The Missing Pieces

I just finished a book called The Missing Pieces. It challenges our modern approach to evangelism and what we include and what we omit from the Gospel message. The missing pieces of the Law, conviction, repentance, transformation and judgment leave the Gospel presentation full of glaring holes in many evangelical churches these days. Can one be truly converted without completely understanding what the Gospel IS and what it requires?

I do have a dilemma. Let’s see if I can articulate it. Are there people who are so lost in their sin, so absolutely devoid of conscience and spiritual sensitivity, so strung out on drugs and alcohol that they need rescuing….and rescuing immediately? Could it be that they don’t even have time or mental capacities to come to an understanding of sin and its consequences and the course of action they need to take to experience salvation?

I met two young ladies from Teen Challenge last week. They were seated at my table at a Bible Study for women at our church. They told their stories briefly and there seemed to be many missing pieces in their conversion stories. I didn’t hear a thing about the law, conviction or repentance. I just heard the miraculous, awesome power of God – a God who met them exactly where they were – absolutely broken, near death, completely at the end of the line. In a moment’s time, they were both delivered from death and transferred to the Kingdom of His Son. Addictions gone, death defied. Transcendent peace overflowing. Did they know enough to even repent? Did they know how to step up to life? I don’t think so. They did cry out to God in their despair and He heard and delivered them.

So my dilemma is this. Can conversions such as these be authentic? Did God save them in spite of the missing pieces to their comprehension? Will they understand salvation and all its components later as they come to know the God who rescued them, as they begin to search the Scriptures? In other words, can a person be saved in spite of pieces that are missing? Can the puzzle be completed post-salvation?

The Drill

Okay, so you know what I'm going to talk about, right? Well, maybe not. I could be referring to the kind of tool used in building furniture or repairing a bookshelf. Or it could be one of those horribly loud, nasty-sounding pieces of machinery that break up the asphalt on your local thoroughfare. No, the kind of drill I am talking about is a small instrument, held in a gloved hand on the end of a white cloaked arm attached to a shoulder supporting a goggled eyed, masked face about 2 inches from your own. This drill has a terribly high-pitched squeal to it that sends shivers up and down your spine and causes your hands to clench and legs to stiffen. It begins to whine when applied to your defenseless, benumbed tooth, causing pieces of it (your tooth) to fly and water to shower your face. In the hand of a skilled artisan, it does tremendous damage first to accomplish great good in the end. Can you imagine what would happen if that little instrument was in a novice's hand? Ouch.

Perhaps there is a spiritual lesson in this somewhere. But since I can't think of one right now, I'll leave the story as is. By now you figured out that I was at the dentist today - in preparation for a permanent crown placement in a couple of weeks. I am grateful for the drill I guess - grateful for the salvation of my tooth. So why do I hate it so much?? I think it's the sound.

Have any drill stories to share?

Speechless

Hmmm...."thousands of unspoken words" I need an outlet for - that's what I said in the title. Don't have many of those today I guess. I do have a feeling though that is difficult to express in words. It's awe - gratitude - wonder at the power of prayer and the power behind the answers! You see, I've seen two definite miracles lately...one that God performed in the healing of my husband, Steve, and another in the healing of my brother. I experienced daily the gradual ongoing transformation of my husband as he moved from death to life a step at a time through a number of weeks/months. It was different with Leroy. I knew he had been in a lot of pain for a very long time but it wasn't until he was at the bottom both physically and emotionally that my family and I went to pray for him. That was just a few weeks ago. Tonight he looked like a different person....bright, pain dramatically diminished, optimistic. How can words express such a wonder? At times like this, one is speechless.

The Fear of Blog

Okay. So I'm going to enter the blogging world. Why? I don't know. I guess it's because I love to journal and maybe after all the years of practice, I may have something of interest to say to someone else. Problem. My entries in my own private journal are....well....private....meant for my own eyes and no others - read only by God and myself if I ever take the time to read what I've written. Fear? Yes. I fear that someday after my demise, my children will haul out the old journals neatly tucked away in my nightstand (kids, forget I said that) and begin to "ooh and aah" their way through myriads of pages of my private hopes, dreams, fears and struggles. Do I want those revealed to my descendants? Probably not, but I fear I am helpless to do much about it.

And now the fear of blog. Yes. I fear I really don't have anything to say after all. I fear that the hundreds of pages I've written over the last 28 years are nothing more than therapy for a rather insecure, codependent kind of person and I dare not let others know that I really don't know how to put a sentence together after all. But what the hey! Bloggers aren't necessarily journalism majors, or even A students in English. They are just people who enjoy sharing words with others. And if anyone even bothers to read what I say, they can come to their own conclusions about whether or not their visit to my site was worth the time. And you know what? I don't care what they think anyway. Because writing IS therapy for me. I've written my way through many trials, through the ups and downs of life and found stability and sanity by it. As I've done so, I've kept God's Blog on my lap and found in that Holy Book the solutions to my problems, my struggles and time and time again, found the truth that has set me free!

So...read if you like. I can't guarantee you'll benefit at all, but I do know one thing. I will not be deterred by the Fear of Blog! I will allow the Fear of God to rule in my life and writings.