By now everyone has heard of the hit television show, Extreme Home Makeover. Whole communities work together to provide a new home for a family in need. It is amazing to watch the cast and crew of the show as they rally the town, the builders and each other, in order to complete the project within seven days. Then, when it's time to bring the family home, all those people get the chance to celebrate the accomplishment together. Even viewers feel they have a chance to participate in the celebration. It is an emotional and moving experience one feels right there in your living room.
Imagine what could possibly happen if a community of believers, called the church, or a nation that is going through a financial meltdown and trying desperately to recover, would come together somehow to change the world for the better. The church especially, since I am a pastor, has not always done it's part in the "makeover" that needs to take place. However, I for one want to get up from my comfortable couch to say I will help make a difference. I care for you personally just like the people who are helping build a home for a needy family. I want to help build a life on the foundations that will last for years and eternity. The foundation, our nation and we the people need, is a spiritual transformation. Remember when 9/11 happened, this nation united. Churches were filled for several Sundays like never before because we had experienced a crisis of unprecedented proportion and we were bound to come together and rise above the smoke and the rubble to become a better nation and a better people. It takes a spiritual makeover, though. I hear the pundits on news channels going at it from several different perspectives and they are really missing the boat. Until an inward transformation takes place, an outward one isn't going to happen.
A farmer asked his vet to come out to check on his favorite, but ailing, bull. After checking the bull's vital signs, the vet reached in his black bag and pulled out a rather large pill. He forced open the bull's mouth and crammed the pill down his gullet. Suddenly, the bull jumped up and took off like a banshee, jumping every fence in his way. The vet exclaimed, "Well, looks like your bull is healed!" The farmer replied, "Now give me one of those pills". "For what ever for? " asked the vet. The farmer exclaimed, "Now I have to catch him."
There is a lot of talk about "Change" from both candidates seeking the presidency and by the time election day comes they will have offered every family in America a lush lifestyle sitting on the beach and never working another day, a pie in the sky for everyone. The promises keep coming but I hope and pray that we understand an Extreme Nation Makeover and more importantly, an individual personal makeover only comes from one individual at a time, making a spiritual change through Jesus Christ and there is no other way to build your life.
