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{"id":135,"date":"2011-07-29T16:23:19","date_gmt":"2011-07-29T22:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/dry_bones\/?p=135"},"modified":"2011-07-29T16:23:19","modified_gmt":"2011-07-29T22:23:19","slug":"youve-got-mail-forward-or-perish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drybones\/2011\/07\/youve-got-mail-forward-or-perish\/","title":{"rendered":"You’ve Got Mail: Forward or Perish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cStop what you\u2019re doing and read this email. If you love Jesus, pray for the person who sent this to you and then forward this to ten people. If you believe, send this message. But, send it only if you believe Christ Jesus is your Lord and Savior.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Many of them conclude by pulling out the big guns with something along these lines: \u201cIf you are not ashamed to do this, please, follow Jesus\u2019 instructions. He said (Matthew 10:32-33): \u2018Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whosoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Does deleting an email qualify as denial?<\/p>\n

Does grace flow through the Send button? Is my contact list my mission field? (Okay, maybe some of you.) Does this forward-or-forfeit dilemma jeopardize my sanctification in some way? And those emails that promise answers to prayer once I\u2019ve forwarded them to you and you\u2019ve returned them to me and I\u2019ve returned them to the persons who sent them to me, who returned them to their senders? What am I missing? Explosions of blessing? What are you missing?<\/p>\n

Would that holiness were that easy. I\u2019d push the Send button all day long. Send, Send, Send \u2026 Bask in glory \u2026 Send, Send, Send \u2026 Add jewels to my crown \u2026 Send, Send, Send \u2026 Feel really good about myself.<\/p>\n

Instead \u2013 I confess here \u2013 I delete them. Yes, after I read them (oh, yes, I do read them), I push Delete. I\u2019m a Forwarding Curmudgeon. I\u2019m hoping and trusting that this is not, come Judgment Day, deemed an actionable offense along the lines of \u201cdenying Christ,\u201d registering \u201cyou\u2019re-clearly-lukewarm\u201d on the hot-cold meter.<\/p>\n

So\u2026 just in case, I offer a little anti-denial prayer just before I hit Delete, and whisper Send. I mean, Amen.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"