Being Real in Life

As some of you may know, I have been talking a lot lately about authentic relationships. About being real in life. When I mention these things, however, I am not just saying these things in the context of a church setting. I am talking about life. Genuineness should permeate every part and parcel of our life. For too long has the modern church delineated between the secular and the sacred. Every part of our life should be sacred. That is part of the problem of why so many people have abandoned the church, because their real life looks nothing like the church. But that is no slam on the unchurched people; our real life doesn't resemble our church setting either. But where do we take this? Am I saying that our church should resemble every part of real life? If that means members of the church hanging out in each other's homes, sharing struggles with one another, eating together, encouraging one another, and talking about Scriptures, then yes, that is what I mean! If it means that we should tear down every ritual or tradition that is not present in real life, then no, that is not what I mean. Nevertheless, there are some things that the church does that perhaps needs to be looked at. Not for the sake of novelty. But for the sake of relevance and freshness. I openly confess that I do not have all of this figured out, but I am enjoying the journey. That is because I know that it will only take me deeper into the world of effectiveness for the cause of Christ. I want to be effective in my ministry for Christ, so I must always be asking myself if I am authentic in my relationship with God. If that is the case, then I am not afraid to ask if I am authentic in my relationships with others also.

A Moment of Life

It seems that today was just a hodge podge of different issues all running together. My mind was very slow to respond (I know by saying this I am opening myself up to an untold number of juvenile "cut downs"). Maybe it was the fact that my two-year old son wanted to get an early start on the day, by rising at 4:45 AM! I don't guess it is really good parenting if you spank your kid when you are half asleep, but I seriously considered it. Maybe it was the acid reflux I had through the night from my supper the night before (I guess I have now offically turned into my dad and brother). Or maybe it was the sub-par machiatto (have no idea if you spell it that way) that I was eagerly anticipating. Perhaps it was the fact that I have been looking for my Bible and calendar since yesterday. And maybe it was my wife who told me the real reason I was aggravated was because it was my calendar that was lost. Not sure if any of these things had to do with how my day began, but I am sure they all had their part. However, despite these happenings, they were mere ripples on the water compared with the day at large.

The real day started with my continued journey in the Book of Acts, and I got some really great insight into witnessing and bridging relationships (it is amazing how the Bible does that). I usually try to read for about an hour during the first part of my morning, so I was able to dive back into my current study of "the emerging church." It is a movement that I am studying right now by reading two books about it, one in favor of it and one in opposition to it, although both of them say positive and negative things about it. I also made some phone calls and ran some errands (such as visiting the window shop, the post office, our treasurer's house, and a sign shop). After I did all that I ran to get my kids from school, and then did some newsletter and periodical readings about things going on in our town, which is more than a blog site can hold. I am also trying to keep up with this story about the Georgia Baptist Convention voting to oust Mercer University in Macon. I also read from this one Catholic paper how the problem with a lot of Christianity today is St. Augustine, the Apostle's Creed, and Martin Luther's contaminated doctrine of justification by faith alone. Since those things have been pretty important to my faith, I was interested to read someone else shred it apart. After picking myself up off the floor in the style of Switchfoot's "Dare You to Move" hit, I began to do some planning about the church and set a tentative date for me and Melissa to host another Family and Fun Fellowship at our house, since I talked about "Authentic Relationships" from Romans 12 yesterday, and hit on hospitality a great deal. I guess it is pretty important to not just preach the truth, but to do it as well (seems like I may have read that somewhere before). And then I finally studied for my Wednesday devotion (I try not to call it a sermon, since it is more of a sharing time, than preaching, and since it is more abbreviated as a result of our prayer time). And then I got ready for supper and took out the trash and talked with my kids (which I try to do at least twice a month). It was all in all a great day. And the truth is, I love my family. I was sitting at the supper table tonight thinking how great my wife is to put up with a jerk like me. And my kids are just great. I don't mean that in an artificial sense, either. They are far from perfect, of course, as we all are. For all of their irritating imperfections, they are kids. And kids can take the most pointless day and turn it into a moment of laughter or meaning where you are glad you're alive. Thanks God for your goodness to me in giving me my family.

