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“Next Time” May Not Be Available

Imagine you are living in the 1960s. It’s August 1966, and a friend invites you to hear The Beatles – the world’s greatest band at the time – in concert live. You respond, “I can’t make it this year. I’ll go to their next concert.” Only The Beatles never play live again. But you couldn’t possibly know that when you declined the opportunity to hear them live.

It’s July 1980, and your favorite band, Led Zeppelin, is playing a few hours from where you live. You have a scheduling conflict that you can resolve, but you say to yourself, “I’ll just hear them another time.” September comes and Zep’s drummer dies. It then hits you – you said “no” to the last opportunity any mortal would ever have to see the original Zeppelin live.

It’s March 1994, and you’re a Nirvana fan. You’re invited to see them in concert. You respond, “I don’t have enough money for the ticket” (which really means, “I’d rather spend my money on something else right now.”). You shrug it off thinking, “I’ll just hear them live next time they play.” Well, there is no next time. A month later their lead man is gone.

It’s November 2008, and you are able to purchase discounted tickets to hear R.E.M. play live. You decline. Later you learn that the band will never play again. They officially split in 2011.

Do you see my point? It’s certainly not that you need to attend the next rock concert!

The point: Don’t put off golden opportunities. Opportunities like rare events that will help you go deeper in the Lord, opportunities to hear and see gifted individuals who you may never see or hear again, or opportunities to make connections with others who are on the same journey, saying to yourself, “I’ll just attend next time.”

Because “next time” may not be available to you.

P.S. A NOTE TO THE LEGALISTS AND THE PEEVISH – As I’ve argued elsewhere repeatedly, one of the nasty sides of legalism is the pushing of one’s personal, subjective standards on everyone else. This article is making a clear point that is made plain at the end. The examples I gave are simply metaphors. They aren’t the point.

Related:

Why Christians Are Behind the Ball Again – The Value of Mastermind Events

Are You a Peevish Christian?

On Legalism: Charles Spurgeon vs. D.L. Moody

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Category: Rethinking

About Frank Viola

Frank Viola is a best-selling author, blogger, speaker, and consultant to authors and writers. His mission is to help serious followers of Jesus know their Lord more deeply so they can experience real transformation and make a lasting impact. To learn more about Frank and his work, go to 20 Years of Projects. To invite Frank to speak at your event, go to his Speaking Page. Due to a new problem with persistent spam that we haven’t figured out how to control, comments are closed for the present time. To contact Frank, use the “Contact” page in the top menu.

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Frank Viola

Frank is a bestselling author, speaker, podcaster, and blogger. He helps serious followers of Jesus know their Lord more deeply so they can experience real transformation and make a lasting impact. His blog – frankviola.org – is regularly ranked in the top 5 of all Christian blogs on the Web and his podcast – Christ is All – has ranked #1 in Canada and #2 in the USA on Apple Podcasts. He and his conversation partners also host The Insurgence Podcast. Frank’s books have sold over 600,000 copies and they’ve been translated into many languages.

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