Many of you know that Linda and I have been working at great pace to get our house ready for the market. Apparently, there are things we were willing to live with, but not willing to sell with! When we knew we would be listing our home, we evaluated the state of every aspect of our home – inside and out. We tried to look at our home from others’ eyes, which can be difficult when you have lived in a home for 15 years. You can overlook both benefits and drawbacks, because you are comfortable. Finally, looking at our home’s merits and flaws, we decided to make a list of projects and prioritize them. Unfortunately, we had one month of time and two months of list!! For better or worse our house is now on the market.
If you are wondering when the transition will come, wait for it, three … two … one …
My preparation for our house sale had me thinking of evangelism (there it is). We can be comfortable in our faith. Our faith can become like being in a well lived home. It meets our needs practically, emotionally or spiritually, but we don’t do the hard work of understanding it and honing it, such that we can effectively convey its wonderful truth to others. What do others see when they look at your faith?
This week I want to recommend a book for evangelism that is not about evangelism, at least you would never find it in the evangelism section of your local Christian bookstore. By most accounts, John Stott’s The Cross of Christ is the pinnacle of this man’s very fruitful decades-long ministry. I commend this book for evangelism because understanding what has been done for you, and who you are, in Christ is essential if you wish to communicate this to someone else. The old saying “you can’t give what you don’t have” has a lot of truth to it. If you want to be more effective at sharing the gospel, then you must know the gospel. Stott focuses on the centre of the gospel – the cross, and writes four parts: Approaching the cross; The heart of the cross; The achievement of the cross; and Living under the cross. His conclusion discusses the “pervasive influence of the cross”.
Driving in to work today Linda and I were very tired, but thankful that the house was ready to show. As I am writing this both agents and perspective buyers have been going through our home. Our efforts not only allowed us to present our house to buyers in a better manner, but we saw it with new eyes again ourselves. Although we are both looking forward to our move to Ilderton, we also feel thankful for another two months or so in our current home, and our seeing it like we never have before. I pray that you would understand Jesus and his gospel in a better, deeper way. So much so that you simply must tell!
Much love
Pastor Gary