Being a Witness in a Post-Modern Culture

I want to be brutally honest with you in what I am about to say. I really struggle with the methodologies of traditional witnessing or evangelism. The truth is that all believers (if they are honest) get nervous when they go to tell a complete stranger about Jesus Christ. That fact, however, does not mean that cold-call witnessing can't work. I have certainly seen it work. I am speaking from the vantage point of someone who has been involved in evangelism or witnessing for almost eighteen years. And most of the methods that were employed by me or the ones involved with me were traditional methods. Now, it might be helpful to clarify what I mean by "traditional" at this point. Because traditional for me may not be traditional for someone else. Traditional, to me, means going up to complete strangers and talking with them about Jesus Christ. This, of course, can take a number of different forms. The gamut runs from the most extreme form of street preaching to conventional door-knocking. Am I saying these methods can never be used again in any culture? No, I am emphatically not saying that. The truth is that I have used some of these quite a few times in the last year. However, I am just not sold on their effectiveness.

Let me continue to clarify what I mean here. We are not debating the message of the gospel. Jesus
Christ is the gospel. He is what must be proclaimed for people to be saved from themselves. I am debating the method that is to be used in this endeavor. As I have mentioned previously, the culture I am in has unique challenges that will undoubtedly widen my perspective on things, as well as open up my thinking to new ways of doing ministry. I am not bound by any denominational tag or doctrinal statement. I am committed to Jesus Christ and His Word and His kingdom and I want to see people's lives transformed by that.

Seeing people converted, moreover, is my desire but not my responsibility. "I have planted (Paul said); Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." Jesus Christ is the "Lord of the harvest" and He is calling out a redeemed people for Himself. What it does mean is that I must be committed to Christ's leadership in my situations in day-to-day life to affect the relationships around me. I must "launch out into the deep" with an eye of faith and ask Christ to show me what is an acceptable method and what is not. I have looked in vain for a book of the bible that strictly discusses these methods. If there is not one, then I may have to lean on Christ for the answer. Paul made a statement that leaves the door pretty wide open, howeve, for suggestions: "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." Knocking on doors might work in the outer suburbs of metro Atlanta, but I am not sure if it is really effective in yuppie, eccentric, post-modern Grant Park, East Atlanta, or Little Five Points. Street preaching may also work in Jamaica or Nicuragaua, but I am not sure if it is the best method to Americans.

So, what is my point? I am learning that an honest, respectful, and open dialogue might be the best way to go with a lot of the culture. What that really boils down to is authentic relationships. In most cases it is a rude assumption on my part to go up and ask someone about their eternal destiny. First of all, I have not earned that right, and for me to pretend that I have a listening audience is the worst form of arrogance. I must attempt to build friendships with those I love. Certainly, we are commanded to love those who are not Christians. So, I guess that would mean them. What? That can't be, because it says "friendship with the world is enmity with God." That is actually the "kosmos", or world system, which is in compliance with Satan. It means we shouldn't give ourselves over to the philosophy or wisdom of the world that contradicts God. Entering the culture and becoming friends with people for the sake of loving them I think is what Jesus did. He was even criticized for that by the religious people calling him such bad names as a "friend of sinners." Our relationship, however, must be genuine and not conditional. In other words, if they are not interested in the gospel I must not abandon them, but continue to try to be God's epistle to them through my life and actions. Jesus certainly did not betray Judas although He knew what was in his heart, and even extended love and compassion to him till the very end.

I will admit that this form of evangelism requires a level of commitment not typically seen in many Christians today, but that doesn't mean it is not essential to our being an effective witness for Christ. For some, this will cause them to say that I am promoting life-style evangelism, or even the social gospel, but never have I negated the absolute necessity of the gospel to be prolaimed. I am just submitting that it is time that we take a look at our culture and see what is needed in our approach to sharing the gospel.

Someone may ask the question, "how far do we go in this?" I am not totally sure, to be honest. I am still finding my way, to be sure. We obviously do not sin in our trying to be friends or build bridges. But, let us also be careful in discriminating what is sin and what is a cultural preference. There are a lot of things in our culture that we are not comfortable with that are not outright sins. And our problem is that we desire to clean them up before (or even when) they get converted. I won't go into all the specifics at this time, but I am suggesting that we go into the Word of God and into the depths of our heart, and see what God would have us to do to more effectively witness of Jesus Christ.

Pride and Prejudice

Sorry, but this will have nothing to do with that book or movie, but I could think of no other title to epitomize my thoughts here.

