I can no longer in good conscience continue to write about the stuff of this world and how it will make our businesses better without first writing about the things of Heaven and how desperately we need to return to being about these things and not that stuff.
My friends, our predicament reminds me of a passage in the Bible: “Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowds to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.” (Acts 14:19-20, NLT)
They came after him because why?
We got into this industry because of the transforming power of Jesus Christ and the impact it had on each and every one of our hearts. We certainly didn’t come into this industry to become wealthy by the world’s standards.
We came into it with zeal to change lives. In this, this type of posture doesn’t sit well with the opposing forces of the Kingdom of God.
So, the battle was on and now, here we sit. Or in some cases, here we lay upon the ground appearing dead. But, do you see what happened next to Paul? He preached the Good News and made many disciples.
My friends, do you feel like you’ve been stoned and dragged out of the city? Do you feel like you’re dead?
You may have remained steadfast all along, yet still you find yourself apparently dead. You may have lost your way at some point and perhaps were the ones who unknowingly cast the first stone, only sadly missing the fact that your very self was the target, and so you, too, find yourself lying there apparently dead.
Whichever the case, it’s not important how you found yourself apparently dead upon the ground. But do you notice what Verse 20 says? It says, “But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town that he was dragged out of and left for dead.”
I believe it’s time that we gather and get back up to then return to our cities with that same zeal to worship God and preach the gospel. But no longer on our own…now together as one.
Gunnar Simonsen
(To see Gunnar's full column in Retailers + Resources magazine, register for a free subscription to the digital magazine.)
Amen!
Posted by: Jean Hall | July 23, 2011 at 01:02 PM
Thank you Gunner for reminding us of who He is and what our purpose is
Posted by: Saltshakerbooks | July 24, 2011 at 05:18 AM
All sentences are about a little something or another person. The a little something or anyone that the sentence is about is called the topic on the sentence. From your blog, I see that, and study a thing I'd like. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: UGG Boots | July 26, 2011 at 08:27 PM
That little book by Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, brings your topic back to me again and again. Whatever we do, absolutely whatever we do, we must practice God's presence in it---in our doing and in our being. When we do that, we make another of Paul's statements come true in our lives: we discover that moment by moment, action by action, we can do all things, i.e., we can do whatever it is that we do, through Christ. That way, all of life is preaching and all of life is worship.
It's easy to fall back into letting "stuff" be "stuff" and God be pushed aside. But, it's worth so much more to bring God into every part of life and live through Christ in every moment.
Posted by: Linda Pirkle | August 02, 2011 at 08:28 AM
Thanks for inspiring and encouraging us, God bless you
Posted by: Philadelphia House | January 10, 2012 at 11:04 AM