Precious SeedPreaching the word, in season and out of season; reproving, rebuking, and exhorting, with complete patience and teaching.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Romans 12:2

Hot, hazy, and humid – a typical August day and perfect for our annual inner tube float down the beautiful Allegheny River. Close to eighty of us shoved off from the Buckaloons campground in the early afternoon. The next few hours promised to be filled with laughter, fun, and a lot of horsing around. One highlight of the float was a particular place in the river where the current picked up and rushed by the bank of one of the islands we would pass. After being pulled through by the current, we would stop and enjoy swinging and dropping into the river from a rope swing.

As we approached the spot where the current picked up, I moved my inner tube over to get into the current. My wife followed on her tube and my three children followed in a small rubber raft. Very quickly, without warning, our afternoon fun turned life-threatening. The river had changed from the year before! Halfway through the area where the current picked up, a tree had fallen into the river. The current was pulling us into the tree. The water was pulling down and rushing under the tree. We tried to paddle out but could not. I reached the tree first. It was all I could do to stay on top of the water. My wife was next and her tube went under. She managed to grab my arm and a limb of the tree. She clung to that limb. My kids were already crying as they rushed toward us. I managed to kick their raft away from the tree. They floated to safety. Some twenty minutes later, a number of men from the church were able to reach Kim and me. We were all safe.

In the day and age we live in, it is easy to get caught in the current of what is popular. Paul wrote in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

The current of the world says, “do for yourself”, “get ahead”, “be first”. Jesus said, “If you want to be first, be last. If you want to be on top, be the servant of all.” The world says, “If it feels good, do it.” Being caught by a ‘current’ like that can be deadly.

As the church, we are the ‘called out ones’ (‘ekklesia’ in Greek). We are to be in the world but not of the world. We don’t follow the flow, current, or pattern of the world. We follow Jesus.

I encourage you to be different, love, be radical, forgive, be transformed, forget about yourself and serve others.

Pastor Jeff York