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Additional Thoughts By: Jack Robertshaw

Are we still in the life saving business at our churches? Are we not to be serving as life saving stations? We love our church buildings, big and small, old and new and all the amenities in and around them. But are we still saving lives and reaching the lost and drowning. While walking through the Vatican square the Pope remarked to Thomas Aquinas; “The church can no longer say as Peter did; “silver and gold have I none”” To which Thomas replied; “neither can she say; ‘such as I give to thee; in the name of Jesus rise up and walk”. You see it seems we have, with few exceptions, turned our churches from life saving stations into high priced ornate social clubs, complete with membership and officers. We decorate them with lovely reminders of days gone by and some references to the God for which they were founded. We pass the plate around, we have spaghetti dinners, carnivals, fish fry’s and bingo all to keep the club running smoothly. We volunteer to paint the building, plant flowers, shovel the walk and pick up the pastries for the fellowship time so we can socialize. We even have emergency meetings to announce when the funds are low or the roof is leaking. We are so busy running the club/church that we have precious little time to spend actually saving a life or even considering how. Wait just a minute you say, I like the way our club err.., church is going, we have a good crowd on Sunday and everyone is has a smile when they are here.

How many smiles do you see at the hospital? Very few, hospitals are for the sick. Hospitals are trying to heal. How many times have you strolled into a hospital completely healthy just to visit and say hi? Churches are for those souls who have been shipwrecked and are in need of rescue. Let’s put our focus back on saving lives first. First we rescue then we heal then we celebrate.

You see, we as a church body, as Christian’s, need to either walk on the water (as Peter did) or get back in the boat. Have the faith to step out of the club and be a disciple of Christ who longs to rescue those in need. Saving lives should be our primary concern, it’s what Jesus did and what he asks of us. There are still many shipwrecks and great need for life saving stations manned by life savers. If we choose to ignore the wreckage and enjoy the club, then most of those people will drown. Please watch the video again as it really sums it all up nicely. Lets start saving lives again.