News at ABWE
A Sobering Urgency
By Dave McIntyre
Brazil
Arterial blood loss and shooting flames--that used to be my definition of “things that are urgent.” Everything else could be approached with relative calm and deliberation.
What makes it onto your urgent list? Last week the Lord gave me a reminder of what is truly critical.
Orlando, the man who runs the Sports Center ministry here in Belo, Brazil, asked me to come over on Saturday morning and talk to a group of teenage guys who live in the local favela (slum). I gave them a short gospel presentation and talked about the ministry of the Sports Center and what it offers. During the talk, I asked how many of them have had a friend murdered because of the drug trade. All of them raised their hands. The Sports Center exists to offer them more than just a place to play soccer; it offers a way out of the horror of a life lived without the Lord.
That very night one of the boys I had been talking to was murdered.
It’s sobering, isn’t it? It’s more than just sobering--it’s urgent. Everything pales in comparison with the urgency of the gospel. Everything else can be approached with calm and deliberation but not the gospel. This is not a matter of life and death; it is a matter of eternal life or eternal death.