Rather than posting daily, I am lucky if I manage to get something out there once a month. I guess that will have to do until I start thinking of more interesting things to blog about. As far as this particular entry, I hope you will be as blown away as I am.
Tonight was our vision event at Newspring. It's something Perry does annually to pump up the volunteers and motivate us to keep investing our time and energy into what God is doing through our church. Tonight's message addressed the fact that we sometimes feel crazy as followers of Jesus. We get pumped up, try to tell people about what we are seeing, and they don't understand. They think we have "lost our dang minds".
Honestly, this is something that I struggle with a lot. I will get absolutely fired up about Jesus and all of the miracles He is performing...then as soon as I get the opportunity to tell someone about it, I back off and assume they won't understand or won't be as excited as I am (especially if they are not Jesus followers themselves).
To explain this, Perry used the story of Jesus turning the water into wine. When it was brought to Jesus' attention that the wine was gone (God forbid- literally), He instructed the servants to fill the water jugs. In order to do this, they had to have faith that Jesus knew what He was doing. They had to practice blind obedience, trusting that He would deliver. When Jesus performed the miracle, who do you think was most blown away? The servants or the people at the party? Of course the servants!! They were pumped up because not only had they witnessed a miracle, but they participated in the miracle!! They understood just how amazing it was! It is the same way today. When we witness a miracle that we are active participants in, of course we are going to get excited about it. Others may acknowledge the miracle, but they can never fully understand unless they have invested themselves in it.
That's why it's so important for Newspring volunteers to stay motivated and never give up! We are actively participating in a HUGE miracle right now!! THOUSANDS of people are going to be in heaven because of what Jesus is doing through our church. You know the best part?? There are still thousands more to go! Perry announced tonight that we are going to launch three more campuses in Spartanburg, Myrtle Beach, AND Greenwood! I am so excited!!
I am so thankful to be a part of something like this. A few years ago, I never would have thought that I would be one of THOSE people. You know, the people who spend Friday nights at church "vision events". The kind of people that are late for family events because they have to teach children about Jesus. Lastly, I never thought I would be one of those people who knows Jesus. I can remember back to the seventh grade when I went to FCA meetings just to get out of sitting in the cafeteria. During the prayer, I would look around at everyone and feel so different from them. I envied what they had, but I didn't know how to get there. I thought being a Christian was just something some people were born with. I never imagined that Jesus would intervene when He did, changing my life completely at the age of 18 years old.
That's why I get so pumped about this church. Miracles are happening every day, and I am one of the servants who gets to be a participant and a witness. Why shouldn't I be absolutely blown away? He saved my life!! If that makes me crazy, then yes. I am crazy about a God who still performs miracles!!
