A Sunday’s Drive

I wasn’t in church yesterday morning, a rare oddity for me. I was actually travelling on vacation after performing a wedding for some lifelong friends in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday night. While driving, I was once more struck with the overwhelming number of Americans who are not involved in church….and this is in good old Alabama, the buckle of the Bible Belt. I have opined on this subject before, but it bears repeating again and again….we need something along the lines of a great spiritual awakening to happen again!

I don’t know all the answers about how to bring this about. There are the obvious; prayer, fasting, repentance, the usual precursors of revival. Yet I think we tend to stop there because those things work…..on us! We get changed, revived, and feel as if we have accomplished something…and we have!

However, to really change our culture, to see people come to Jesus, we are going to have to take the next step and do what my great friend Luther Quinly calls, “engaging people in spiritual conversations.” In case you don’t know him, Luther has been one more successful pastor. He has built great works everywhere he has ever been and has seen hundreds of people won to Christ. He’s a great role model for any pastor to follow!

Luther and I both officiated the wedding, so we had time to talk and I was moved by his analysis. I agree wholeheartedly. We must get our lives turned, on fire, dedicated to Christ. Following that, we must once more enter our lost world with the intent of engaging people with Christ…not shoving Him at them, but leading them to Him. For years I have called these “divine appointments.” Let’s start looking for them again. He’ll make them for us….it’s up to us to keep them!

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