Last night, Melissa (my wife) and I stayed up later than we should have to watch a movie called “Crash” that was just released this year. I won’t go into all the details of the plot, but it involved a lot of different people from various backgrounds and even ethnic distinction. Although I didn’t agree with everything about the movie, I thought it did a good job of portraying the “pride and prejudice” in many people. This issue of prejudice and racism in the movie brought about some ridiculous and unfortunate events, in some cases events that the person deeply regretted once it was done. Prejudice is really just a nice word, though, for hatred. We don’t like to be that extreme, but that is exactly what it is. When we prejudge a person especially on the basis of their ethnic distinction, then we are revealing not only our shallowness, but our arrogance, and ultimately our disdain for God, because they, too, are image-bearers of God.

When I came to be the pastor of our church, one of the first things God placed on my heart was the desire for us to be a multi-cultural or multi-ethnic church. I thank God that that has come to pass at least in part, but I am praying for God to do immeasurably more than anything we could ever ask or imagine. Why, you ask, would I want something like that? Because, first of all, I believe that God has commanded us to preach the good news about Jesus to all peoples everywhere. I believe that when all the people groups of the world are reached, then Christ will come back to usher in his kingdom. But I also believe that different peoples (or races) commend a beautiful mosaic of the grace of God to our world. What is shameful is that segregation has been broken down in just about every organization under the sun except the one where it should most likely be broken down – the church! The people of God should be leading the way in this, but unfortunately that isn’t the case. Fortunately God is at work and prejudices and arrogance is being obliterated in the hearts of many.
Because we are all “one in Christ” and there is no Christian division of Jew or Gentile, or Caucasian or African American, or Asian or Hispanic, I rejoice that we are all brothers and sisters together in God’s family if we have given our lives to Christ. I think this is somewhat important since John tells us of a scene in heaven where it will be sung to the Lamb how He with his blood “purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” And then several chapters over in the Revelation, those who have overcome will testify to the Lamb that “all nations will come and worship before you.” I guess when we stand there, there will be no need for an emancipation proclamation or civil rights movement, because there will be no pride or prejudice.

Reminiscences of My Dad

Today is the 62nd birthday of my Dad. This year will be my 32nd birthday. My little boy J.T. is 2 years old right now, and there are almost the same 30 years separating our two lives as has separated my Dad and my life. I am not sure the significance of this trivia, other than to say that there is a peculiar bond between a father and his son. Often times I have missed the opportunity to tell him how much he has meant to me through the years.

Today, I would like to devote just a couple of moments to his birthday. I do recall one story when we went to Disney World one year. My Dad and I were in line to ride Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom and as we got closer I began to be afraid, so afraid that as we got up there I asked if we would not ride it. Dad was cool about the whole thing and made me feel okay in my feeling afraid. Furthermore, he didn’t tell Mama and Sherri (my sister) that the reason for our not wanting to ride was my fear. The funny thing is I look back on that day and regret not riding Space Mountain, because now I love roller coasters (I had never ridden one at that time). However, the main thing I think about is how my hero, my Dad, came to my rescue by saving me from humiliation.

Another thing I remember is that growing up my Dad used to ask me to ride with him in the car all the time (in fact, if we are in town, he still does). He could be riding thirty feet, but most of the time I would try to go with him. It was during those times that he would talk and teach me about life, culture, and God (hey, that sounds a lot like the subtitle of this blog). It is true that my Dad and I don’t agree on everything, but the fact is that he taught me to think for myself about things. I will always appreciate that about him. Dad was always opinionated (and still is), but his opinions predominately came out of a heart of good intentions and concern for his family and others. I would hope that mine are from a similar origin, also.

In closing, I hope that I will be able to leave to my son and daughters just a fraction of the legacy that my Dad has left to me. I love him and will always remember his words of wisdom and his life of love. Thanks Dad, and may you have many more happy birthday’s.

The Church that Stays Together

When I was a little boy I used to ride a Sunday school bus to church in the morning and then ride with some neighbors to the service at night. I would go basically to be with some friends I played with (and a girl I liked) and I would often sit in the back of our rather large auditorium and draw on the inside of these really old hymnals as the pastor would preach (sorry about those hymnals by the way, if you are from that church). I had this friend who eventually grew up and got involved in some devil worship or something like that (my skills of discernment started at an early age, as you can readily see), and we would just run around the church and fight and act up, until we made some adult mad. Not really sure why I have trouble getting my kids to behave "properly" in church now. The point of telling this story is to say that as a small kid I didn't care anything about church, but I kept coming because I made some friends (albeit not very good ones I will agree). I made a connection through relationships with other kids of like personalities or similar desires. People of every age still need to find a connection with the people who are part of the church, or the church will disintegrate.

