Dr. Peter Wallace
Day1
Atlanta, Georgia
Dear Peter:
As I read the sermon by Will Willimon two things came to mind. First, most any preacher who has been around for a long time has heard it said "the best thing that can happen to this church is to have a few good funerals".
Second, where dropping every thing and being set free from all of our stuff to follow Jesus, so much of it depends on what our stuff is and how wed we are to our stuff.
We naturally feel sorry for any person who is selfishly hooked on their stuff. We all know stuff is so temporary, here today gone tomorrow.
For example, Mahatma Gandhi got rid of his stuff to follow his God and helped to liberate a race of people. Without stuff, Gandhi inspired the world. The late R.G. LeTourneau kept the riches he earned, his stuff from his great Caterpillar Company, then gave much of it away to follow Jesus. He used his stuff to
build schools and change lives.
To be a true and dedicated follower of Jesus, which most of us, regardless of our age are still in the beginner stage, has more to do with how we use our so-called stuff than it does than being set free from it.
A wise person is reported to have said "A Christian should make all he can, save all he can and give all he can".
One can choose to be a Grinch with little or much of life's stuff. As Willimon suggest being set free unwed from whatever our stuff might be is the secret. As we all know, this is every persons dilemma and life long struggle.
Peter, best wishes to you and your talented staff.
Billy Cox
Louisville, Kentucky
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