Listen Up

I just read an incredible post from Mark Beeson who is the Senior Pastor at Granger Community Church. For the full post just click the link above, but I had to reprint some of it here. It made me think about life here at Evangel. Here it is:

"Prior to lift off, while Ed the Flight Steward was giving instructions on surviving “should the use of oxygen be necessary” I couldn’t help but notice the condition of a first-time-ever-flyer. Unlike many around her, she was hanging on Ed’s every word. While frequent flyers ignored Ed’s prompt that “should it be necessary you can use your seat cushion as a floatation device,” this lady was all ears. (I could tell she was trying to figure out how to look at her seat cushion while sitting on it.)
I probably would have thought nothing of this neophyte’s apprehensions if she could have heard Ed’s calming instructions. During his monologue he tried to assure her that she’d be fine and even if there was “a loss of cabin pressure, an oxygen mask would drop down” right in front of her.

The problem was, she couldn’t hear Ed because the two guys next to her were talking throughout his briefing.

Too bad.

She is now flying more afraid than she needs to be, handicapped by a lack of knowledge, and limited in her ability to help others because she can’t give answers she doesn’t have.

It all makes me wonder if old-timers can forget how hard it is for new people to “get it” when they join us for a service at GCC.

I wonder if we’re ever so busy talking with our friends - that we make it difficult for first-timers to hear the words they’re straining to apprehend. Could we become so accustomed to the message that we forget how desperate others are to hear it?

Life saving instruction is offered every weekend at GCC. The Way we all need is made clear. People want to know the Truth and dire consequences are in store for those who don’t hear the message. They’ll be more afraid than they need to be, handicapped by a lack of knowledge, and limited in their ability to help others because they can’t give answers they don’t have."

That's a lot to think about.