GENERAL ASSEMBLY - DAY 8

Friday, July 9, 2010  

“Leave your foolish ways behind, and begin to live; learn how to be wise.”  [Proverbs 9:6]

“Learn how to be wise.”  I had just read that over my early coffee in the Hyatt lobby.  The thought continued to float through my head as the plenary of over 700 Presby’s began.  It hit me then with the video they showed – Grow Deep and Wide.  I was really learning something this morning!  Hooray!  (Some would probably say, finally…)

The video was about a church in Miami.  The pastor’s story taught me an amazingly simple lesson – consider it a string of four pearls: Prayer-> Discipleship-> Mission-> Growth (spiritual and numeric).  Take notes, please!  This is exciting!  Partly because it works, partly because it’s simple, and mostly because God is glorified through the whole plan.

This pastor’s church had become a small gathering.  Committing to a lot of conversation with God, then studying His Word with mission in mind, followed with invitations throughout the community, the church began to grow…and grow.  And they were prepared to handle the growth because that was the result of an intentional process.  In the words of the pastor, “Mission is the flower of discipleship.”  That’s a good word.

“Begin to live; learn how to be wise.”  The best thing about being here this past week has been the vast opportunity to learn from others – intelligent commissioners to be sure, but also a Puerto Rican carpenter elder, a native American preacher from a reservation in South Dakota, a doorman named Josh, a Korean pastor in Miami…and that wonderfully joyful Youth Advisory Delegate from Western Kentucky – our own Brianna Sutton.