winding road…
every tomorrow…
belongs to us. You and me, God.
and lovingly and gently,
You will care for me.
i stepped up
by God.
it was as if
He really crawled
inside my soul.
for the first time,
Someone shared my secret heart.
i am not afraid
of my cross.
i would not choose
a polished, small one.
how i carry
my cross
will depend upon
the quality of my relationship
with Christ.
an extraordinary one
is my desire.
why compromise for mediocrity
when all of heaven and earth
were brought together
to make God personal to us?
i cannot achieve this
in a day or ten years.
or a lifetime.
but it is a pursuit that must
be continually active.
no matter how many times
i fail in my humanity.
loving one another—
that’s where evangelism begins.
how
can we change our world…
if we cannot even care about each other in our
own circle?
pick a growing church in the New
Testament.
how about thessalonica? everyone poured in,
not because the sunday school teacher was
so fantastic,
or the curricula… or even the program.
they didn’t even bring in a special musical
group.
but… wow, how they loved one another!
there was john.
would our kids love him too?
shy. inhibited.
not too lovable. but they did love him!
not just on sunday, but every day.
because kids are everyday people.
they loved john every day until he smiled.
and then until one day he laughed.
his mother had called some time ago.
john in a flood of tears had said,
“oh, I’m such a failure… but ann and the kids
love me.
that’s my only hope.”
the non-Christian mother was impressed.
she started coming to church.
it’s kids having the courage to tell each
other…
“i love you”; “i need you”;
“i believe in you”;
or, “i’ve failed you. i’m sorry.”
and proving it by day-to-day caring.
this is evangelism.
listen to our football players…
big, tough…
telling one of the simple, shy, ordinary girls:
“mary, i love you… i really do.”
no laughter, no silly stuff.
deadly serious… really caring about each
other.
“this is how to measure your love: that you lay
down your life for your friends.”
to pray for one another. to feel.
i came to a church with ninety teens.
ordinary setting. youth room.
all the regular stuff.
on-the-beat kids.
announcements.
little circle of weak singing.
regular lessons.
the works.
but i had a BIG GOD
who wanted to do BIG THINGS.
through committed teens!
so… forget the ordinary hymn singing.
forget it…
the little circle of teens week after week after
week.
the same old routine of drab commitment and
blah faith.
expecting nothing.
and
