Random Thoughts and Prayers

[Michael Parnell]

I'm just sitting here reading the Word and praying and a number of thoughts are entering my mind and spirit. I am not a "party pooper". I like sports, I pull for the Lamar Silver Foxes, I am a Gamecock fan through and through. I don't hunt anymore, but I enjoy hearing about my son, who is now an avid hunter, bagging the big buck, usually several a season; I am passionate about music, both playin

g it and listening to it; I believe in having good, clean fun and having a zest and enjoyment for life, and I am thankful for so many rich blessings, but most of all for God making it possible for me to have a relationship with Him, through His Son, Jesus Christ.

As I sit and think about these things, my heart breaks for this country and more particularly for the Church and those called by His name. I begin to pray:

* I pray Christians would get as excited about Christ as they do about their favorite football team.
* I pray Christians would get as committed to Christ as they do about getting in the woods to hunt or on the lake to fish.
* I pray Christians would stop glorifying the unfruitful works of darkness especially during certain seasons, like Halloween, by frequenting the haunted hills, or some other demon-inspired activity, and glorify the Lord and return to His Holy House.
* I pray Christians would turn off the worldly, sometimes vulgar, music they listen to, and turn on spiritual songs that would build them up and draw them to worship God.
* I pray Christians would be less confrontational and demonstrative over a bad call by a referee and more passionate about defending the rights of the unborn.
* I pray that people would stop being cultural and social Christians and become Biblical Christians.

The list goes on and on. It's not enough to hold a biblical position on life; WE MUST DEMONSTRATE A BIBLICAL APPROACH TO LIVING. Are we, as Christians (or at least those who profess it), really as concerned about our children and families, our community, and ultimately our country as what we profess we are. The evidence would seem to say that we are not. We profess, but do not possess.

You see, it doesn't disturb me so much that sinners act like sinners. That's what sinners are supposed to do. When I was lost in sin, I carried on as a sinner.

But, what is disturbing is the number of professed Christians who still live like sinners and have no conviction over it. Living for Christ has always meant the same thing: commitment and self-sacrifice, dying to self and dying to the world. By absorbing the values of the larger culture, the church in America, for the most part, has neglected its responsibility. The American church has accumulated the cultural baggage of four centuries.

However, I am optimistic, and I am also praying that Christians are going to return to their First Love! The Bible says that in the last days there would be a great falling away in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. But, that same Bible says in Acts 2:17 that "...it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I WILL POUR OUT OF MY SPIRIT upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:"

I pray that as a Christian, you would not choose to be in the 2 Thessalonians 2:3 "falling away" group, but you would choose to be in the Acts 2:17 group. It is a choice and a choice that you must make.

I do not say these things to condemn, but I pray the Holy Spirit will convict us.

In His Love,
Pastor Mike