This conclusion may seem to be a bit trite or overstated perhaps, but it is the truth that keeps showing up throughout so much of my reading lately. As I have been studying recently in the book of Acts, I have seen
this element so often demonstrated in the life of the early church. They were a group of believers that were not just committed to a set of beliefs or a system of doctrines; they were just as importantly committed to each other, and connected with each other's lives. Much of today's church is confined to a once-a-week (or twice if you're really religious) ritual of meeting together and focusing on things being taught and people worshipping and others entertaining us, and then experience a mass exodus when the last hymn is sung or the last amen is said. Unfortunately, many of us (myself included) forget that the church is more than a worship service or building or schedule; it is authentic relationships being expressed spontaneously in every part of our life and throughout every part of our schedule. Nevertheless, let me give some substance to my fluff before someone runs off and takes me out of context.

Acts chapter 2, verses 42-47. A lot of good stuff here, but I just want to take these thoughts as a whole, because this is a pretty detailed description of the early church. If you would allow me I would like to paraphrase the happenings in this text.These actions are probably good models for the church of today to emulate: (1) Devotion to the teaching of God's Word to the people of God, (2) Commitment to close association or participation with believers, (3)Regularity to eating the Lord's Supper together, (4)Collective prayer, (5) Unity of spirit and purpose, (6)Sensitive to meeting each other's needs, (7) Showing hospitality to one another by eating meals together in one's home, and (8) Praising God together. There is one thing that is outstanding about every one of these traits of the early church, and I believe that it is missing in a lot of churches today, the truth of togetherness. The church is not a family anymore. In the age of information, we have become an organization or even a business, but not what Christ ordained for us to be, the family of God.
We too often "have church" and then go off and live our own lives. But Jesus described the people of God as family. In Mark 3:33, 34, He asks, "Who are my mother and my brothers?' he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." This is evidently not only the family that prays together, but also the one that stays together (I know that is real clever, so you don't have to commend me). I am sure I will revisit this thought again, but for now that is all. Just wanted to vent some things that the Lord has been speaking to me about. Talk with you later.

Give the Press a Fair Shake

I must confess that I get a little bored with the same incessant bantering of radio talk show hosts going off on extreme tangents. The one that seems to reappear more often than any is the constant barrage against our country's media. Does this mean that I agree with everything that comes from a newspaper piece or is broadcast across the television set? Hardly, but nor do I subscribe to everything that comes from the mouth of conservative talk show hosts. I think it is unfortunate that a lot of society has become so ingrained with their way of looking at things that they just make generalities without any basis. Certainly there are those who have scandalized within this field, e.g. CBS with the "Dan Rather" situation. Nevertheless, there have been scandals to color just about every profession there is (certainly preachers are no exception as we can all readily attest). That is no excuse, however, for thoughtful discernment in being a victim to what I like to call "verbal diarrhea."

If nothing else gives us pause, let it be the example of the reporter named Jill Carroll, a 28-year-old reporter from the Christian Science Monitor who was kidnapped by terrorists January 7 in Iraq. Although some of us might not agree with its founder, Mary Baker Eddy, the Christian Science Monitor is hardly religious, although it is owned by the church Eddy founded, the First Church of Christian Scientist in Boston. Jill Carroll, however, was a woman who from what I can tell wanted to make a difference in life by what she wrote. I could only dream of this blog making a ripple. But, essentially she was an idealist who wanted to use her ability to write to portray the truth. I sincerely hope that Jill survives this terrible plight, but regardless her life is to be commended in that it exemplifies the very thing that the Iraqis and our U.S. soldiers and others are fighting for over there- freedom. Jill Carroll was in a war zone practicing her freedom of the press. She is learning what those fighting already know, freedom does not come without a price.

But why should this have any relevance to the issue of demonizing our nation's press? Because it is just this example that should make us wary of categorizing and stereotyping people or occupations. Certainly I have talked to enough people who have made comments to me (as a pastor) that smacks of the same verbal tactic. Like, "all you Christians are just the same," i.e. hypocrites. Or, "oh yeah, you Southern Baptists hate homosexuals." We are all familiar with these examples, and we all do it (yes, even me). We all fall victim to generalities, but let us ponder this moment and stop stereotyping our media. That doesn't mean that we blindly accept everything that someone writes or reports. Respecting the job that the press has is no excuse for intellectual laziness, either. One must discerningly weigh each writer and each segment that they write. You mean we might actually have to exert some careful judgment, and we might have to exercise some diligent effort to read more than one source? Yeah, I think that is similar to the same thing that we expect of our reporters. Why should it be any different for us?

