OUTSIDERS

Here's a great quote from the pastor of a church I visited in South Carolina a couple of months ago. Perry Noble's Newspring Church in Anderson has grown to over 6,000 in attendance since it started six years ago -

I said it Sunday–but I will say it again…one of THE main reasons our church is growing is because the people inside haven’t forgotten what it was like to be outside. The people who have received God’s grace are still aware of those who need God’s grace. The people inside are NOT content with playing Christian games…but rather are bothered by the fact that there are people right here in this community that, if they died today, would spend eternity in hell…and that fact does not allow us to rest at night.

I reckon he's right on. The me-centered individuals tend to be those who have been Christians since before Noah built the ark, have lived in a sanitized pagan-free environment for decades and have no concept whatever of what life or eternity could be like without Jesus.

Thankfully the vast majority of our folks come into the category that Perry describes.