by Peyton Jones: COGS stands for Communities of grace. These are the best places to use your gifts. The gifts were given to the church, but like an old tie or wool knit sweater from grandma, they stay in the bottom of the drawer. Have you ever wondered why the position of elder has gifts wired into it like “must be hospitable”? It’s not to feed Christians that are already well fed!
It’s not for fellowship. It’s for evangelism! Your house is meant to be open. You’re meant to have your life as a point of interaction. Your house is shared, your family life is shared, your meals around your table are shared. It’s so that, like Jesus, you can get to know them, be relational, and reach out.
For this reason, we didn’t limit it to reading groups. We’ve started film clubs during the week, where we can talk about various redemption themes in films. Take I am Legend. That movie scared the bejeebies out of me. Yet, laced throughout were various redemption sign posts. The movie opens with a screen shot of an old poster on a brick wall reading “God has not abandoned us”. Throughout the movie there is a theme of God being present through little things like butterflies, but the main character is too busy to notice. Finally, in the climactic scene, a flesh eating mutant cracks the bullet proof glass, making a butterfly pattern of cracked glass. His mind races back to his daughter’s observation about God and butterflies, and he knows what he must do. He must sacrifice himself so that others can live. He realizes that he’s been like God, trying to save mutants who are ready to rip him apart…and get this, he’s yelling out, “I can save you” to them repeatedly, trying to tell them that their salvation is in the blood vial that he’s holding out. Lost, the X-files before that…Dallas in the 80’s? Wait, I’ve gone too far. But I hope you’ve seen by now that you could start a U2 fan club, or anything that would get people contributing, and you’re in.
So how do you find the needs?
Buy Peyton’s newest book “Reaching The Unreached: Becoming Raiders of the Lost Art” over on Amazon.com. You can also download a free chapter and watch a cool trailer for the book HERE or click the image below.
