Welcome Back

This could be about Gabe Kotter, legendary teacher of Lower Brooklyn but it isnt. It is about you and me just simple Christ Followers, grubbing around, trying just to work out where we are meant to be and what we are meant to be doing. Truth is that we are meant to be making a difference by influencing those around us to make our life choices and our faith choices more reasonable them. Not so long ago there was an article written by someone who is now anonymous bemoaning Dads decision to not lift us out of this not so pleasant life when we accepted Jesus rightful claim as Lord of our lives. The problem with that idea is that we would not have had the opportunity to accept Jesus life offer simply because the influencers in our life would have been lifted off to the Heavens before they had their chance to make that difference in our experience. The difference between welcome home and welcome back is that when we return to where we come from we return with a different attitude, the new life of the Master. On top of that we return with our eyes opened to what can be as well as the love that the Master has given us. It is essential that if we are to be Christ influencers for others then we need to be where they are or be near to them. Returning to the legendary Gabe, who was known as a high school rebel, but who returned as a teacher and was given the very class in which he made his reputation. He gained his success as a teacher by not judging these failures that the other teachers deemed the class but by engaging with his students who had at some stage admired him as a senior, and encouraged them to think through issues and events. In so many ways Gabe is the model of what an influencer is or can be. Heaven or Hell, these are the two options for us as we seek to Make A Difference where we are now. We can create an oasis of Heaven in our environment and with our associate even the ones we are seeking as potential Christ Followers; or we can add to their misery and in so doing make a sinkhole into Hell. I am almost certain of what the Master would be doing in our situation. His demonstration of what making a difference during His ministry years meant forgiving the decisions that others made and He was giving them a new life with hope. He is our model in what is possible in our reaching out to our friends with His love. We are His representatives in our circle of influences and as such it means creating with His help an increasing circle of Heaven Right where we are. Isnt that worth the experience?