Whatever it takes....... do you believe that??

     Years ago I was fortunate to be the basketball coach to a very good group of young men. We experienced a lot of great times together. We went on many trips around the state playing basketball. We enjoyed success together as a unit. We set goals at the beginning of the year and worked hard to accomplish those goals. The last I coached we set high goals. We wanted to go undefeated in our conference. We adopted a motto for the year which was "whatever it takes". We had to play hard and practice harder in order to achieve this goal. The team was willing to do whatever it took to accomplish this goal. We played more games and played in more tournaments than we had ever played in that year. The team went undefeated in conference play. When we entered the year-end conference tournament, we printed shirts that claimed us as champions before we ever played a game. We took the chance and paid the price for the goal we wanted to accomplish. Some saw this as arrogance, I saw it as motivation. We began with the end in mind. If we are champions, we will play like champions. The boys went out in style winning the conference and tournament title going undefeated in our conference. The team bought into the system of "whatever it takes".
     In the Gospel of Mark, we run into four people who understood the concept of "whatever it takes". They come across a paralyzed man who needed healing so they decided to carry him to Jesus. When they get to where Jesus was at, there was a huge crowd. Had that been us, we may have given up or decided to come back for the evening service cause we know there is a smaller crowd in the evening service. However, these men saw the need to get this man to Jesus whatever it took. They take him up on the roof and tear a portion of the roof off and lower him down to Jesus. Consequently, Jesus touched him and healed. The man was never the same due to his encounter with the Son of God.
     What about us? Is "whatever it takes" our motto for bringing people to Jesus? Maybe you are lost in calculating the cost. Maybe the thoughts of tearing off the roof seems too extreme. Can we really reach the lost for Christ with hesitations and limits. Some people have for years put limitations on the call to reach out to the community the church is sitting in. That church is there for a reason. The reason is to equip the saints and evangelize the lost. That is where it starts and stops. Many people in our churches today feels that their spiritual gift is to explain all the reasons why we can't afford to do something. What they don't understand is that their spiritual gift must be tying the hands of God. In Mark chapter 6, Mark tells of Jesus' trip to Nazareth. The majority of the people tied the hand of God. They said is this not the son of Mary which was a slur toward Jesus while a minority said It healed others maybe He can do the same for me.
     Which group do you fall? Don't tie the hands of God with doubt and unbelief. We serve the true and awesome God of this universe not the God of limitations. That would be Satan's title.

I am John Sowders and I am Second..!!!