Building One Another  

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. I Thessalonians 5:11

Be a Door Opening Doorkeeper!

Dear Friend,                      

I once drove near an army post where I attended junior high school, a place of many memories. I decided to visit, but the guard told me that the post was closed to visitors.

I called a friend who had recently been stationed there. He phoned a friend of his who was still on that post and that friend made it possible for me to visit! I spent two wonderful hours seeing the places of my childhood.

All I needed was a doorkeeper who could and would open the door.

There is an interesting moment where we see Philip and Andrew function like doorkeepers, opening the door to Jesus:

Some Greeks… came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. John 12:20-22

As Sam Shoemaker concluded in his “An Apologia for My Life:”

“As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place, near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there.  But not so far from people as not to hear them, and remember they are there too.  

"Where?  Outside the door—thousands of them, millions of them.  

"But—more important for me—one of them, two of them, ten of them, whose hands I am intended to put on the latch, so I shall stay by the door and wait for those who seek it.  

"‘I had rather be a door-keeper . . .’  So I stay near the door.'"

By God’s grace, you, too and me, too!

Joy to you - Stan

© Copyright 2021 E. Stanley Ott

Scripture from the ESV

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1. Think of moments you were turned away, not invited, kept out or left out. How did you feel?

2. Think of moments you were invited in, welcomed, pulled in, made to be a part of something. How did that feel?

3. You are the doorkeeper to your own life. Who are the people in your life who are on the outside just waiting for you to open the door with a "please come in."

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." - Jesus (Revelation 3:20 ESV) Be the doorkeeper who opens the door for people to Jesus!

To read Sam Shoemaker's full essay about being a doorkeeper, type "Sam Shoemaker I Stand by the Door" or "Sam Shoemaker An Apologia for My Life," into Google or another search engine.

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Photo by Andre Ouellet on Unsplash