The God We Serve

I was looking through some articles that I had written and sent out as emails before I began writing my thoughts in the form of a blog. I came across the following entry. It is much shorter than what I normally write but it was an encouragement to me and I hope will be for you. It was originally sent our January 5, 2015. It was my first article of the new year which means that it has that flavour to it.

One of my favourite authors on the subject of the small church is Steve Bierly. In his book entitled How To Thrive As A Small-Church Pastor he talks about how from the nonbeliever’s perspective our message must sound a little like we are trying to sell them the Brooklyn bridge. He puts it this way:

“We believe a carpenter who lived two thousand years ago was God. We believe that after he died, he came back to life three days later. We believe that one day our loved ones will rise up from their tombs with brand new bodies. We believe that the other religions in the world are wrong. We believe in seas parting, ax heads floating, men walking around in blazing furnaces, angels and demons, visions and dreams, and that a centuries old book filled with archaic notions has the right to tell us how to live our lives.”     p. 40

I read that and thought “Wow. It is all true. That carpenter was God. He did rise from the dead. Our loved ones will rise from their tombs. Seas did part. Ax heads did float. Men did walk in blazing fires. Angels did appear to people. The Bible is God’s word that tells us how we should live our lives today in the 21st century. It is all true.

As you enter into a new year that is the message that you have for your people. You can stake your life on the fact that all of it is true. It is my hope that whatever you might face in the year ahead, you will begin the year with an unshakeable belief in the truth of the Bible and the amazing message contained in it. It might seem strange to the unbeliever but it is the rock on which we build everything else that we do.

May God bless you as you move into another year of service.