Ridgell's Originals

Or said another way:  Cuba, Stamford, TX., and Southern Hills in Abilene, TX..  I could put others on this list but these are mission efforts I have seen in the last few weeks.  These are all efforts by local churches to reach their communities with the good news of Jesus.

Cuba:  Open roads.  The Versailles church of Christ in Matanzas, Cuba calls their outreach Open Roads.  They plant house churches in every hamlet and village on the main roads leading in and out of their city.

Stamford:  Wacky Wednesday.  The Orient St. church of Christ gives most of their Wednesday night resources to feeding and teaching kids from the community.  As these kids grow, they will make decisions to follow Jesus.  Many of them will stay in Stamford.  The church will grow.

Southern Hills:  Bar church.  We are having a worship service in a bar.  The hope is that people who will not show up to worship in a church building might show up for one in a bar.  Relationships will be formed.  Jesus will be shared.  Kingdom will grow.

I need to say that I am not directly involved with any of these.  Tony Fernandez works with the Open Roads project and he is part of our Herald of Truth team.  So I have been able to visit many of the house churches and preach in several of them.  But I don't work with them regularly.  I've preached at Stamford and have friends there.  But I have never seen a Wacky Wednesday.  And I am an elder at Southern Hills but have never spoken at Bar church.  Never even attended a service.

And every one of these three has critics, many from other churches. Even some among their own congregations.  They are different.  They are "out of the box".  They require lots of time and effort.

And I am sure each of them could  be done better.  I doubt any of them do it exactly like I would do it if it all up to me to organize.  But here's the thing.  I love every one of them.  Pray for each of them.  Excited to see what God has done, is doing, and will do thru each of them.

I love them because each of these churches is doing something to reach lost people.  Thinking outside the box.  And in their own way, each of them is trying to "go into all the world" instead of hoping the world comes to them.

So don't be critical.  Pray for these efforts.  If you don't like it, then do something different at your church.  Or in your life.  But do something.  Don't waste your time and energy criticizing the ones who are.

So thanks brothers in Cuba, Stamford, and Abilene.

God, I pray that these efforts are an answer to the prayer for harvesters in a white field.  Bless them.