Reflecting on the last 19 months in planting this church I've thought about things we could be doing. I went back to my bookshelf and picked up Dr. Falwell's autobiography. For whatever a person thinks about his political involvement or his quick-witted comments on T.V., I can't imagine a person in ministry who would not respect all he did in his early years for the sake of reaching people for Christ. This week it's been a huge reminder and challenge to me.
Dr. Falwell at the ripe old age of 22 started Thomas Road. He says that he put a map up on the wall one day and drew three concentric circles representing Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and left the rest of the map to be "the uttermost parts of the earth".
He started with Jerusalem and walked every day door to door meeting his neighbors and saying "If you don't have a Pastor, I'd like to be yours. "if you ever need any spiritual help or otherwise, let me give you my phone number. I'd be glad to have you call me." He did this day in and day out. Some pushed away but most were at least receptive. From what I recall his church ran 800 by the end of the first year.
As I sit and think about our modern church as a whole (and Focal Point as well) I wonder how much more would be done if every Pastor had that kind of tenacity.
I'm still chewing on this thought and what it means for myself...
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