they will know us by our love

Since I haven't blogged in a bit I'll start off with a few recent things.

I bought plane tickets for Orlando next month and will be going down to the Hillsong Conference. Boy am I looking forward to this fellowship with other believers.

Today I walked into the men's restroom at work and couldn't help but notice that someone had picked their nose and wiped it on the wall in front of the urinal. How old are we?!?!

I am sitting in Panera right now and some rude lady cut me off in line and everyone around me got mad. It was kind of funny.


I read this in Hebrews 10 today. (the message)

19-21So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into "the Holy Place." Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The "curtain" into God's presence is his body.

22-25So let's do it—full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.

Earlier in the chapter Paul describes the sacrificial system given to Moses and Israel for redemption. How year in and year out a man had to go before God and plead that these people's sin would be taken away. That the same thing had to be done time and time again.

Now there is a new system. Christ came as the only sacrifice ever needed from this point forward, for those who claim him.

Now we can go before God and talk with him. Jesus' blood gives us this open access to God, frankly it is kind of part of the whole redemption of man that we will see when Christ comes back. It is a part of righting creation, because this communion with the almighty creator is in part how it was with Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve had pure unadulterated access to God's throne, they not only had his ear, but he had theirs, an AUDIBLE voice. While we don't have that exact access right now, we still have it in part. We can talk to God and we can be so in tune with him we can feel his leading in our lives, and be spoken to through his word and through his people.

I really like how the message put this piece of the scripture "Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching."

I am a creative person, I like seeing things done in new ways, and coming up with new approaches to things. What hurts my heart and what passion God has given me is for the church and trying to help people understand that tradition (while having a place) does not necessarily mean that something is right or wrong, that is for Christ and the scriptures. So when it says, let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, that speaks volumes as to what the church needs to be doing. Does that mean we need to be going into the bars, clubs, porn shops, etc. No, but it means that we need to be sitting down and concentrating on how we can reach the people who's lives are ripped apart by these things instead of pointing out their sins.

How can we reach out to them, and show them Christ's love, Christ's intervention, and healing power. Tradition and legalism is not something that will ever appeal to these people, in fact it is more than likely one huge reason that they are lost. Christians are known for their legalism, tradition, and bickering (how many baptists does it take to change a light bulb....wait a second we'll hold a committee). We need to involve ourselves with making Christ easily accessible to those who don't know or don't understand what Christ is really about. Hold a committee about what really matters, how to reach people. Knocking on doors and singing hymns may be good for the ones who know and grew up with that, but that doesn't happen much any more.

What can I do.

they will know us by our love