Some quotes from what I am reading...

I got an early Christmas gift - a book - Radical by David Platt.  I want to give a couple quotes that I have been struggling with and changing within the context of the church when it comes to those making a decision for Christ or maybe better said to Christ.  Here they are.

"So how do we respond to this gospel?
Suddenly contemporary Christianity sales pitches don't seem adequate anymore.
Ask Jesus to come into your heart.
Invite Jesus to come into your life.
Pray this prayer, sign this card, walk down this aisle, and accept Jesus as your personal Savior.
Our attempt to reduce this gospel to a shrink-wrapped presentation that persuades
someone to say or pray the right things back to us no longer seems appropriate.
That is why none of these man-made catch phrases are in the Bible.
You will not find a verse in Scripture where people are told to
'bow your heads, close your eyes, and repeat after me.'
You will not find a place where a superstitious sinner's prayer is even mentioned.
And you will not find an emphasis on accepting Jesus."

This has been my struggle.  I see so many who have made following Christ such a surface thing that maybe we have contributed to that action by not presenting Christ with biblical terms to see a more complete commitment.  David answers his question here.

"Biblical proclamation of the gospel beckons us to a much different response
and leads us down a much different road.
Here the gospel demands and enables us to turn from our sin,
to take up our cross, to die to ourselves, and to follow Jesus.
These are the terms and phrases we see in the Bible.
And salvation now consists of a deep wrestling in our souls with the sinfulness of our hearts,
the depth of our depravity, and the desperation of our need for his grace.
Jesus is no longer one to be accepted or invited in
but one who is infinitely worthy of our immediate and total surrender."

I present this invitation differently than I did in the past.  I lean on the phrases of the Bible to describe the commitment to God that we are leaning toward.  If we are asking people to ultimately sign up for a life in which we would risk our lives to know more of Him, then we need to present that from the get-go rather than emphasize what we are going to get.

Just some thoughts that are becoming practice.

Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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