Until They All Come Home...A Testimony.

Today's title is part of a quote from Pastor Benji's sermon in the first service: "God is not finished until they all come home".

I recall many years ago, one of my nieces and one of my nephews came to live with us for the summer. Our household had an inviolable rule: no one stayed home on Sundays. And my nephew gladly and dutifully got up early each Sunday morning so he could commute to the particular church of his choosing, while my niece attended services in reluctance... and shortly called her mom to complain about the rule.

The debate went on for days. Her mom did not see the importance of the assembling together of believers, and I did not accept the counter-offer of allowing my niece to just stay at home and watch television all day. Well, I was "reminded" that I was not "the parent", and her mother insisted that I could not force her to go to church. I agreed... and sent my niece back to her mom. I lost the fight, but I refused to compromise the integrity of my household. For me, that meant no exceptions to the rule.

Well, that was almost twenty years ago. I had forgotten the incident until this past Sunday's sermon.

There are sayings out there: you have to pick your battles, this hill isn't worth dying for, and so on. I'd like to ask you: is the salvation of souls worth fighting and dying for?

Pastor Benji shared, "When God designs a plan to liberate, it is for complete liberation". We can recall the appeal of the angels to Lot in Genesis 19, who (this amazes me) had to take hesitant Lot and his family by the hands and lead them out of
Sodom. That family had gotten so accustomed to life in the wicked city that even the command of God was not sufficient to make them fear the impending destruction.

In other words, not everyone wants to be liberated.

Guess what? The angels were right. God's design is to destroy "the cities of the plain", and in the midst of destruction He also makes provision for the rescue of families.

So, we who have been liberated seek the liberation of our loved ones. We pray, we admonish, we love, and we discipline... until they all come home.