This week I read about a worship team that was meeting together, planning for upcoming services. They discussed using a certain song at the end of the service to encourage people to come forward and pray. But one woman on the team said that she didn’t want to use that song, because if she came down and prayed during it, “I wouldn’t want people to think I have a problem.”
But see, that’s a problem right there, isn’t it? If we want people to think that we are here at church because we don’t have any problems; that we are here because we are such good people, then we’ve missed the whole point of Christianity! We are not here in church because we are so good and all “those others” out there aren’t. We’ve got to realize that we are only here by the grace of God! Romans 5:20 reminds us of that:
“The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”
This is such an amazing verse, which teaches us that although we are super sinners, God has a grace that is even greater. He has “Super Grace For Super Sinners.” Continue reading
On the coastline of Japan, by the little village of Aneyoshi, is an ancient stone tablet. Engraved on this tablet is a somber warning: “Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not build any homes beyond this point.” In 2011, as you may remember, a great tsunami did indeed strike the coast of Japan. Every home in Aneyoshi, built above that warning marker, survived — unlike thousands of others along the coast who ignored that warning, and over 29,000 people were killed when the tsunami struck. The people of Aneyoshi wisely listened to the ancient warning, and were saved.
