The Bridegroom of the Church

This Sunday evening I will marry the love of my life, Erin. And no words will ever suffice in explaining how deep my love is for her. She is one incredible godly woman; I’m one blessed guy. But things are certainly changing around my pad. Her tastes, as well as some of her stuff, have preceded her. The walls of my tiny townhome have been painted light blue and sea green. Most of my stuff has been shipped to goodwill (who knew that you couldn’t use a sleeping bag as a bedspread?). I now house a hairdryer of mass destruction in my bathroom. Little knickknacks are everywhere.

My one holdout is the only wall-hanging that I had - a gigantic set of bull’s horns that reside proudly above my kelly green sofa. I have a feeling, though, that they will come down the day following the honeymoon.

But the change is obviously for the better - I couldn’t ask for a better bride. Erin is my anchor. She is a great encourager and the most beautiful person I have ever laid eyes on, inside and out. And she loves Jesus with all her heart.

The ties of marriage are strong, for two become one flesh. Christ used this analogy to demonstrate his relationship to the church. He is the bridegroom, the church his bride, bound together for eternity. He was the sacrifice, so that she might live. Our society, in general, views marriage too flippantly. Neither should the church take lightly Christ’s relationship with her. With almost 150,000 people leaving the church weekly and fewer evangelistic churches out there, one cannot but conclude that many are not grasping the atonement of Jesus Christ for his bride

I pray that my marriage with Erin will mirror what Christ did for his church. It is what I as a soon-to-be husband am called to do. It is my prayer as well that the church will experience a revival change, that people who are teetering on exiting will come to see the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And that those who don’t know him will call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.

*For obvious reasons, I will be out of the blogosphere until the week after my honeymoon. I will resume blogging twice a week or so starting the second week in January.

Giving the Gift of the Gospel

The voicemail on my cell phone yesterday did not bode well. It was Eric, and he simply stated that I needed to call him back. I had been praying hard for his grandfather, who was not doing well after heart surgery. The abrupt nature of the message left me thinking the worst. I quickly called him back.

“Eric, it’s Sam. What’s up?”
“Sam, thanks for calling me back. You’re not going to believe this!”

His tone lifted my spirits and replaced the knot in my throat with a twinge of hope.

“Is everything ok?”
“Sam, I led my grandfather to Christ this morning.”

The knot in my throat came back, but this time the tears that began to well in my eyes were ones of joy. His breath was short with excitement, but he told me the details of his morning. He had received a call from his grandmother at 5AM. She told Eric to come to the hospital immediately. His grandfather’s heart had softened, and he wanted to know about Jesus. He rushed out of the house, only to be stopped in traffic early in the morning. An accident had shut down the entire interstate. He sat in his car for two grueling hours.

“Satan tried everything to keep me from the hospital, but I was determined to get there,” Eric said.

I could sense the tears in his eyes; I was on the verge of weeping myself. Traffic eventually cleared. Upon arriving, he hurried into his grandfather’s room. He detailed how he used Romans 10 to share the gospel message with his grandfather. He communicated the entire message. His grandfather’s repentance and acceptance of God’s grace Eric knew to be genuine.

“Sam, we were praying for physical healing. And God gave him eternal healing.”

My good friend was obedient to the Great Commission. The fact that most accept Christ before their mid-thirties clearly did not weigh on his mind as he shared the greatest gift with his grandfather.

While his grandfather has much physical healing left, he now has a new heart, one that he can credit to the grace of God and the obedience of his grandson, my friend Eric.

As we celebrate this Christmas season, opening gifts and spending time with our families, let’s take a moment to reflect on the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ. He came humbly, so that we might be saved eternally.

“Dude, I’m so stoked, I can hardly think straight,” Eric cheered.
I smiled on the other end of the phone, “Praise God, Eric, praise God.”

“Merry Christmas, my man.”
“Merry Christmas to you too.”

The Church of Champions

Last Saturday my two younger brothers, my future brother-in-law, and my two best friends and I engaged in the ‘Tournament of Champions.’ The competition consisted of go-carts, laser tag, air hockey, putt-putt, and pop-a-shot. A scoring matrix was derived for each game. The group had concocted this day-long event for my bachelor party. And it was quite a catharsis to act like I was twelve again, though my fiancé might say that I act in such a way more often than I will admit.

The competition was intense, but despite the intensity of everyone we were able to catch up on life’s events. I asked my friends about their churches and what they were doing in their local body. One of my good friends, ‘Jon,’ reluctantly answered that he had not attended church in quite some time. I was somewhat taken aback because Jon was raised in the church and had attended a Christian school. He proclaimed to be born-again. I asked Jon why he had stopped attending his local church. He curtly responded with some guilt, “I just don’t feel connected any more.”

I thought to myself, if Jon (and others like him) could be as intense about his involvement with the local church as he is with our silly Tournament of Champions, then the church would be alive with evangelical energy. Unfortunately, many within this young adult age bracket are rapidly leaving the church.

Our entire crew that Saturday is in their early to mid twenties (though I am now about to push into the late twenties). And this age group has much intensity and energy that could be directed at ministries within the church. LifeWay Research recently conducted a study on why young adults age 18-34 fall away from the church. This study showed that the overarching theme with their departure is that they feel the church is no longer relevant to them, that the connection is lost once they graduate high school.

This research shows that the greatest need within the young adult generation is building relationships and connecting with one another. Additionally, this group is searching for the Truth, yet they do not want to be mollycoddled every Sunday morning. They are seeking a challenge. And they value the journey of finding things out for themselves. My friend Jon loves a challenge, and he is one who truly wants to make a difference in other people’s lives.

The church should be greatly encouraged by the fact that young adults are ready for ‘reality.’ And we should be seeking to train and disciple them, place them in pertinent leadership roles, and hold them accountable. When the bar is set high and excellence is demanded, then the church will attract and keep those who truly seek to assimilate and make a difference in ministry.

We are not competing for the souls of the lost. Rather, we are in battle. The apostle Paul states in Ephesians 6 that we are called to stand firm. The body of believers needs those who will champion the gospel message, those who will share their faith unwaveringly.

The church needs relevant and exciting energy to reach those who do not know Christ. While a person of any age can certainly provide such characteristics, there is an entire younger generation that is walking away from the church because they feel their contributions are not highlighted. Churches that recapture this young adult group will certainly see an increase in those who desire to be Champions for Christ, winning an entire generation for Jesus.