I'm sitting in the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, where my flight has been delayed by at least three hours. I remember the days when I thought that the idea of traveling so much was glamorous. A person gets over that idea quickly once he begins to do it. I love being in churches and speaking to groups in so many places, but have pretty much come to hate airports.
I'm returning from Proctorville, Ohio, where I have been speaking since Sunday morning. Pastor Jeff Black, Pastor Mike Smith and the other staff are really excited about the message. It was great to be with these kindred spirits who are so strong and mature in the message of the grace walk. Churches with pastors who teach the pure grace of God often don't know how blessed they are. If you, like FBC of Proctorville, are blessed with such a pastor, I hope you don't take it for granted. One of the most frequent inquiries we get in our office is, "Where can I find a pastor who is teaching this message?" It isn't as common as you might think to find pastors who don't water down the gospel with legalistic teachings.
I spoke to one lady this week who really blessed and encouraged me. Eloise came up to me after the service two nights ago and described how "the light came on" after she read Grace Walk. She is 78 years old and said, "I can't believe I've gone all my life without knowing this, but I am so glad to know it now!" She continued, "I walked around my house for three days, saying out loud, 'I get it, Lord! I get it! You've done it all!'" She said, "I live alone, except for my little dog. I couldn't stop saying out loud, "I get it!' and every time I would, my dog would look at me like he was thinking, 'I don't know what you're doing. I can tell you're not talking to me, but I don't know what you're doing."
I understand Eloise, don't you? I often tell people that I caught "grace rabies" in 1990 and have never recovered from it. I love sharing this message. I love seeing people like Eloise experience transformation when the Holy Spirit causes the light to come on.
A grace revolution is underway, my friends, and Eloise proves that we're never too old to get in on it!
Hey Steve...I'm in Rock Hill, SC. Not 30 minutes away from you.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are enlightening people to the REAL Good News! I had a revelation of Grace a while back, but fear and misunderstanding of scripture kept me from committing myself to trusting in Jesus Christ alone. Our Church had taught "balance".
It isn't legalistic to the average Christian...we wear casual clothes and some people smoked right outside our building. But there are still hints of control and legalism I sense. Comments like, "I don't want to get in front of Jesus on judgment day and be one of the ones that He tells 'I never knew you' or 'if you had only done this or had only done that'.
Comments like that make me very irritated. I wanted to ask him if he really believed the Gospel or if he is trusting in what he does for Jesus rather than what Jesus has done for him.
Steve,
ReplyDeleteBeing in Charlotte, North Carolina, I thought of Billy Graham, who I believe has lived there for many years. I like your story from "God's Favorite Child" where you talk about running toward Jesus in Heaven and He runs right past you to the next guy and exclaims, "Billy Graham---I'm so glad to see you!" Funny, but also a good illustration of how we tend to think . . .
I like your story of the elderly woman, Eloise. My experience was pretty similar after first reading "GraceWalk" several years ago. I have also bought a number of copies for various friends, and I believe the lightbulb turned on in their heads as well. It did take a while for some of my learning of the GraceWalk to go from head knowledge to heart belief, however. I had believed so many lies for so many years!
Anyway, thanks for enlightening many people to the truth!
Hope you made it home safely.
Mark
Steve:
ReplyDeleteI've decided that something almost as bad as airports is convention hotels. Everything is enormously overpriced and they do stuff like block wireless signals in the room unless you pay a fee. The place I'm staying now is in a city with free wireless to the entire populace… unless you stay at this hotel, and then it cost ten bucks per day. To get free wireless access I have to go to the lobby and mill around with the other ‘geeks’. If you’re there at the right time you might find a place to sit that doesn’t require that you buy something to stay there…
Glad your Proctorville trip went well
Grace and Peace,
Mike T
In Tennessee
PS I'm in the lobby now.. Have a great seat. Hope you made it home OK.
good post.
ReplyDeleteGod be with you, always...
even in airports. :-)