Remembering the Main Thing

May 24th, 1738 John Wesley went to a meeting where Luther's preface to the book of Romans was being read.  He said in his journal that at 8:45 the part about a change in a heart through faith was being read when he felt a strange warmth in his heart. "I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation: And an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

His next entry states that he "began to pray with all my might" for those who were his enemies and persecuted him.

The entry after that was, "I was much buffeted with temptation, but cried out, and they fled away."

A touch from God led to a change in behavior which led to an attack of the enemy.  We are not a lot different from John Wesley are we?

Today I write with a hunger in my heart.  Maybe I'm tired, maybe I'm excited about studying on the topic of holiness, maybe I'm being sentimental, but I long for a "warming" for us.

Too often the Church pouts, complains, or even hates what's going on in America or even around the world, but we don't give ourselves the same inspection that we give to others.  We are better at knowing what "they" need than we are at being honest about what we need.

We need the people of God to have personal, intimate, life-changing encounters with God.  We need men and women of faith to let the transforming power of God change their theology and empower their hands.  We need a renewal inside the church so that culture will be impacted by the ripples of holiness.  We need people that will know what they believe and let that belief be so infused with the Spirit that it changes how they live and think.  We need to be warmed, the kind of warmed that leads us through the responding temptation.

This weekend it's good to remember those who gave their lives for our freedom.  It's even better to remember those who encountered Christ and let God change the world through them.  It's even better to remember Christ.

Remembering the Main Thing,

Pastor Dave