We ARE the CHURCH !!!!!

I got up a little before five this morning to give some young men some encouragement:  our fellas who play football at Penn State.  A rally was planned by a local radio station as these boys were headed for practice this morning.  Hundreds of other people were up early as well and it was great to see people concerned for these young men and some teary but appreciative eyes amongst the players and people.  As I was walking back to my car and near Beaver Stadium I was thinking how the detestable actions of one man have hurt thousands of people associated with the university and the team they love. Sounds vaguely familar to Scripture, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Rom.5:12).  That man, as we know was Adam, and yet thankfully, the answer to all our society’s ills is the second Adam: Jesus !!     As Paul triumphantly goes on to explain: “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ” (5:17).

We are still all reeling by the effects of that first sin in Eden, and in like manner what a child predator did reverberates in our community with consequences that hurt us still and will likely for years to come.  I mentioned to our church I have tried to see Mr. Sandusky in jail and will continue to seek to gain permission to do so because the gospel is what he needs to change his heart.   Such tragedies should be a lesson to us all that we have a job to do as Christians, namely to share the Word of God with sinners, for it is powerful and can transform a child abuser into a child advocate just as it turned a great persecutor of the church into a great apostle in Paul !   We must get serious about the Great Commission which Christ left us with and check societal decay with the everlasting gospel, there is no time to waste or dally with what we want to get done in our lives but instead we must be active in getting what He wants done through our lives.   Afraid? Join the club of the apostles and pray for boldness as they did,  Too busy? Yes you are, reprioritize and stop with the excuses already,  load yourself up with some tracts, memorize some Scriptures, set some goals and have a plan to DO IT, for there are child molesters and movie theater shooters who need to be saved, and God is counting on YOU to help change some hearts out there !!    So let me give you some encouragement today, just as people today were chanting: We ARE PENN STATE and even greater phrase needs to be screamed out through our lives:  We ARE the CHURCH !!!!

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