Dear church...

Yesterday my pastor friend shared some news with me about the recent decline in adults being baptized in North America. He said the decline was not really an indication that people had stopped sharing their story of redemption with people but that records indicate it is directly linked with birthrates dropping in the church.

I drove home yesterday thinking about you church. I drove home thinking about the parts of you that I saw in Southeast Asia. How inspiring it was to see people actually cry when I asked them to share how they came to know Jesus. I realized I had become numb and had forgotten how blessed I was to have my heart wake up and understand that I am broken and that Christ is the piece I have needed to make me whole. My friend in the closed country I visited still remembered when the Jesus Film was dropped into her village by airplane and how the story changed her life. She sobbed for her mother and father who did not yet know you. I saw my mom cry over the knowledge that her mother (my grandma) was not in a relationship with Christ. I drove home broken-hearted for the church of north america.

I think Satan has distracted us from sharing our lives with our friends and neighbors. I think satan has gotten us discouraged from thinking we have something to share. I think Satan has gotten us divided from each other in our churches…we get so worked up over silly things. I got so encouraged by a student the other night who made a challenge with me to give up my iphone for 24 hours if she and another student would commit to sharing their faith with as many people as possible. She came up with that on her own.
I think we as the church have made other things our priority in this side of the world.
I don’t know what God will do with us during this interesting time of economic turmoil but I want to prioritize.

I am finding it a blessing to sit with about 15 other ministers in my church on a Wednesday morning and pray that God would break our hearts for those who don’t know you. We’re praying God would give us boldness to share. We’re praying that God would break the hearts of our church members to pray and share. And it is so refreshing to come together and lift our hearts as one to God.

So church, I know that God is at work in you and through you. I asked Him to show me while I was on sabbatical. Globally speaking, God is doing some amazing things…but North America my prayer is that we would shake our legs because we’ve been sitting way to long thinking someone else will do what we’re supposed to, and we’ve fallen asleep.

There is a murmur of “new things” and “movement” that I am hearing as I speak with friends and I see God calling up new leaders within our student ministry. And I know it doesn’t start with us, but those things…those heartbeats…those movements…they start with God. So God I pray today that you would wake up our churches in North America. That you would break our hearts for the things that matter. That you would teach us how to share about your salvation and remind us about the day you saved us. I ask this in your name Jesus and I praise you that You are up to something that we cannot see.

Amen.