Open Season

Tomorrow is the first day of the season. I know that I won't be able to sleep tonight. Dreams of monster bucks and venison steaks will be dancing through my head. In Alabama, bow season runs from October 15 through January 31. It is one of the longest seasons in the country. We also have one of the most liberal limits, too.  Here, with a bow, a hunter can take two does or one buck and one doe a day. Of course, I never even come close to that. Instead, a good season for me means three-total! (Jokingly, I say that I am the chairman of the Hartford Deer and Turkey Eradication Program... My job might be in jeopardy with those numbers!)

I guess I get so excited because there is a closed season. From February 1 through October 14, the deer are safe from hunters like me. (Usually, about June I go through post season depression, knowing I'm only halfway through the closed season.) So, even though October doesn't make the best hunting weather, I still am excited to go hunt with old friends. In fact, I leave today to go hunt with my buddies Christ and Paul over in Lowndes County. By the time you read this, I'll be back. I hope I will have a great story and a cooler full of venison. It's open season and I'm ready.

In the church it is open hunting season, too. Not to worry... we are not going to be slinging any arrows or wearing camouflage in worship. Rather, it is time to "hunt" for prospective souls. In fact, there is no closed season on Christian hunting in the church. The Hartford First United Methodist Church, much like the great state of Alabama, has one of the most liberal bag limits in the denomination. We want you to "harvest" every potential member who needs God's message of grace and salvation. We encourage you to take every opportunity to "call in" a lost soul into ministry of this fine church.

Are you ready? Are you losing sleep? Are you excited? Let's go find some folks who need us much as we need them. Let's go share the gospel. Let's meet people's needs where they are. Let's pray for those without prayer. Let's do creative ministry. Let's re-commit our lives to Jesus. Let us truly be "a family of believers, welcoming everyone, spreading God's Word, and fulfilling spiritual needs." "Let's get busy... It's open season!