Who's ever heard of a silent bride?

Ephesians 1:13-14 "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."

It is now time for me to make a confession. Those of you who know me personally will already know this quite well (maybe even too well :P), but those of you who know me through my thoughts written here, will not necessarily.

I am a hopeless romantic at heart. Hopelessly.

And you know what is perhaps one of the most exciting things for a person such as I? A newly engaged couple-- particularly if the new bride-to-be is a good friend of mine (insert shout-out to J and D!). Oh, yes, how I revel in the giggles, the laughter, the daydreaming and planning, the choices on wedding colours and bridesmaid dresses, parties, showers and the occasional "jumping-up-and-down-because-we-are-just-SO-EXCITED." Once, I was over at a friend's and her roommate (who is also a friend of mine) came home late one night to tell us she was engaged. I screamed, was quickly shushed with quiet giggles and was informed the next day that an apology note had been written to the renters in the basement suite on the account of my excited scream.

Did I mention? I am not just a romantic, but a loud one at that.

Now, I have not yet had the pleasure of being engaged, but I imagine, if it happens one day, there will not be one person I meet who will not hear about my big day (or, at least, will not be spared the shimmer of the brilliant diamond on my finger). Yup. Everyone will know Jenn is getting married to the man of her dreams. It will be fantastic.

Now to change the subject to a much more solemn, but not really unrelated, note: Why, then, has the church so effectively lost her "pre-wedding glow" and excitement to share with the world about her Knight in shining armor-- the one who rescued her and loved her, quite literally, to the death? Why has the church chosen to secretly hide her engagement ring in her pocket, or in some cases, take it off completely? 

Within the last year, God has slowly been doing a work in my heart. This work is the conviction to tell others about Jesus, and the urgency for those I love around me to know the same Jesus that I do. I am blessed to be in a community that is pushing forward as a church in a 'year of evangelism.' We believe time is short, and there is not a moment to lose. This was also driven home, when our community experienced the loss of three young people within the space of a month due to traffic accidents.

Even right now, I am not sure if I will be able to divulge the depths of my heart in this matter in the few words I have left. Perhaps this will turn into a "mini blog series" of sorts. I do not know, I just know, and am finding, when you really believe that the return of Christ is imminent, it changes something inside of you. I can not seem to shake the thought, "If I died or if Jesus came back tomorrow, and I had to stand before him, would he tell me that I had been faithful in sharing with others? Or would he tell me I missed the mark terribly." Worse yet, I being to weep if I ever think of my un-saved family dying and I could have done or said something to influence them to draw near to Christ--but I did not.

So what is the key to this Spirit of Evangelism that has been locked and tucked away within the church? Well, if evangelism is just being open and sharing and living like we were the bride of Christ, perhaps we need to fall in love with our Savior again. Ephesians 1:13-14 says, that the Holy Spirit was given to us as a guarantee-- essentially, the promise from Christ, to the church, that he would come back for us-- a holy engagement ring. So this is the conclusion that this brings me: if we are falling in love with our Saviour by participating in a true relationship with him, and functioning in the power of the Holy Spirit, there should be no reason that we should become a "silent bride."

Just now I am realizing that I may be in way over my head in attempting to communicate the very little bit I have been learning about evangelism. But my heart is burning to share it with you. We do not know how much time is left. In the case of Ryan, Olivia and Joey, their time was cut off drastically shorter than anyone would have thought. And yet, God is using their deaths to spur on a generation of youth to "flash their heavenly engagement ring" in the face of the world and invite them to come closer and look, and ask questions about our Groom. 

A bride in love with her intended cannot help but be bursting to share. Who`s ever heard of a silent bride?