Manning Moments

Well, as some of you know, the NFL playoffs are going on right now. This morning I was listening to an Atlanta sports talk radio show and they were talking about the Indianapolis Colts, who were 14-2 going into the game last weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I personally wanted the Colts to win, because I like Peyton Manning and I actually think he is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever put on a helmet. For those of you who don't know anything about football or the NFL, I will try to bring you up to speed. The Colts at one point in the season were 13-0 and they were talking about this team in comparison to the 1972 Miami Dolphins that finished with a perfect season and went on to win the Super Bowl. No other team had ever done it, and with this quarterback and receiver corp and offensive line and defense, this seemed like the year. But it didn't happen. Not only did they not finish the season with a perfect record; they lost 2 out of their last 3 games. Well, that is still o.k., because the main thing is winning the Super Bowl. They still won their division and wrapped up home field advantage easily and sat at home with a bye during the first week of playoff action. Therefore, they had an extra week of rest to get ready for the opposing team. Well, to make a long story even longer, they lost. They bit the dust. They got pummeled. They did make a game out of it at the end, but the end result still came out to be a big, fat L.

I couldn't believe it. Here sportscasters were salivating all over themselves this season about the possibility and even probability that this was the next great football dynasty. And the 9 and 1/2 point underdog Steelers did exactly that- they stold it from them before the Colts ever got to the Super Bowl, or even the AFC Championship game.

What is interesting, though, is that I was listening to these radio talk guys replay the press conference of Peyton Manning, and these news reporters were asking a bunch of questions that basically all said the same thing, "Peyton, what happened?" As you may or may not know, he finally made a comment which implicated his offensive line not protecting him against the agressive Steeler front. Everyone has been talking about whether he should have said that, because he was "dissing" his team. The bigger thought is how many of us have been in "big game" situations and have just caved into the pressure (not to mention his situation in front of the entire American media) and not only failed people's expectations, but played the blame game as well. I am not defending Manning. I think he should have taken full responsibility for the defeat of his team, but I also think he was being honest as well. He is only one man. In order to accomplish great things a lot of times it takes great teamwork as well as a great leader. Certainly Manning, as immortal as his reputation might become, can't be expected to block, protect, and throw the ball. But, nonetheless, Manning said that all he could do was just work hard and hope for better results next year. He also added that he had been in the league for about 8 or 9 years, and he had gotten tired of saying that over and over again. The cold, hard fact is that Manning may never win his elusive Super Bowl, because most never do. For those who have followed football for many years, think of Dan Marino. He got there once and got beat like a drum. Yet, he is still one of the greats who this year was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame.

I don't really have a punch line or moral for this. I guess if I was going to say anything, it would be to remember that we can't all win the Super Bowl, but we can still leave our mark in life by the way that we live and who we influence.

Getting the Kingdom

Although it is the first chapter of the Book of Acts, chapter one depicts for us very briefly the last chapter of Jesus' life on this earth. Last words, as you know, are pretty important, because they give priority to what the person values above all else in life, because they know that they are about to die. This is also true for Jesus, except he was about to ascend, which I am pretty sure is unique. The thing, though, that is remarkable is that Jesus' last words concerned one primary subject, the kingdom. Now, what is interesting is that if your understanding of the kingdom is completely future, then it makes absolutely no sense that Jesus would spend his final forty days talking about something that wasn't even relevant to their lives. What is indeed noteworthy is that most of the verses in the gospels having to do with the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Heaven (they are the exact same, by the way) all refer to some type 0f a present, spiritual kingdom. I won't take the time to bore you with all of the verses, but check it out and see if that is true. Now, I don't mean to say that there will be no future aspect of the kingdom at all, because you will also find verses that speak of a future kingdom. What does all of this have to do with anyway?

The point is that the kingdom has a relevance for our lives today, and if we don't get it then we miss out on a wealth of knowledge concerning what God wants from us. However, some will see that the disciples, after having been with Christ all this time, asked about the restoring of a kingdom to the Jewish people. In light of a spiritual kingdom, what is that all about? Well, I think there are a couple of possibilities for this: (1) They didn't fully get what Jesus had been talking about, because they were still seeing things from an Old Testament Jew's perspective, or (2) Jesus really did talk about the restoring of the kingdom to the Jews when he talked to them about the kingdom. There are strengths and weaknesses to either view. I personally am not decided on the nature of the kingdom, or what it will look like in the future. What I do believe is that there are two aspects of the kingdom of God, a future and a present one.

