The conversations I hear surrounding “church” tend to focus on the negative impact Christians are having on our culture. Studies put out by George Barna and others seem to reinforce the negative in everything. On every bookshelf you will find “tell-all” books describing how people are being destroyed by the unChristian church (there is a real question as to how accurate these stats are, so check out this excellent review of the statistics). Self-examination is good for the church, but I am starting to wonder if we have not gone too far in our morbit fascination with the negative. Have we become more destructive than constructive? As we look to rediscover the church, I was inspired by this story of surrender and restoration that was reported by the Pew Forum.
Casey Hennacy went to the House of the Lord Church in Akron, Ohio, last year looking for repentance.
But the mercy she sought was from the law, not the Lord. The 20-year-old woman, wanted on three felony drug and theft warrants, was five months pregnant and didn’t want to give birth behind bars only to have the baby taken away.
She cried as she made her way into the church, which had been turned into a makeshift courthouse by the Fugitive Safe Surrender program. Safe Surrender, which was launched in Cleveland in 2005 before spreading to other cities, provided Hennacy with a safe setting to right her wrongs.
“I wouldn’t have turned myself in if it wasn’t at a church,” Hennacy, 21, said from her home in Akron, where she lives with her 6-month-old son, Skylor Mikal McLaughlin.
A new study by Kent State University researchers sheds light on what led Hennacy and other former fugitives to stop running.
Of the thousands of people who participated in the program in cities across the country, roughly 80 percent said having the site at a church played an important role in their decisions to give up hiding.
The study, based partly on exit surveys with the fugitives in seven cities, supports what community leaders already have said: Fugitive Safe Surrender works.
The church should not be confused with a building, but it is still a great blessing when a church can provide a place for surrender. This is truly the church being the church. The lesson I take away is that we need to worry less about where a church chooses to meet, and focus more on turning our place of meeting into an opportunity to be the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 42:1-4 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. 3 “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
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I think it is evident Christians are “waking up” from their previous ways of RELIGION and looking for something deeper…..
RELATIONSHIP with their Savior and Father. When that becomes the pursuit, the goal, then all the religion in the world cant measure up. I think religion has worked so hard on getting people saved, then the new believer either gets dropped or they are led to believe that if they “do this” or “do that” then they will be “a good christian.” The fact is, NOTHING we do is good enough! If it were, we could work our way to heaven. The fact is, it is the GRACE of the Father through His unselfish love and gift of His Son that is GIVEN to me for the taking……it fills me up, it converts me to want more of Him and less of me!
My relationship with the Lord is what I cherish….I could careless where we as believers meet to fellowship, learn, grow, cry and rejoice at. As far as Im concerned, out in a field is as good of a place as any ;o))))))
“Where 2 or more are gathered in His name, there HE is in the midst!” It says it all!