I recently heard a Christian radio broadcast that used the tag line, “Where the learning is for the living.” I don’t remember tha name of the broadcast or anything else about it, but those words stuck in my mind–that thought has long been in my heart. That’s the way it should be. We are to be “doers of the word and not hearers only”(James 1:22). If we aren’t living what we’re learning what’s the sense in knowing?   Every week millions of people go off to church to be taught God’s Word. Every week teachers stand before their classes dispensing information from the Bible, but very little of the learning ever translates into living. I guess you could call that academics without action or discipleship without duty. To be brutally honest you could call it sin. The bottom line is that too many students never become servants.   One of the main reasons for this is that most teachers don’t put any emphasis on it. They are content with just dispensing the information. If they can get a few kids to memorize a few verses they feel they’ve done an outstanding job. Really?   It seems strange that churches have all kinds of activities for kids and teens and yet never teach them to serve. Then they wonder why they don’t get involved when they are older. Fun and games are fine to an extent, but our young people need to be taught to serve–to put their lesson into shoe leather–to take what they’ve learned and do something of practical value with it. There’s a ton of things young people could do that would be of great help if only they were guided in the right direction. Our nursing homes are filled with people who would be delighted to have someone visit them. They especially enjoy young folks.   But this problem goes way beyond children and teens, it’s a problem with all age groups. Many adults never see the need to do something that is needed. At least they don’t see the need of them doing it! They come, sit, listen,and leave without ever getting involved. Why is it that classes meet every week for the sake of doing nothing more than learning? Why is it that they are given no opportunity or challenge to get involved? Why doesn’t every class have some sort of ministry or project? Why are teachers content with their people being content? Why do we spend so much time and money on social activities and none on service related things?   It’s a sad thing to see a class of church members sitting in church week after week with a Bible in their hand and a head full of knowledge, and no desire to minister to others. It’s all the more sickening to hear them say,”I can’t wait until I retire so I can do the things I enjoy”, without any intent of ever serving God. It all gets back to where we started–“learning is for living”. Why in the world do we need to know any more than we know if we don’t put it to use in Christian service? Sometimes I think we would be better off to cancel the class and take to the streets, passing out tracts, visiting the sick in the hospitals and the elderly in the nursing homes, etc. What’s the learning for if it’s not for the living? THINK ABOUT IT!

I moved to Houston twenty-two years ago and I love being in the place where God wants me to be, but I could not be more ashamed of our city. I just read an article about the fact that the largest abortion clinic in our nation is being opened here (you can read the article by clicking on this link: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/59334. It refers to the clinic as an “Abortion Super Center”. It says,” Planned Parenthood is renovating a former bank, turning it into a 78,000 square foot facility that will include a surgicial wing equipped to provide late-term abortions.” What a shame!   Houston should be called the new sin city. Just last month Houston elected the first lesbian (Annise Parker) to hold the office of mayor in a major U.S. city. Before that, Elena Marsh, the chairwoman for Planned Parenthood of America, held the position of Health and Environmental Policy for the mayor’s office. Houston, we have a problem!   Add to this the fact that the most popular false teacher in America is located in Houston and I would say we have a big problem! Joel Osteen prayed at the inauguration of Parker and he actually thanked God for putting her in that postion and for giving her “supernatural wisdom”. That’s as crazy as it gets. Of course this is the same man who refuses to use the word sin in reference to homosexuality. To think that anyone calling themself a Christian would call this man their pastor amazes me. Houston, we have a problem!    As Christians we need to pray for our city, do all we can to win folks to Christ, and vote for godly leaders. That is the only solution to our problem.