| Author | Message | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 9 Registered: 9-2006 |
As I thought upon the impact our church has on the community of people around it these words began coming into mind so I wrote them down, here is the result, what does it say to you? The Brand New Fire Truck Once there was a small farming and fishing community and it grew slowly over the years for it was ringed in by the mountains on the one side and the great river on the other and as it slowly grew folks began to start businesses and it became a small town with buildings side by side. Now the people had a faithful mayor in this town and one day he looked out over the town and said to him self ìWe must have a fire truck in case there is a fire in our townî and so he began conducting bake sales and other community activities to raise money to build a fire station and finally the day came when he went out and purchased a beautiful fire truck and presented it to the people, instructing them that they must take very, very good care of it for it was the only one of its kind. And so the mayor appointed a few good folk as fireman to watch over the town and to occupy the fire station which was situated on a gradual slope over looking the town, so the few good folk did occupy that fire station with the shiny new and well equipped truck, they carefully wound the new hoses and day after day they would take soft cloth and polish the chrome and brass, the gauges sparkled, the red paint glowed and even the brass end of the hoses glowed like freshly smelted gold. One fateful day in the back corner of a store where the store owner carelessly threw oily rags, spontaneous combustion caused the store to catch fire unknown to the careless store owner and the fire began to sweep through the building picking up itís speed of burning as it went, now this fire was merciless as it consumed every thing in its path, leaping to the next building leaving nothing but useless ash and gnarled and twisted metal behind. And so the alarm sounded and the cry went out ìThe city is burning, the city is burningî!! and the appointed fireman heard the cry as they scrubbed and polished from their place in the fire station situated on the gradual slope over looking the town, but they said to one another ìWe have been appointed to take care of this truckî and so they went on carefully polishing every detail. Finally the smoke billowed over the city and the cries of pain and anguish and torture rose up with the black smoke as the city burned, the fire growled and leapt and blazed as it consumed every thing in its path, while the appointed fireman polished and watched from the fire station situated on a gradual slope overlooking the town. | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 4751 Registered: 12-2003  |
River, your parable reminds me a bit of the unfaithful stewards left to care for the vineyard in Jesus' parable. There are obviously differences, but "unfaithful" is the word that comes to mind. Thank you for sharing this. Colleen | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 10 Registered: 9-2006 |
Thanks for the feedback Colleen, the question has weighed heavily on my mind lately, when I go to church and get blessed, always on my mind are the lost right outside those walls, I speak to people about God but they seem to listen but then go right on with their life as it was before attempting to fill the void with the pleasures of this world. Well, thatís me I guess, when I plant a seed or tree around here in my yard I check the thing every day to see if it is growing, even if I planted it yesterday. Every time I go to church I end up sitting there thinking, how do we get the church to the community? | ||
| Dd Registered user Username: Dd Post Number: 737 Registered: 7-2004 |
River, The pastor of the church we are attending has been speaking almost every week regarding gettting out of the comfort zone of church and out into the community. Would you mind if I shared your parable with him? What a gift God has blessed you with. Thank you for sharing it with us. Denise | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 11 Registered: 9-2006 |
Denise, you may share it with whom ever you please. I donít claim to prophesy or any such thing but I do believe this message is of the Holy Spirit. The enemy of our soul would be more comfortable if we stayed behind the walls of our churches, but if we become true soldiers of the cross as in 2 Tim 2:3 then we can grow to become mighty warriors in the kingdom of God, the problem is that about 90% of us hasnít attacked a shriveled up second hand devil and Iím talking to myself here. Listen to your Pastor, heís telling you what God is telling him Iíll bet. I pray for you now that God will give you and your church group a burden for the souls of those around you, and wisdom on how to witness for Jesus and I need the same thing. Please pray for me. It sounds to me like your Pastor is feeling like I am feeling, I go to church and my pew is getting too hot to sit on. |
