January 2008

01.01.2008

ne Parson’s Opinion


Happy New Year to you! I trust you will experience the Lord and His provision for you in wonderful, unexpected ways in 2008.

My prayer for ARBC in 2008 is that we experience more and more of what it is like to be family.

Years ago, one of my evangelism professors at Southwestern Seminary was Dr. Oscar Thompson. One day in class, he said the most effective form of evangelism is church evangelism. He went on to explain that he was talking about loving the brethren and unity in the body.

My years of pastoral experience have proven Dr. Thompson correct. All of the programming, personalities and plans have not been as effective in church growth as the fostering of family life.

The best way to understand what is going on is to look at it from heaven’s perspective. Jesus said, “I will build My church (Matthew 16:18)”. This simply means He is the One who adds people to His church. It seems He adds people to a church that is already taking care of those He has given them (see the parable of the talents).

If we take care of each other, He’ll give us more to take care of. If we don’t, He won’t. We already take care of each other quite well; my challenge is to take it to the next level. Pray for one another more, encourage one another more, help one another more, support one another more, love on one another more. I think you get the idea. Focus more on meeting the needs of your brothers and sisters.

We are still to pray for the lost and show Christ as we have the opportunity, but as we do this, let’s not forget the precious “one anothers” He has already given to us. We are responsible first to take care of the ones He has given us.

See you on the Lord’s Day!
Jim

Posted by arbc at 06:00 AM