I received an e-mail my my step-mom, Kathy, sharing a link to Today at the Mission. Today's blog entry was so good that I thought I'd share it with all of you. Thanks, Kathy, I loved it!
"I am looking for something else in a church. I'm looking for a place where a community of believers can grapple with scripture, can wrestle with what it means to be a Christ-follower in this sin-wracked, broken world of ours. I'm looking for a place where it's all right to doubt, to worry, to fear, to celebrate, to dance and to sing - or not sing; where prayer is what we do, and not what we listen to someone else doing, where art is shared, where contemplation is possible, where worship is lived, where healing happens. I guess I'm really looking for a place where all the odd people like me who don't fit anywhere else can be welcome and loved.
Tonight a bunch of Christians in our city housed some men and women who were homeless. They were fed a hot, nutritious meal. Some will be given clothes, all will have a safe place to stay while they get their lives back on track. In our dining room tonight we fed about eighty people. I talked tonight about how when we share our fears and anxieties with Jesus we will still have our problems, but we're no longer alone in the world. Some folks left with groceries, I gave a diabetic lady some large packages of artificial sweetener and she began giving some of this precious stash out to others she knew were diabetic. Another lady asked for a take-out container so she could take her piece of pie home to a friend who wasn't well. They have so little, and what they do have they give away. Before supper tonight I prayed with the volunteers, one of whom prayed that the churches in our city would finally 'get it' as to their God-given responsibilities to the poor, to the orphan and widow, the leper, the lost. What if Jesus isn't looking for leaders? What if he's looking for followers? Followers who are content to treasure and value the folks right in their own neighborhood, folks who are not statistics on the way to something bigger and better, who are not program fodder? What if being the most influential church in America is actually not the way to live out the Kingdom of God? What if the way to destruction is broad, and there's lots of folks on it, and the way to life is narrow, and only a few find it?"
.jpg)
3 comments:
Provoking... thanks for sharing. :)
You're so welcome, Hosanna. God has given us this burden to share!
Thanks so much for sharing, Kathy's touching and thought provoking blog!
Post a Comment