I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU!

I’m not really a person who issues challenges to people. Not that I am intellectual above challenges…it’s just that usually someone just whips the tar out of me at most challenges. But, this challenge is one I hope you will whip the tar out of me on. And, it's a challenge that has got nothing to do with how many twinkies you can eat in a minute, or which one of us looks better in a sumo wrestler thong (that picture ought to make you go blind). In fact, it has nothing to do with any of that stuff. I'm not going to tell you what it does have to do with until the end of this blog...and no, the challenge isn't to see if you can actually make it to the end of the blog.

I have been thinking a lot about eternity lately. And, like most of you I have experienced loss of people close to me. Some of these precious friends and relatives passed into eternity with the love and grace of God in their souls. There is a great comfort in knowing in my heart that they are resting in the arms of their Savior. There are others whom I would never attempt to speculate where they are spending their eternity. I am not attempting to judge and certainly don’t mean to, but I can‘t help but contemplate about what I actually did... and what more I could have done to help influence where they are now. With some, I actually did okay…with others, I wonder if there was more I could have done. Do you ever think about that stuff? If you do…before I get to our challenge, can you bring some of those to mind who passed into eternity…maybe still separated from God?

Let’s do a quick thirty second review in our mind of the ways we showed God's love to them while they were still alive. Maybe our list would include: inviting them and their family over for Christmas Dinner; or leaving firewood on their doorstep; playing with their kids; maybe offering them employment or help when they lost their job; maybe it was being a friend as they battled drug or alcohol abuse. It could be something as simple as inviting them to a special function at church; buying them a Bible; inviting them to a Bible Study. For guys, maybe it could have been inviting them to a Men’s Fellowship Breakfast at church, or for a woman, to be invited to a Women’s Prayer Retreat. Maybe it could have been offering to pay for a marriage encounter weekend and offering to watch their kids for that same weekend. Maybe it could be you invited them and their kids to join you for lunch after church. Maybe it was taking a moment to listen, and even pray for their situation and their marriage. The list can be so extensive can’t it?…If we really actually did those things. What an influence for God we could have been!

So, what am I doing with people who haven't passed away yet? I know we have all met some pretty nice people around us…as well as a couple of jerks…but they all need God. I wonder if I made a list of all the people I have personally invited to come to church with me…even if it meant I might have to go a little out of my way to pick them up…I wonder if the number would be…ZERO. I know they need to know Jesus, yet the number is zero. I know their life is not going well for their family, yet the number remains zero. How about you? How many have you invited to Church? And, more important…if you have actually invited people to church, have they included more than people you already knew were Christians, or people already going to another church?

Here is the challenge (just in case anyone is still reading this)…How many people are you going to invite to go to church with you in the next thirty days…10...5...1... ZERO? I'm challenging you (and me) to make sure that number is NOT zero. We should never give up on anyone, and we probably don't have as much time as we think. What about you…are you up for the challenge? I double dog dare you to invite someone to church this Sunday!