The hope of the world

Today at the end of the day, my friend and pastor, Mike, asked if I had about 45 minutes, he wanted me to come to his office and watch something. It was a video of a message by Bill Hybels from one of Willow Creek's conferences. The message was an inspirational message about what the Acts 2 church was like, and what if that kind of church existed today. There's no reason it can't, he said. You just have to watch it to get it, I'm nowhere near doing it justice. Toward the end of it, he talked about two things: the church is, logically, the hope of the world; and when the church is functioning right, there is nothing like it this side of heaven. He talked about the joys and the pains of ministry, the highs that are higher than anything you can ever experience, and the hard times that are just devastating. I've seen more than a few people go through those lows and decide to quit the church. They decide the pain is just too great, the sacrifice too costly. Many of them eventually come back, praise God, but today's message just reinforced to me the burden that Christ has. Christ's goal in the current time period, between his first and second comings, is to build his church, AKA the kingdom. He has given all that he has and is, devoted himeslf to us, his people. No matter how messy it got, Christ was faithful, and completed his mission. He's given us direction to follow in His footsteps. How dangerous! Yet how honoring, that we would be able to join the God of all in His mission. That is the kind of passion that drives a man like Bill Hybels and other leaders of the church today. I found myself praying that God would build in me that intimacy with Him, and that heart of undying committment and love to Him and to his Bride. Christ is the hope of the world, and his chosen vessel to convey it across the world is the church.r


Different topic, I have traffic court tomorrow. I am really hoping that God shows up and works grace and mercy in the situation. At a stop light, I accidentally let off the brake enough that the truck I was driving at the time (an F550 when I worked at the county) crept foward and struck the car in front of me. I was going less than 1 MPH. The cop showed up like 3 hours later and gave me a four point ticket for careless driving. It felt a little harsh, so I'm praying that grace will be shown, the easiest thing would probably be of the officer didn't show up. Please Lord, let me off the hook, it was the tiniest error!