We've lost the color in the picture

When we think about the power the church has in the world today do we wonder why the world doesn't seem to be embracing our message? I submit the reason we are ineffective as a whole is because we as a church don't have a clear picture of who God is. We tell people that they need God, but the God we present is not the almighty omniscient omnipresent lover of our souls the world would respond to if He were actually visible in our lives. I contend that if we gave ourselves completely over to experience a true encounter with our Father the world would be drawn to Him because of it.

I have a dear brother in the Lord that reconnected with me several months ago (after not seeing each other for more than 10 years) by wandering into my sales center to (what he thought) view a home. He knew that he couldn't qualify for financing because he was out of work. He was just driving by and felt led to pull into the parking lot to see a house. When I greeted him at the door he recognized me instantly. After 10 years he looked much different, he used to have dreadlocks now he had short hair. His first instinct was to give me a big hug. It kind of caught me off guard since I was still searching my memory banks for recognition of who he was. Then he told me of a day about 12 years ago, after his sister was murdered, when he wandered into the church I was a member of. He spoke of how he had no expectations of an encounter with God. He just attended because he was hurt and without answers. He said I was the first person he spotted when he came in as worship was proceeding. When he looked at me what struck him was the look of peace and joy on my face as tears streamed from my eyes while experiencing the sweet presence of the Fathers love. He understood for the first time ever that Christ is real and Christianity is not a religion but rather a relationship with a loving, kind God.

It is amazing to think that after all those years, God would show me that what moved him to enter into his own relationship with God was that there was color in the picture of my faith.

As we draw near to the heart of the Father we begin to feel the love He has for us. We begin to understand the passion He has for us and we are moved by it. When the world sees how His love moves us they begin to see a reality that before was hidden from them. Maybe we as a church are missing the color in the picture. Maybe we are drawing the picture way too small. My prayer is that God would reveal the depth of His love in new experiiences of it to all who read this. That our fresh experience of the Father's love would lead to a passion to draw nearer to Him and that the world would see the reality of His love on our faces!