NOTE:
When writing about God and Jesus, The Daily Jot means YHVH as God and Yeshua Ha Mashiach as Jesus--the actual original names and the true nature and character of them.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
At the risk of offending many, here we go...Is your church a tourist destination or a congregation of living stones? Are you a tourist or a living stone? This is not meant to offend, but to provoke thought. So many churches these days are so large that they have Starbucks and gift shops and book stores. Hey, it's all justified, right? The Starbucks is for fellowship. The gift shop is for outreach. The book store is for building up oneself in the Lord. All in all, they also make money. Money is really a badly needed commodity for churches these days. Salaries. Building expenses. Mortgages. Speaker budgets. Audio equipment. Programs. It takes a lot to run a church. But are these churches creating tourists or living stones?
Merriam-Webster defines tourist as: "a person who is visiting a place for pleasure or culture." Gotta ask: Is your church a tourist attraction? Is it encouraging people to visit for pleasure, hoping they will stay a while? Has it become a cultural destination where people smile at one another and speak Christianese? Is there more being taught about how you can be all you can be in Christ than about, as Christ would say in Matthew 16:24, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me"? Is there a focus on self-improvement over self-denial? Is there more about taking up Christ and having a great life than taking up your cross and following Christ? What is talked about over that cup of coffee?
Is your church a building made of wood and stone or is it made of living stones with Christ as the cornerstone? 1 Peter 2:4-6 says, "Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." Have you and your brothers and sisters been built up as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood in Christ? Or are most your church community enjoying the visit to the building?
In Israel, there are stones everywhere. Stones are stacked upon stones. So the comparison of Christ's disciples to living stones was totally understood by those in Peter's time. IF each person was as a living stone, the Church would be strong, people would be Christ-centered with Christ as the cornerstone. You see, you are the Church, not the building that people attend. What you are being taught, the way that you are becoming a disciple of Christ, the emphasis on the gospel, the leading of the Holy Spirit are all part of the cornerstone and the building of the living stones. The early church, persecuted as it was, did not have buildings, coffee shops, book stores, or gift shops. The believers were the living stones that made the church upon the solid rock of Christ. No offense intended. Just think about it. Things need to change.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
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For the children in rural Ghana, the need is great
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By Pastor William Agbeti
"Father, we have a huge challenge!" That was the alarming prayer that sprung up in my heart when we registered the 181st child that showed up for our feeding program this month, against an invited number of 150! The makeshift auditorium of the local rural church, Bread of Life Sanctuary, that we are supporting and where we fed the children, was packed to full capacity by both invited and uninvited rural children. These started showing up in their numbers, with great excitement, hours before the announced time of 1:00 pm! They came from poor rural communities spread miles apart.
As a result, we were compelled to set up an overflow area outside the auditorium to contain the extra numbers that kept pouring in! Many were reported to have come very early in the morning to survey the area to assure themselves that the feeding program was for real! We ran out of rented chairs and could not get any to rent in the whole of the Kojonya community where the program was held, forcing us to go for benches and other types of chairs for the children. An hour before the official start of the program, which was held under the theme, JESUS - OUR BREAD OF LIFE!, we had 200 rural children on our hands to feed with both spiritual and physical food!
Naturally, I started panicking! How could we possibly feed all these needy children? And we were still counting! Just then, definitely by divine intervention, a volunteer stepped up unto the platform where the musical instruments were and started singing: "We serve a Miracle working God who never fails!"
Immediately, the spirit of panic left me and I dashed down to where the cooks were. I asked the chief volunteer cook if we have enough to feed all the children. She reported they had noticed the situation and had reduced the size of the fried chicken by half, thereby creating 300 pieces! Thankfully she confirmed also there was going to be enough rice for all, if the intended por
tions were also reduced by half! Thank you Father, I exclaimed silently! Half a portion is better than no portion a
t all! I tried to convince myse
lf!
It turned out to be a
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The Daily Jot supported ministry in Ghana feeds, clothes and provides clean water for hundreds of children |
first-tim
e experience for the 200 children. Many of these had never eaten fried rice! They were treated to a popular nutritious local drink called SOBOLO, made out of the hibiscus flower. They also had popcorn and a received donations of clothing. Our regular musical chairs and dancing competitions were held and the winners were presented with Bibles. At the tail end of the program, majority of the children took decisions to accept Christ and were invited to attend church. These were given summarized lessons about the Old and New Testaments. They learned there are 66 books in the Bible, with 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New.
The need for them to have their own Bibles and carry them at all times was emphasized. We had a head count of the children who had Bibles and it turned out only a handful of them had bibles. Well over 150 had no Bibles. We promised to organize Bibles for distribution to them.
As usual, I observed four developments that greatly humbled me and brought tears to my eyes! First, the portions of meals were obviously not enough for some of the children! Secondly, many did not have popcorn to eat and were openly disappointed! Thirdly, when we assembled to have a group photograph, scores of children came over to cling to me, and will not let go; making me almost fall down! I had to control the tears welling up in my eyes! Lastly, after it all, a small boy aged about four walked to me and pointed out to something on a table somewhere.
It was another child's pair of shoes! I checked his name on the register of names, asked a volunteer to find out where he came from, and promised to bring him a pair of shoes! How can I ever fail to deliver on this promise? Meanwhile, I am still thinking about how to address the overwhelming food needs of the children, with a regular monthly, if not weekly, feeding program for at least a year! This is my newest burden I have chosen to carry, so help me God!
Against above backdrop, we have purposed to have follow up activities to help establish the children in local churches, give them Bibles, supply some of their personal needs and win them and many more away from the reach or influence of Islam, traditionalist and other pagan and oppressive religions!
Hopefully, with a rippling effect and impact on our target children and rural communities, we would make a profound mark on rural Ghana with the feeding program! On the whole we had two local rural churches and two local NGOs supporting the program with children they bused to the venue, biblical literature and volunteers! To God be the Glory for a power-filled program like this!
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The Daily Jot is totally reader supported. My wife, Chris, and I do not take a salary or receive any
remuneration for this work. Your gifts go directly to assisting us in maintaining this column, the website, outreach, and the Lord's work we do in Ghana, West Africa. Thank you for your prayers and support.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day,
Bill Wilson
The Daily Jot
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