Wake up

Wake up from your Sleep Ephesians 5:1-2

Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

I have told several people lately that I am refreshed by the love taught and shown in my church. All my life I witnessed true Christian love exhibited by my mother. She was not judgemental, she was not self-righteous. She just loved, loved, loved. Many of my friends have told me that my mother was the only real Christian they ever came in contact with. The only one who followed the teachings of Jesus and didn't seem holier-than-thou and critical. She really "Got It." She got the idea that what matters most is winning people to God, and you were not going to win them by looking down on them and making them feel like their lifestyle was so awful that she couldn't have anything to do with them. Fortunately, I have had many people in my life who were like my mother, so I can't really say that she is the only Christian I have known. What I am most impressed with is that the young preachers of today "Get It," My pastor is not 40, yet he has the wisdom to teach us of a much older man. Kenny Myers who was at the Tecumseh church a few years ago was younger than that, and he "Got It."
They preach Christ's love. Don't get me wrong, they expect a lifestyle change for Christ followers, but they are accepting of people who enter the church for the first time wearing the "wrong" thing, looking different, not really knowing how to "play church."
The group of people who worship together at Harrah Church are as eclectic a group as I have ever seen. They wear everything from shorts. t-shirts. and flip-flops to three piece suits and typical "church" dresses. The music is everything from accoustic with vocals to rock. What does this mean? This means that our church is reaching out to the lost. I can assure you that many of the older people who have been Christians for years would prefer a more traditional style of music (of course, I'm not old enough to be in that group), but they continue to come because people are being saved, lives are being changed. IT'S NOT ABOUT US--IT'S ABOUT THE LOST.
Once when I was a little girl, we got a new pastor. I overheard my mom talking to one of her friends about it, so being the typical, nosy third grader, I evesdropped on the conversaion.
Rome Stewart had been our pastor for a few years, and he got up every morning and went for a walk around the neighborhood. Several of the elderly women of our church lived within walking distance, so Bro. Stewart checked on them each morning. When Jack Richey came to our church, he didn't do this (it wasn't in the job description; it was just something Rome did). I guess some of the old ladies had their feelings hurt because the new preacher wasn't checking on them any more. Jack was all about the young people; his focus was on the youth and young families.
I had never heard my mom criticize anyone in her church before, but this time she did. I heard her say, "Those ladies are saved, on their way to heaven; Jack is trying to reach those who need Jesus." My mom was so ahead of her time in her Christian thinking. I thank God everyday for her influence.