“short on ears and long on mouth”

…the
young American evangelical pastor grabbed my friend’s elbow, telling her she
needed salvation, to be born again. In an awkward way, he tried to escort her
to the alter, to pray. Get saved or else! She jerked away, I winced, her response would have made
a longshoreman blush. There’s
a perception in this country, by many outside the church, that Christians are
insincere and more concerned with the phrase "ask Jesus into you
heart" than developing and cultivating a relationship, whereby others can
be deeply and permanently transformed by God. Consider that salvation is not
experienced by asking Jesus into your life so much as it is by entering the
life of Jesus and becoming part of His story. I
believe this statement is true: everybody
spends eternity somewhere. So my encouragement to those in the church is
to: Be
available to those who are unchurched, a friend first
and an evangelist second.Be
an exceptional listener-to God and to others. Resist the urge, like
John Wayne s…