Scared

Tweet

There can be purpose in scaring. Jude actually says that we are to, "save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear" (Jude 1:23 HCSB). Note the words, "with fear." Our purpose in fear is not to terrorize someone or to have a chill running up your spine or to sell movie tickets. It is to show them mercy. That means we should use fear to push through the distractions of this world we live in to help people concentrate on what really matters: real, abundant, eternal life.

You see, God has placed eternity in their hearts and we touch that part of the heart two ways: showing people how great eternity can be and how awful life and eternity is without Christ. When I think of the prophets, those whose purpose was to demonstrate the awe-inspiring Holy God, I think of interesting and what could be termed scary such as:

• The valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37)
• Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38)
• Wheel within a wheel (Ezekiel 1)
• The beasts (Daniel 7)
• Samuel, Saul, and the witch of Endor warning against dabbling in the occult (1 Samuel 28)
• Bowls of wrath, dragons in the sky, monster frogs, beasts from the bowels of the earth, the scarlet beast, and much more (Revelation 4-17)

These name just a few, but remind me at least, that sometimes this gift of fear can be used for not just a God's purpose, but the best purpose of all...seeing people pass from death to life through a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is what ScareMare is all about.

That's why we need to you to pray, serve, act, build, promote, and invite so we can see more people come to Christ this year. We were privileged to lead more than 20 into a relationship with Jesus Christ last year. Just as the tomb could not stop Jesus in bursting forth in life, this "house of death" will also bring forth life eternal and abundant. I want to be a part of that!

You can watch my take on what ScareMare is all about on this video we played at church on Sunday morning.

See you this Monday as we get to work to change lives, rescuing them from the fire.

Pastor Trey Rhodes

Posted with Blogsy