Roster-Ferrying.

Today I just want us to reflect on the comment that Pastor Benji shared towards the end of the second service, which deals with rosters.

In God's kingdom, there is one roster that counts: the list of names of individuals who have submitted their hearts and lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the ministry of His Holy Spirit. God refers to this list as His book of life.

But there seems to be a set of people who believe that they can get into heaven by having their names recorded on rosters other than God's book of life. These are often people who have been going to church for years, and they have done many good things. Their names are on plaques commemorating their selfless giving, their volunteer spirit, their having invited the most people to church, their opening of homes and businesses in support of ministry programming. Some even get accolades for powerful ministries and giftings. There's just one problem: these dear souls are not submitted to Christ.

Jesus told His disciples, and He tells us today, "...do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). And we are reminded of the warnings in Matthew 25, which we have considered in previous blogs.

God has placed a burden on His pastors and prophets to keep pushing this message of repentance and renunciation of sin. We really want to see everyone in right standing with God. If you are reading this and you know that you are not fully obedient to the mandate of Jesus, then now is a great time to pray for forgiveness. God is mighty and He can forgive, heal, restore... and judge, commend, condemn. Do you want to see His smile or His wrath? And does your lifestyle reflect your desire for Christ?

Remember, tomorrow is not promised. Let's know where we stand today.