Radiate Christ

“They don’t just talk about Christ, they radiate Christ.” Max Lucado

We had only been members a few months when a lady approached me and said, “I’ve been looking for you!” I had never seen this person in my life. I said, “Well, here I am!” She went on to tell me that her maiden name was Brady, and she wanted to know where I was from. I told her I grew up in Kentucky. She quickly let me know she was a North Carolina Brady. I think most Bradys settled in North Carolina when they came to the new world. She was a funny lady, and I liked her right away. I think we were a lot alike.

Emma was a member of Christ Baptist Church, and she had two jobs; teaching the four and five year old children — and the other (not an office or a position) was a prayer warrior. She loved children and they loved her. Ms Emma could get more out of those little children than their parents could. They could not wait to see Ms. Emma on a Sunday morning. She loved all children, from the smallest to the oldest teens. And she prayed for them.

After Emma and I had finished talking about our blood kinship she asked, “Do you have any grandchildren?” I told her I had three of them, two in Wake Forest and one in Kentucky. She immediately handed me a piece of paper and said, “Write down their names, their ages and where they go to school. I want to pray for them.” I learned that she had a very long list of church members grandkids’ names to go with the list of children and teens in our church. And I understood that she prayed for all of them.

Wow! Isn’t that what we want—a prayer warrior praying for our children and grandchildren? Max Lucado said that these people have one foot in heaven and the other on a cloud. We need people praying for us whose prayers reach the ears of God. We need those who love Jesus and who radiate his likeness.

To quote Max Lucado again, “We need those who will pray for our children.”

“We need them to put passion in our worship.”

“We need them to write songs of joy and sing songs of glory.”

“We need them to kneel and weep and lift their hands and pray.”

A few months ago Ms. Emma and her husband were at a McDonalds having lunch. She  got up to go get something they needed. As this sweet lady made her way from the table, she fell backwards and hit her head on the floor. She was knocked out. The EMTs were called, but they were not able to revive her. She was taken to the hospital, but Ms. Emma never regained consciousness. In a couple of days she went to be with Jesus.

The next Sunday the parents of some of the children were worried about how Ms. Emma’s absence would affect these little ones. One of the little five year old girls came running into the room just as excited as she could be and exclaimed to the others, “Guess what! Ms. Emma has gone to live with Jesus!” That seemed to please everyone of them. There was a time of rejoicing! Indeed Ms. Emma, my North Carolina cousin, is in heaven living with Jesus.

Now, let me ask, Who is going to take her place? Not just at Christ Baptist Church, but in every church across our nation. Who is going to step up and take her place and the place of others like her in your church? Maybe, just maybe, that person is you!