[1]NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Employees at LifeWay Christian Resources have an opportunity ordained by God to communicate the gospel, Anne Graham Lotz said during an April 5 chapel service.
But to be effective, LifeWay employees must have the relationship with God they describe in their resources, said the founder and president of AnGeL Ministries.
Lotz, the daughter of Billy and Ruth Graham and author of several books, including her latest, “Heaven: My Father’s House,” said working at LifeWay “isn’t just a career. This is a divinely ordained opportunity from God for you to get his message out to the world.”
She challenged employees at the Southern Baptist Convention entity in Nashville, Tenn., to develop or deepen their relationship with God through Bible study and prayer “in order to fulfill God’s message to the world.”
“I feel that God has raised up LifeWay Christian Resources for such a time as this to extend a hand and pierce the darkness with the light of God’s Word and bring people in touch with the Savior,” she said. “I want to applaud you for the ministry that takes place in this building and reaches all around the world. Not only do you bring people the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, you also help people who are saved by giving them strength and leading them into the fullness of the Christian life.”
Lotz said she believes the tragic events of Sept. 11 are a dramatic example of a warning from God. While she said she does not believe God caused the violence, she observed that perhaps he allowed it to get an important message across to the church and the world.
[2]“I think for the church, the message was ‘Wake up! It’s time to get serious about the gospel, and it’s time to get serious about the lost world.'”
God’s message, she believes, is that no matter who you are, you had better get right with him.
Christians are living in a wicked world, Lotz said, and they have a duty to tell God’s message of judgment and salvation. She described a wicked world as one where there is “no wholesomeness, no humbleness, no niceness, no faithfulness, no righteousness and no truthfulness at all.
“That’s a wicked world, and we can dress it up with all of our material prosperity, and we can make it look lovely and luxurious, but it’s still a wicked world.”
Using Genesis 6, Lotz described Noah’s experiences and applied them to contemporary life, outlining the components of a wicked world and a God who watches, warns and grieves for his creation.
She said she believes God is warning people today through environmental and natural disasters. And while LifeWay produces resources that give voice to those warnings, she said, “sometimes the world won’t listen to preachers and teachers. They won’t read the books, and they’re not into all these resources, so God, in his mercy and grace, warns us through hurricanes and forest fires and floods and earthquakes.”
It doesn’t matter if you are the president of a company or a janitor in the company, she said. It doesn’t matter if you a have a thick stock portfolio or no savings account. It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, male or female, white or black, conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, Protestant or Catholic.
“The only thing that matters is that you are right with God,” she said. “You know, the really tragic thing is that the world doesn’t seem to get the message and neither does the church.”
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(BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: LOTZ AT LIFEWAY.