Come Thou Fount

Come Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love.


I’ve held a picture in my head of ministry for most of my life that included large and small crowds, eager faces and heartfelt reception. I have lived that picture, both in the crowd and on the stage. I know how satisfying it is to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, echo His sentiments through a microphone and see eyes fill with tears because real Truth changes people. I’ve seen hands raise for salvation and I’ve wept beside dying souls at altars. It’s probably the most humbling and amazing experience I’ve ever had to know that God used me to love and encourage someone into His family.

My picture is changing though. The world is changing, and though large crowds are still valuable for communicating the gospel message, there is something else creeping into the Colosseum.

I once asked God to show me a visual of what my ministry goals need to be. What does it look like beyond the everyday lifestyle of grace?

I saw a little girl with a cup full of good water…she stood at the edge of a huge lake and looked out over the shores of it. There were people all along it’s edges collecting water. Some drinking it fully, face first, some with cups, some with hands dipped into the water. They were all enjoying it, they wanted as much as they could get, but the little girl saw a discoloring in the water. She knew that not all of the water was pure. She wanted to pour the good water in, to offer it to the people, but she knew it would only mix in with the bad water and do them little good.

Instead she found someone who wasn’t at the lake drinking. There were others walking around, some thirsty, some just ignoring the crowd. She offered her water to them. She ran back to the source of the pure water. A spring that came up out of the ground as clear as crystal and she filled her cup again. One at a time she offered a drink to those who would accept it and for those who were willing she would lead them back to the fount she had found so they could fill their own cup.

The world is being poisoned by information right now. It’s like a sea of deception that rolls up to every shore looking for those who need refreshing. People love to be informed. They want the 25 best ways to cure a cold and the top 10 reasons to own chickens. The crowd wants to be impressed, shocked, moved and inspired, and in the process of mixing stagnant information into real truth, they lose sight of what is real, worthwhile and valuable.

We never let ourselves get too far away from information, social media is our new god and our mobile devices are the altars we bow at.

I just read a blog about not waiting for permission to begin getting your message out. It was a good post, one I agree with wholeheartedly, but it reminded me that there are very few who have something worth saying. The premise is to encourage people to explore their God given talents and move forward with the gifts they have. Don’t wait for a crowd to gather around you, start pouring out to others right where you are…

…but I paused, because I saw that little girl again and I thought, “no.” I will not pour this goodness into another sea of mixed information. This is Truth that I’ve been given and it is not the notion that I am worthy of an eager audience that keeps me from sharing it, it is the belief that it has way too much value to become convoluted in a sea of false information.

It isn’t the crowd I need to reach, though I have enough, and I’m willing to share with however many will listen, but God doesn’t desire to sway a crowd, He wants to save an individual.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

Remember, He left the ninety-nine to save the one. Most of us ignore the one, to entertain the ninety-nine. Here’s to seeking out the one who needs refreshing, and bringing them safely home.