I know I drove some of you ABSOLUTELY CRAZY on Sunday when I told you you had to wait for number 4 this past week. And I’m going to drive you absolutely crazy again and tell you that you have to wait until the end of this blog post for number 4 . . . I love giving Type-A’s a hard time because I AM ONE and I know how it feels!!
Let me share this with you first. This past week we had 5 people get baptized! THAT NEVER GETS OLD! I am completely obsessed with life change and watching people take their next steps in their walk with Jesus! I also believe we shared a moment this past week that we will never forget as long as Resonate exists!
Mario is a man who suffers from muscular dystrophy. The girl who brought him to Resonate told me that he has always felt this disability makes him a burden to people. People have to help him in and out of cars, help him shower, and even tie his shoes. This Sunday he gave his life to Jesus and it took everything he had to stand up and walk out the back of the auditorium to get baptized.
When I saw 5 men hoist him up into the baptism tank, I knew that we had just seen Mark 2:1-12 come alive right in front of our eyes! I looked around the atrium at everyone and there was not a dry eye in the place!! I will NEVER forget the power of that moment!! The girl who brought him to church texted me yesterday and said:
“He fought back a lot because he didn’t want to burden Resonate with his disability and he thought people would make fun of him for it. He’s always been made fun of so that is all he knows. But when Ryan, Cy, Stephen and a bunch of our Resonate family came with no judgement and with only loving, caring hands to help him take his first step away from his past and toward Jesus, he never felt more safe, happy, and at home. They didn’t see him for his external appearance. They saw him as a child of God!”
That’s awesome!! That makes me want to have church again right now!! There is something stirring at our church! Jesus is moving and I’m begging him to keep BRINGING ON THE LIFE CHANGE!! Keep inviting people and getting them to come back! You never know when they’ll take that step toward Jesus!
Ok . . . . Number 4 . . . Wait before I tell you what number 4 is I just want to say . . .
I’m kidding. Here it is . . . Seriously I’m going to tell you right now . . .
For real this time . . . Number 4 is “REPEAT” . . .
(1) RECOGNIZE, (2) REPLACE, (3) REPORT, (4) REPEAT
This is the 4-Step process to killing the “Selfie” and feeding the “Spirit” . . . Tune in tomorrow as we talk about these more in depth!
- Davey Blackburn
Davey Blackburn is the lead pastor of Resonate Church. You can find him on Twitter at @daveyblackburn.