What It Really Means...

I'm no saint and I've certainly "lost my witness" more than a few times in my life. I've missed many opportunities to "be Jesus" to people who needed to see Him in me, I won't deny.
I don't claim to be perfect and I'm definitely not holier-than-thou.

But what does it mean to be a Christian?

I know some Christians who will bend over backwards to attend an outreach or make a donation, but when you say "Hello" to them, they look the other way or simply turn around.
They profess a philosophy of "servant" to anyone who is listening, but they are anything but to people in their own church.
They give their time and money, but when it comes to being friendly -- or, for that matter, just cordial -- to someone they feel is beneath them, their attitude does a 180*.
Why?
This is certainly not the example Jesus set for His disciples!

Several years ago, when my oldest daughter was going through Confirmation at another church, the students were all given shirts that read, "Claim the Name." After observing a few of the students' behavior, on several occasions, I wondered if they even knew what the phrase meant.
How can one "claim the Name" of Jesus while acting like a pompous, uptight jerk?
Are we mocking God when we choose to condescend to those we have deemed beneath ourselves?
How can we profess the love of Jesus while acting like we are above the very people we are serving beside?
Seriously, where do we get off?

Not that this behavior is ok for anyone.
Really, who does anyone think they are?
Arrogance and pride are ugly traits no matter who you are. But for Christians, they are downright destructive.
We need to remember this: If not for God's grace, mercy, and the fate of being born who, where and when we are, we might be in the place of those we cast judgment upon...
So much of what we believe makes us "superior" was GIVEN to us, freely. We didn't "earn" it or "deserve" it. It was just given.
So, how can we -- especially we, who claim the Name -- treat anyone as anything less than another precious soul, a friend, a brother or sister in Christ?

If we are going to call ourselves "Christian," then we had better understand just what that really means.

To SERVE

You know, all too often, the world judges Christians by the squeaky wheels who make us look so bad... you know the type: hyper-judgmental and anything BUT full of love, the extremists who do everything EXCEPT what Jesus really called us to do: To Love and to SERVE.
Why is that?
Because that is all they choose to see.

-->>They don't see us feeding the homeless at 6 am... or us giving shelter to the runaway who is fleeing abuse.
-->>They don't see us at midnight, taking roses to the strip clubs to tell the girls there that they are VALUABLE and worthy to be loved.
-->>They don't see our volunteers spending countless hours tutoring at-risk youth in the inner city, giving them the time and attention they desperately need, several times a week.
-->>They don't see our college kids and high schoolers using their summer vacation to go and feed starving orphans in Africa and Brazil and Honduras and India...

They don't see it because it doesn't fit into their tidy, politically-correct view of who we are.
But that doesn't change reality.
The "nut jobs" might get the most media attention, but we are the ones building a legacy... for those who are not yet here.

You see, there ARE Christians out there who really are trying to walk out their faith and be the "hands and feet" of Jesus to EVERYONE they meet.
If you don't believe me, just check this out:

At last check, there are more than 200 churches, worldwide, that are participating in SERVOLUTION!

That is simply phenomenal!

What is a "Servolution" you ask?
"Sharing God's love and changing lives through simple acts of kindness."

Our very own pastor, Dino Rizzo, wrote the book, SERVOLUTION which will be debuting very soon...
Here are just a FEW of the things we will be doing during Servolution Week (April 3-9):

• *FREE (no donations!) CAR WASHES
• *VISITING AREA NURSING HOMES
  *CLEANING the BATTERED WOMEN'S SHELTER (and pampering the ladies, too!)
• *PASSING OUT FREE BOTTLED WATER TO PEOPLE SITTING IN RUSH-HOUR TRAFFIC
  
• *SERVING BREAKFAST TO HOMELESS VETERANS
  *CLEANING/PAINTING/DOING YARDWORK FOR AREA WIDOWS
• *PASSING OUT CANDY TO PEOPLE SITTING AT THE DMV
  *PICKING UP TRASH & MOWING LAWNS ("Adopt-a-Block")
• *FREE AUTO REPAIR & OIL CHANGES FOR SINGLE MOMS & WIDOWS
  

---->>> And this list is, by no means, complete. This is a mere sampling of the activities we will carry out (and, in fact, DO carry out on a regular basis!).

But, the really cool thing is, you don't have to be a member of Healing Place Church to help out! In fact, you don't even have to live in Louisiana!

"Servolution is about churches partnering together and reaching out to their communities through simple acts of kindness for the soul purpose of expressing the love of God to people in our community."

YOUR very own church can sign up to get involved and be a part of one amazing week showing the world what it really means to be followers of Christ. And there are tons of ideas with practical tips and information for you to get started. Just click here: