Monthly Archives: November 2006

Communication

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How easily a message gets lost.

By not speaking, many times a message is conveyed completely incorrectly. Dad and I went to lunch today, and we talked about things that are happening in life. The most interesting part is things were assumed on both ends because words were not exchanged to begin with.

I’m frustrated. What is it about small churches that keeps them small? Are they afraid to let others come into their little group? Or is it scary to do what Jesus asked us to do, which is to go intoall the world? I see too many churches who say they want to make an impact, but don’t do anything to show it. At the senior high retreat, the message I kept writing down during the sermons was “we need action”. The things I’ve been learning over the last several weeks is that words mean very little when you don’t back them up with action. That’s why so many unbelieving people call Christians hypocrites. As lame as some of you may think the intro to D.C. Talk’s What If I Stumble is, it’s so true.

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and don’t honor Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

I can tell people all day long that I’m going to get the pictures I took for them processed and sent to them all day long. But if I don’t do it, what good is that (James 2:16)?

Thanks for reading,
Jon Cole

Relationships

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Tonight I had the opportunity to spend time with some friends at their young adult family dinner. As I looked around the room at the many people I didn’t know, I started thinking about how I’ve viewed relationships over the years.

This dinner was held at the church building (when the family dinners started, it was held at one of the church member’s houses, but the group has grown significantly). As I approached the building, there were three guys outside smoking. After I got inside, I heard a guy introducing a pregnant girl to someone he knows saying, “This is my girlfriend.” I saw people of all shapes, sizes and styles.

I couldn’t help but think about how earlier in my life, I would have thought, “Man…how screwed up are some of these people.” But you see, that’s the attitude that gets Christians their “judgmental and unforgiving” label. There is no way I can make Christ relevant to a person if I am going to let a person’s imperfect stand in the forefront. Heaven knows I have imperfections. And I’m sure people could point them out and condemn me as well.

Read Mark 2:15-17. It’s pretty wild when you think about it.

Thanks for reading,
Jon Cole