today's thoughts on mercy-

The more I dive into the nature of God the more I am prone to shout one of the oldest prayers of the church, "Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy." The more I see my complete and utter powerlessness over the power of sin, death, and evil, the more I cling to His Mercy. I realize that in my own self-saving style I am clueless. I'm clueless to be a minister to people. I am clueless to be a good husband. I am clueless as a parent. I wince thinking about the judgmental attitudes I had toward parents of teens when I was in youth ministry before we had children of our own. I am clueless when it comes to being a parent. So even now as i dive into this God-sized task, i whisper a prayer for mercy. God answers that prayer every time.

The new millennium had ushered in a culture that has a hard time with mercy. Turn on the radio and listen to the political pundits on both sides of any argument and you won't find mercy. Take in a football game and listen to the fans, the music, and the atmosphere. No mercy. Troll by a group of students playing the latest and greatest video game: No mercy. Mercy is a rare commodity. Now zoom out. Look at the genocide that's occurring in Africa, the terror of daily life in the Middle East, the gang culture that continues to plant its roots on the street of our cities. No mercy.

The mission of the church is to extend grace to the lowest level of society.
God blesses our acts of kindness and private goodness more than He blesses our meetings and Bible Studies.
God's is me to reach out to the forsaken colony of spiritual lepers that are in ever town, every city and every country of the world.
Christ's didn't come to condemn the world. This was a mission to save it.

Indeed. He is waiting and watching.