Baptist Press ran an excellent story on March 28 entitled “Athiest shocked when church helps with bills.”
In a nutshell, a Baptist church in Athens, Texas, is doing what it should be doing — showing the love of Christ to those who do not know Him. The church has befriended an avowed atheist who once sued a Texas county for placing a nativity scene on the courthouse lawn.
He later dropped the lawsuit because of health issues that required his time, attention and resources.
A member of Sand Springs Baptist Church in Athens learned of the man’s plight, brought it to the attention of her pastor, and the church sprang into action. As a result, the church has begun forming relationships with the man and his wife, who live in San Antonio, as they helped them with some bills.
Some quotes from this atheist are haunting.
“No Christian at all that we’ve ever met in our lives had ever been nice to us. No Christian has ever done anything for us.”
The couple is planning to make Athens their home with the help of Sand Springs Church and others.
The man has not changed his beliefs, but he has told members of the church he would visit.
That’s a huge step, one he would never have dreamed of had a Texas church not reached out to him in spite of his known convictions.
What a great example of a church “being the church.” All our churches would do well to follow suit.
March 29, 2012 at 3:54 pm |
What a great example of Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good,”!
I pray that the undeserved kindness this man has been shown by the folks of SSBC would open a great door for the Lord to save him and his wife.
I do have to admit that I’m a bit skeptical of the man’s quote, “No Christian at all that we’ve ever met in our lives had ever been nice to us. No Christian has ever done anything for us.” If that’s the truth, then that’s a shame, but I’d be surprised if that’s the actual truth.