Monday; December 4

A lot of us have received CPR training. It has become so common and the process is so simple that even many of our teens are even trained. I am glad we are educating our people on these life-saving measures, but one thing we must remember is that the process is not always successful. I know some people who have been saved by CPR, but the vast majority of attempts do not bring people back to life. Depending on who you reference, the general consensus is that less than 25% of the efforts are successful. However – and this is a big “however” – a lower success rate should not deter us from trying. We never know which of the people we work on will make it, so we need to try!

As I thought about the CPR process, it got me to thinking about evangelism. Sure, more often than not the people we teach won’t respond to the gospel, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. We should make our best effort to preach Jesus and see what happens. Our focus shouldn’t be on “conversion rates”, rather it should be on doing what we are supposed to be doing. When Jesus commissioned His disciples He said, ”Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16). He didn’t command that we save people, He told us to preach and teach – and let them accept or reject the teaching.

Let’s not get discouraged when our efforts don’t work out the way they hope they will. Eventually, whether it is in CPR or evangelism, someone will be saved and that will give us the confidence to keep trying.

Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday; November 29

The biblical story of the Good Samaritan has changed our world. Notice I didn’t say that it had change religion or even Christianity, it has influenced the world. There are very few people who don’t know the moral of Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan. In fact, the phrase has become a common description of everyday people doing good to their neighbors. While Jesus’ parable from Luke 10 shares several spiritual lessons, one of the most practical is that good can be done by anyone. You don’t have to be a church official to do good, it is not only possible for each one of us to help, it is required of all of us. If a Samaritan can be good, so can we! After presenting the parable, Jesus asked the man who had originally asked the question about being a good neighbor which character in the story was a good neighbor, “… he said, ‘The one who showed mercy toward him.’” at which point, the discussion from theoretical to personal, “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do the same.’” (Luke
Read more

Thursday; January 12

The other day I was watching a television show that used a rather common term applied to overcoming challenges. When organizations experience unexpected setbacks – especially when they lose key people – they rely upon the concept of “Next Man Up”. In essence, when our starters (or stars) go down, effective organizations rely upon their next levels to step into the vacancy. While this is an effective response, have we given much thought as to how we prepare to be the “next people up”? First, we must know our job. Even when we aren’t the primary players, we need to be preparing ourselves to be ready when we get the opportunity to shine. Second, we must do our best when we get the chance. Knowledge is important but what turns potential into talent is effort. Yet, maybe the most underappreciated aspect of this concept is a willingness avoid excuse-making and whining about the unfairness of our situation. When we complain about the circumstances that caused the need for replacements
Read more

Monday; September 25

When I was a youngster, I remember hearing about this thing called the Generation Gap. I was a little bit too young to be active in the social movements of the 1960s, but I do remember listening to the challenges the generations were experiencing way back then. Interestingly, now that I have been on both sides of the aging process, I have to admit that the Gap of the 1960s was nothing new. With the development of each generation comes conflict. The young people don’t feel like the older people understand them and the older folks tend to believe their input is being underappreciated. Too often trust is the casualty when two generations collide. The sad thing is that it doesn’t have to be this way. When we can capture the innovation and energy of the younger folks and harness the wisdom of those who have been around for a while we can develop a winning combination. No, we won’t always see things eye-to-eye nor will we necessarily speak the same emotional language, but when we app
Read more