Awake

One of the best Bible teacher's I have ever heard is Dave Johnson. He is Senior Pastor of Church of the Open Door (check out website and sign up for podcast here)

On Sunday morning Dave spoke in Newtownbreda Baptist. He is over for 2 weeks. What gets me is the way he opens the Bible and talks about what it says. If got me thinking though about the responsibility of the hearer.

I arrived early to church. I had a note book and pen. I was genuinely excited to hear what Dave had to say. On a normal Sunday morning, I arrive late (if at all), I feel guilty if I don't go and would go just to show my face to show I am still alive. How I prepare myself is so important to receiving the word.

What was intersting in Jesus' day, the rabbi's or teachers sat down. The hearers stood up. They were active learners. Now the roles have been reversed. The hearers come to be entertained and demand to be fed. We are lazy. The speaker does a song and dance routine, trying to keep the attention of the hearers.

So anyway back to Dave's talk. He spoke from Matthew 9 were the young girl was raised from the dead. Everyone thought she was dead, but Jesus siad she was asleep.

Dave explored the concepts of neing awake and asleep, being dead and alive. He challenged us if we were asleep/dead and awake/alove in certain areas of our lives. He went on to say that we talk about eternal life as something we have or something that happens to us after we die. Dave doesn't use the term eternal life anymore but 'an eternal kind of life'. Life in the kingdom is now, not just life after death.

So not focussing of whether I am saved or not, what areas in my life am I asleep/dead?

What areas in my life am I awake/alive?