By Susan Kane
Church Multiplication

But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. (Jeremiah 20:9 niv)

I love a good fire! I love watching fires. I love sitting by fires. Actually, I love starting fires, but that is a whole other story. (Sorry, Dad and Mom!) There is something about a fire that has always drawn me towards it. And I don’t think I am all that different from most people. Fire draws a crowd. That is just what fires do.

A few weeks ago, I was driving back into Anderson, Indiana, after returning from an out-of-state trip. It must have been about one o’clock in the morning. It was cold and dark, and I was ready to be in my bed for the night. Off in the distance, on the southeast side of Anderson, I saw a glow in the night sky. It was a fire! It lit up everything around it. Inside, I wanted to scream out like Tom Hanks in the movie Castaway, “FIRE!”

At that moment, I wasn’t tired. In fact there wasn’t even a thought of the warmth of my bed. Instead, I went out of my way to see what was causing the fire. It was a mobile home, fully engulfed in flames. Everyone had safely exited, and emergency equipment was on hand to help put the fire out. I sat there in a nearby church parking lot, mesmerized by the sight. I wasn’t the only one. Car after car began to arrive. That’s because fire draws a crowd.

In the past few years, I have had opportunity to visit many congregations around the country. Just last weekend, I visited a church in Louisville, Kentucky. As I listened to their joy, heard their testimonies, read of their plan to take food baskets to needy families, watched youth respond to God’s call by filling the altar, and witnessed a first-time visitor recommit her life to Christ, I wanted to stand and yell, “FIRE!”

Some churches are full, exciting, and relevant. Others are mostly empty, dull, and disconnected. I have come to a conclusion. It isn’t a scientific conclusion. It is mostly just personal observation: Fire draws a crowd.

So let’s pray for fire! Let’s pray for a fire in the Church of God. Let’s pray that every individual, every church, and every agency might ignite everything we touch because of a fire that burns deep within our bones, a desire to fulfill that Great Commission spoken by our Lord so long ago when he said: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt 28:19–20 niv).