of unrepentant people, as exemplified in our Christian music pop culture… this veneer inoculates them against any real calls to repentance and discipleship.”

Wow! Are we truly inoculated against calls to repentance? I think so. The longer I pastor the more I come to realize that most people use “Christianity” as a security blanket. It is a “belief system” entangled within many other belief systems. There is no real call to move out into a deeper relationship with God…laying down our lives…and certainly…no talk of crucifying ourselves with Christ. It is mostly about what church I attend, what denomination I’m affliated with, or our “title” within either one of those…

I wonder what would happen if we stopped looking over others shoulders and started looking in our own backyard?

Mark Driscoll was asked by a reporter, “Does is make much sense celebrating Easter when most people do not believe in sin? (my paraphrase) Mark responding by saying, “People still believe in sin…just not their own.”

I have had two conversations with people in our church in the last 24 hours that have rocked my world. Stuff that has been confessed…repented of…and then asked for forgiveness. Neither of them were spurned by me but by the Holy Spirit working on the hearts and lives of those individuals…and trust me…they were not your “average” screw ups.

This is what the Bible says about this.

2 Corinthians 7:14

“If, my people that are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ” (ESV)

What needs to be healed in your life? Who do you need to let go and forgive? Healing only comes when we humbly come to Dad, repent, turn from our idols, and then sit back and watch as our Heavenly Father does wonderful things in our lives.

I quoted this for a reason. I received a phone call yesterday from a twelve year girl in my youth group. The question was, “How do you tell someone you don’t really like that you forgive them for hating you?” It amazes me that as God works in the adults, He also works on the same issues with the young people.

Oh, yeah. The answer to her question? Pray for her. If you can sincerely pray for her, you can start to like her. You really cannot hate someone you sincerely pray for. Jesus said something like that, also.

Peace, P Roy <><