KATIE SANBOURNE'S IMPORTANT ADVICE

“...Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” (from John 2:5)

Her real name is NOT “Katie Sanbourne”. That’s completely fictitious. But I’ll call her Katie Sanbourne in this piece. Katie Sanbourne and her family attended (the now closed) First Assembly of God of Framingham, MA for many years. They departed from the church back in 2001. Katie and her family very very involved in the church. She held some leadership positions there. At times we agreed on things and at times we did not agree. There’s one statement she made one day, however, that I’ll never forget.

Katie said:
“If Christians would SEEK the Lord and then DO what He tells them to do, most of the problems in any church would be solved."

She’s right. That statement is simple. And it’s profound. Not long after Katie made that statement, and older woman in the congregation protested to me, “But THAT’S not REALISTIC?”

I replied that (sadly) it may not be “realistic” but it’s true. Even after Katie and her family left that church, I found myself quoting her statement often when I preached and when I taught classes. Frankly, some people were unhappy I kept quoting that. They became tired of hearing the statement.

“WHY do you have to KEEP quoting her?” one person asked. Another argued, “Katie did NOT take her own advice, so WHY quote her?!”

I answered that even if Katie hadn’t taken her own advice, the statement is absolutely true. And, that statement makes most evangelical Christians very uncomfortable because we tend to want things OUR way and not God’s way.

Yesterday morning at Bread of Life Church in Westminster, MA, Pastor Gary Collette preached a very good sermon. One of his strongest illustrations in the sermon was about the way leaders in churches are often calling for “unity”. Gary recounted that over a decade ago, when that church was in the midst of a major building program, the church’s leaders kept calling for “unity”. People were rebuked for not being in “unity”. There was a constant cry to “pray for unity”. It all sounded familiar. Over the years at Framingham, at times there were similar cries from some folks. Gary Collette bluntly stated that he and his leaders were WRONG in all their pushing for unity. Then, Pastor Gary explained it beautifully: That if each person had truly sought the Lord and truly obeyed Him, the church would have been in unity.

Gary Collette thus agreed with Katie Sanbourne. OR did Katie Sanbourne and Gary Collette both agree with the New Testament?! I’d say so.

Yes, it’s very basic, but most of us don’t practice it. The devil knows that IF and WHEN the Christians DO start practicing this, there will be true revival!