Hello Folks,
Some of you may have heard about or, even, have read the book "Radical" by David Platt and I would encourage you to get it and read it if you would like to be challenged about what it means to be the church. Sometimes I find that the demands of our society and my own desires to be "successful" might cause me to miss the real needs of the local congregation. We are so conditioned to make sure we have a good "show" and "performance" that we often forget that we are supposed to make disciples. I wonder if we miss out on that one issue if God will say "well done" or if he will say "depart from me." Could it be that we in the American church are so caught up in teh giltz and glamour of being the "big" church in town that we fail actually fail to be the church?
Here is a challenge for you and me. Look at your own life and ask if you have made any disciples and if you are currently making disciples. If we cannot say yes to that I wonder if we can stand before God and be satisfied with our lives. I realize that some of us would say that we are preaching the Word and that we are guiding the Church which are undoubtedly correct things to do. But if we are not making disciples does that not mean we are failing to fulfill Matt 28:18-20? If we fail at that I wonder if our "works" will withstand the fire.
It is my prayer that I make disciples for Jesus. If I fail at that it would appear to me that I fail at one thing that is more important than anything else that we might do. What do you think of this?

HGRudd