The Virginia Tech thing has me FLOORED! I have waited to comment on it…and thought maybe I would not until last night when NBC broke the news that the shooter had mailed them information…and has now, because of their stupidity and a desire for ratings, showed anyone in the world how to make themselves famous—even if they are not around to enjoy it.
It didn’t take long for political “experts” from both sides to jump all over this tragedy and try to use it for their gain. The gun control people are screaming…the anti gun control people are screaming back…finger pointing is going on all over the place…it’s a mess and people are trying to figure out what in the heck happened.
I have a theory…it’s a simple one…but I believe it is true. This is WHAT happens when people do not know Jesus! Maybe the problem isn’t political or social at all…maybe this is exactly what happens when sin manifests itself inside a person and expresses itself through the most horrid act of violence one could ever imagine.
I have seen in society AND Scripture that the potential for evil inside a human being is pretty much limitless…and what happened at Virginia Tech proves my point.
What does do to me personally? Well…it didn’t make me want to jump on the gun control bandwagon. It didn’t make me want to try to make our society a safer place. NO—it STOKED MY FIRE for evangelism, this tragedy screams a fact that Scripture has been screaming for centuries—PEOPLE NEED JESUS!!!
It makes me mad…AND it convicts me…when I look at the church and then this tragedy. I believe we live in a fallen world—sin happens, and when it does it is always gross. HOWEVER, I believe less and less of these things will take place in the future IF the church will freakin’ wake up and begin to do what we were commissioned to do in the first place—take Jesus to the world!!!
I am through fighting!!! THROUGH! I will not engage in the emergent vs. emerging debate any longer. I will not entertain the traditional versus contemporary…nor will I involve myself in the missional verses attractional debate. I can’t—PEOPLE ARE DYING AND GOING TO HELL ALL AROUND US…and to engage in meaningless arguments that are NOT going to matter this side of eternity—OR the other side, well, that is playing right into the hands of satan. If we are passionate about anything other than Christ and reaching people for him…he is not threatened.
NewSpring…we are called to reach people for Christ!!! We will ALWAYS be a church where you know you can bring your friends and family members who do not know Christ…and they WILL hear the Gospel in a way they can understand. We are going to do church the way God has called us to do church…and people who do not like it can scream all they want…and we will keep ignoring them and reaching people for Christ!!! We will no longer cater to the naysayers and the critics—there is WAY too much at stake.
We WILL preach Jesus…we will honor His word…we will worship with passion…we will do church in an excellent and creative manner…and I am praying that one day God will allow us to see over 3,000 people saved in one day…just like in Acts 2!!!
People need Jesus!!! PEOPLE NEED JESUS! If the church does not get serious about reaching the world for Christ—we are going to see WAY MORE of what happened at Virginia Tech happen all around our country!
Question—who comes to your mind when you read this? Who in your life needs Christ? Pray for them right NOW!!! And…make it a point to get them here…I promise you they WILL hear about Jesus—He is my King & my God…He SAVED ME…HE CHANGED ME…HE HAS MADE ME NEW!!! I was overwhelmed this morning in my quiet time as I thought about where He found me and how far He has brought me…and I prayed right there that NewSpring will continually see thousands and thousands of people being found by Jesus each and every weekend!!!
One more thing…God is using our church in ways that I never imagined. On Tuesday morning I received an e-mail from a student who attends NewSpring during the summer…but goes to school at Virginia Tech. After reading it I called him because his story was incredible. He said that the night before the shooting he was watching a NewSpring service on the internet…and when the invitation time came around he received Christ. He said he just knew it was the right thing to do. And so when the shooting happened the next day he told me that he was not in the building where it had taken place—but if he would have been there then he would have been ready!
It’s our COMMISSION to get people READY!
We live in a fallen world—sin IS real and nasty—but we serve a RISEN KING…HE REIGNS…HE IS GOD…and HE HAS CALLED US TO REACH PEOPLE FOR HIM. WOW…while this tragedy has broken my heart and I have grieved—and it has awakened me to what is important…and this church will NOT stop until we IMPACT the entire Southeast…and then the WORLD for Christ!