Galatians
5:22-26
“But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no
law. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the sinful nature with its passions
and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
On Sunday,
October 21 I attended the local church in Backdoor. This was our third visit to
the church and usually there weren’t many more white people besides us.
However, this Sunday when I walked in things were different. Every seat was
already full, and I would say that a quarter of the church was white. I
wondered what was going on, but no one from our team really knew.
It was about
halfway through the service when I found out what was up. Pastor Vance along
with his friend Will were visiting from Atlanta. Pastor Vance heads the Atlanta
Revival Center and has been preaching since twenty years old. Both men had been
in Nelspruit along with the well-know Pastor Surprise to be in attendance at an
empowerment conference.
Pastor Vance
and Will both preached in Backdoor and gave out 20 bicycles to 20 neighboring
pastors. They did this due to Pastor Surprises’ vision in his book “A Voice in
the Night,” and Will’s confirmation weeks after reading the book that he should
address this need in the community. It was a super awesome ceremony as the
pastors circled up front to receive their new bikes!
(Pastor Vance and I) (Pastor Surprise and I)
These two
guys seemed pretty cool, so I talked to them after the service. I got to know about their backgrounds and families. We were cut short by time, but we
would reunite quickly. At 3PM there was another service in an Iris church in
Nelspruit. Pastor Vance preached and it was one of the most impactful services
I have attended.
Pastor Vance
talked about the river. The river of life that all Christians desire to be in.
The river that never runs dry. The river that never has droughts. The river
that never has a dry season. He talked about things that caused believers to
step out of the river. One of those things is criticism. Believers act in the
weirdest ways when they are filled with Christ’s love. Pastor Vance shared one
example of when he walked into a revival and one man was acting like he had
turrets. Another man was dancing around the sanctuary like a crazy man. Those
things are weird, they are awkward! “Normal” people don’t behave that way. It’s
easy to comment on people’s actions and behavior in judgment. It’s easy to wonder if that’s necessary to
worship God. It’s embarrassing to find out that the man dancing around the
sanctuary like a crazy man was just delivered from homosexuality. People who
are saved from long-term addictions or problems such as prostitution or drug
habits and are newly added to God’s kingdom aren’t just going to sit in a pew
quietly with good posture and read their Bible. They are going to rejoice and
thank God for the new life they have been given and they are going to express
themselves!
Criticism
kills. It’s so easy to criticize Christianity too. On any given Sunday we can
comment how church didn’t start on time, how we didn’t like the worship style,
how we didn’t like the preacher or his preaching style, the service went too
long, the Sunday school curriculum isn’t appropriate, or how communion should
be done a different way. We can judge individuals at church too. We can say
that they weren’t dressed appropriately, they looked bored, they look like
they’re not walking with Christ, they have children outside of wedlock, or they might have been seen at a bar.
I know that
I’m so guilty because at times I am the one criticizing the body as a whole or
an individual about the way things or done or perceived. What good does that do
me or what good does that do with my relationship with Jesus? But we (I)
shouldn’t ever criticize how believers worship or behave. Don’t ask yourself if
what they are doing is right. Don’t ask if what they are doing bears fruit. Don’t
be a fruit inspector! Leave that part up to God and concentrate on your
personal relationship with him and do whatever you need to do to be close with
Him.
Criticism
really does draw Christians out of God’s overflowing river. Don’t judge others
and strive today to concentrate on your own personal walk with Jesus. God so
desires that we concentrate solely on Him and that we are in God’s river of
life. Don’t have a care in the world what others need to do to be in God’s
presence or to be close to him.
Lord, help me to concentrate on my walk with you!
Thank you Pastor Vance and Will for blessing our team.
Revelations
22:1-5
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”
(The group)
