The Cemetery or Children?

I was just listening to a sermon by Perry Noble and he made the statement, "There are churches that have more money in their cemetery fund than in their youth fund." That's not a word for word quote and his sermon was not focused on bashing churches, but it made me think. This past summer, my job was the keep my church's grass cut. The hardest part was cutting in the cemetery because dodging gravestones isn't fun and weed eating around them is even worse.

Once you spend hours in a cemetery you start to think about how and where you want to be buried. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to be cremated because that would be one less gravestone for someone to mow around and its cheaper.

Back to the sermon, it was about how following Christ has nothing to do with being comfortable. It was an amazing sermon, you can click here to watch it or you can download it free from iTunes.

Every time, I mowed in the cemetery I wondered how many of those people's names were written in the Book of Life and how many were going to spend an eternity in Hell. Yeah, I said it. More importantly, the Bible says it. Revelation 20:15, 1 Tim. 2:5-6, Romans 6:23... There are so many other verses, but those came to mind first.

Sometimes, I question my belief in Hell. Because it seems to me that if I truly believed it existed, I would be doing more about it. You may be thinking, "I thought that is what you are doing." Have you ever really wanted to do something, but all you did was the opposite? I'm sure none of you have ever wanted to lose weight, but all you could think about was eating or excuses not to exercise. If you've been "churched," in your head you're quoting Paul when he said, "For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." Romans 7:18b. I hope you aren't thinking, it's OK Paul struggled with sin too.

Last week we visited a church and a friend told me the pastor said that they were thinking about making the wall that surrounded the property taller to keep people from a certain religion out. I almost fell out when I heard that. It was easy for me to think this guy was being outrageous and un-Biblical, but I think too many of us, especially me, already have invisible walls up. Life begins to get uncomfortable when we start to pray for God to remove our comfort blinders. I really think a good judge of whether or not you're in God's will is your comfort level. Let's don't confuse peace and comfort. You can have peace, but not be comfortable. Ex: Not that I know from experience, but childbirth doesn't seem too comfortable; however, I hope for believers that there is peace knowing you're about to deliver a gift from God. It's uncomfortable, but God's will. I bet a few mothers just laughed at that one. I know I have a lot to learn.

Most of the lessons I've learned in life are a result of uncomfortable situations. One incident without T.P. and you'll never make that mistake again. Right now, I've never been so uncomfortable, but I'm learning daily and needing Him more and more.

I really like the end of 1 Thessalonians, it says, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."

This is a picture of us dancing on the job. It was really tricky for me because we had to walk, turn, and clap at the same time. I never got it right. Also, I hope you can notice how much bigger we are than everyone else.