Greater Things...

Have you ever been driving through your hometown and not be able to see God in it? To me it is the most heart breaking feeling. If you don't like soap box rants then you might want to stop reading now. I'm not singling out anybody, in fact I'm including myself in this audience.

There are many types of Christians in the nation these days:

• "Touchy Feely" - Christians who just want to have a 'tingly' feeling.
• "Bottle Believers" - These are the ones who go to church all their lives and never grow in their faith or walk with Christ.
• "Meat Eaters" - Christians who literally devour the Word of God. Who desire to be Christ like. Who are sold out to Christ.
• "Bunker" - These are the Christians who claim to be believers, and very well can be, but have no connection outside their church building (what I like to call their 'comfort zone' or 'bunker'.)

As of now I'm focusing on the "Bunker" Christians. These are the people that refuse to associate with the 'world'. They believe that to be in the world is to be of it. But did not Christ himself walk among the worldly? To be in the in the world is not the same as being of it. One of my favorite scriptures about this is Mark 2:13-17:

 13 And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them.

 14 As
He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth,
and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him.

 15 And
it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many
tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples;
for there were many of them, and they were following Him.

 16 When
the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners
and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why is He eating and
drinking with tax collectors and sinners?"

 17 And
hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who
need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the
righteous, but sinners."

Bible and scripture aside... There just is not any logic too it. If we (believers) sit in our 'bunkers' and do nothing, who is to show the nations the Love and Grace of God?!

In the book Engaging the souls of youth culture: Bridging the generation gap by Walt Mueller he had a quote in there that was just so true. "Whoever gives both ears to listen will gain influence". The lost of this world are crying out for someone to listen. What's sad is that it's the perverse world system that is listening and not the church. These 'bunker' Christians turn a deaf ear to those that are 'different' and who need help the most. When most Christians are asked to step out of their comfort zone they immediately find reasons to stay put.

If you have been reading carefully you may have seen a word used quite a bit. Christian. The term Christian is thrown around so loosely these days. If you go to church on holidays (i.e. Easter and Christmas) people see that as being Christian... That is not what Humble/Atascocita/Houston/Texas/United States/ the world needs.

What this city needs are true believers. We need those Christians filled with compassion... filled with God's mercy and grace... we need to get ourselves out of the way and see that God is still God of this City!

That is my hope and prayer for the youth specifically of this community, as well as the community as a whole.

And that is just my two cents...