Welcome, friends, to Mid-Morning University, or as I affectionately refer to it: MMU. In October it hit me how much I learn on Mid-Morning (it really is like being in college with amazingly qualified professors...and the best part is it's tuition-free). That realization is what led to the birth of this weekday blog, minus the ice chips and epidural. Every Monday through Friday, I'll write about something I learned on that day's Mid-Morning.
And so it begins!
Today's guest was Gregg Matte, pastor of Houston's First Baptist Church and author of Finding God's Will. I said "Wow!" numerous times while reading it, and for good reason: Gregg stripped away my tunnel vision view of God's will as ginormous future choices to be discerned, and helped me to see it as a process to live out.
But here's the Fix Your Thoughts on This (Philippians 4:8) insight for me:
"The goal of the Bible is not to make the earth a better place to go to hell from."
Go back and read that again.
Poverty, The abuse of power. Homelessness. Hunger. These things break my heart and compelled me to get involved in a ministry to help people desperately in need. Jesus says this is important to Him, and so it's important to me. But I mustn't forget that while I'm striving to make the world, which is temporary, a better place, love also compels me to tell others about the good news of relationship with Jesus. Gregg Matte writes, "Eternity without Jesus is a terrible, permanent sentence. As Christians...we help people...go to heaven."
Do I sometimes use acts of kindness in place of talking to people about Jesus because I'm afraid or feel incompetent? If I'm being honest, then the answer is, yes, I do. Today's MM is a direct, yet gentle, reminder that I can speak up, trusting God to accomplish His desire to save people. Why can I trust God in these moments? Because, as Gregg Matte says, "God's will always has God's power, His provision and requires God."
My head hurts. That's a lot to take in during one hour.
What about you? What did you learn today? I'd love to hear from you.
Tomorrow it's our "Win One, Give One" book give away. What can I possibly learn from giving away books? I have a feeling we're all in for a surprise.
Lynne,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to thank you for the way you handled the gentleman caller who stated that a previous woman caller in an abusive situation has no right to seek a divorce. I thought that your statement that sometimes we focus more on the sacredness of marriage than the wellbeing of a person was spot on, and it made me think. Pastor Matte's response was helpful as well.
I love listening to WBCL, and this blog looks like a great idea. I do have one suggestion - the font is fun, but rather difficult to read (and I'm a 20-something with good reading eyes). Just thought I'd give you the heads-up on that.
Thanks for all you do!
Jen