Regardless of which approach one uses with this passage, I think you have to look frankly at Jesus' answer, and therein lies the ethos of the kingdom. Jesus responds by directing their attention back to the priority of communicating Him to all the peoples of the earth. It could, of course, be argued that in doing that he was in a sense debunking their limited view of the kingdom. I think that is probably true if you interpret it either way. Regardless, the first eleven verses of chapter one give us a tremendous insight into the priority of living for Christ as one of His disciples. If we get what He is saying, we will (1) understand Christ's kingdom as relevant to our lives now, (2) go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit, (3) try to spread the name of Christ all over the world, and (4) realize that Christ is coming back some day to set up the future aspect of His kingdom. When we have these priorities active in our life, then we enter the inner circle of Christ's disciples, and begin to get the true meaning of the kingdom.

Entertaining Angels

A few nights ago we met a woman at the church who began immediately to describe that she was in a dire need of some money and food, etc. She was very nice, and yet very agressive. We had just finished having a meal when she came in. After having given me a letter to explain her plight in more gruesome detail, she sat down and participated in our prayer meeting, during which she requested prayer for her daughter going to college somewhere in the northeastern U.S. so that she would pass a test. After the prayer meeting, I briefly summarized her situation to the group and asked if anyone could give and wanted to do so. The lady received quite a bit of money for a bus fare to take her to work, along with a big bag of leftover food from our pot luck supper. Moreover, I also gave her a ride to her house (with my niece Hannah aboard), so she could put the food in her refrigerator. Finally, she expressed tremendous joy for our helping her, as well as her assurance that we would see her at church on Sunday morning. We have yet to see the woman, and you'll have to forgive me if I am not standing outside to look for her.

As you can probably imagine, there are mixed thoughts about people like Rosa (this is not her real name by the way). Thoughts like, "you're probably not the first person who got ripped off," or "what a waste, " or "God will judge her for taking money like that from his people." But the truth is, there has to be a lot of assumptions made before someone can come up with any opinion about Rosa. You have to assume that she intended to manipulate and lie and steal to get help or things or money that she really did not need. The truth is I don't know anything about Rosa except what she told me, and I might could just give her the benefit of the doubt. "But, " you say, "she did say that you would see her Sunday." Right, kinda like you tell your family that they are welcome anytime, and they can stay as long as they want. That's o.k. as long as they don't come in town during the football playoffs, or as long as they don't stay till you start hurting in the wallet. My point is that words in this culture are tacked on to sentences like cliches of old. They sound good but they don't mean a whole lot.

What is the proper response then? I think what we did is all you can do (not that we should be given the nobel peace prize or anything), but I also think our mindset is important for it to have any lasting value. I have always believed that if anyone comes to me in the name of Christ (as she did) that I should help him or her if it is in my power to do it. I don't mean to say that if someone comes to me that does not know Christ that I kick 'em to the street. I just mean that there is a higher priority in doing that. In addition, the Bible talks a lot about being hospitable to the stranger (I think he even required the Hebrew people to do that for people coming through their land). There is one scripture I do think is worth glancing at: Hebrews 13:2 (New International Version).

It says, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." Now I am sure that you could say a lot about this verse, but I am not really interested in getting bogged down with a quagmire of theological jargon that will bore the tears out of you (if you're not already). I take the verse at face value like you just read it. In other words, there might be Rosa's out there that may not have been real people? You mean "Highway to Heaven" was right on theologically? Exactly, every bit of it! Just kidding. All I am saying is that there is a lot of stuff in this life that we should n't pretend like we know (if we truly don't), and leave that to God. That doesn't mean hope God kills all the Rosa's to get even; that means love people genuinely and unconditionally, and trust God to get the glory and give you the benefit of serving others. After all, you never know when you may have been entertaining angels.

Just getting started (January 18, 2006)

I guess that is a good way to describe not only this post and this blog, but also the journey I am experiencing. I hope that through this I can share some insight, some views, and even some struggles about life in general. The thoughts may be random, but hopefully you'll be able to find a higher purpose in all that is said. My main interest in doing this is not just to find something else to do, but to help vent my own thoughts, as well as connect with people out there. If this causes me to cross paths with one person, then my purpose has been obtained. Thanks for reading, and look forward to getting to know you.