Now to some things that have been swirling around inside of my head. I was just having a conversation with a friend of mine about some comments we got on our CT09 event here at the Mount. The comments were a bit disheartening to me.

There were two. First, someone expressed disappointment in our not passing out tracts at the carnival. For those that don't know, tracts are a little brochure that basically point out the plan of salvation. Some make you feel bad and think you are going to be going to hell, and other things. These used to be an effective way of evangelizing, now they are an effective way of wasting paper and causing litter. Here's why this is my opinion. We live in a culture that is post-Christian. What I mean by that is, while there are Christians in America and people who claim to be Christians, most Americans don't live with the same set of basic foundational principles that the Christian worldview is based on. This postmodern culture is full of the relative. What is true for you is fine, but it's not true for me and therefore carries no wait on what I believe or how I act. This culture does not carry with them the basic principle of sin. They don't understand that human beings are fallen, broken people. Postmoderns have the idea that human beings are basically good. Christians understand that every inclination of hearts is to evil, as Paul says. We are broken sinful, in need of a Savior.

So a tract that says you are going to hell because of your sins and you need Jesus makes sense to a Christian worldview, but seems like nothing to someone that doesn't even think there is sin. Our job then as Christians is to fill in the gap between our worldview and the postmodern worldview. We can't expect a tract to even be useful until we show the reason you need a Savior. I understand that some tracts start there. But this is a creation, fall, redemption issue. Those have to be established belief before the need for Jesus is ever even important. As a final thing, were you converted by a tract, or by someone who loved you enough to be there and to answer all of your questions and show you what love is, who God is.

The second thing, well, I'm going to make that a post for another day. Possibly tomorrow.

Just know that our witness now has to be a more all inclusive attempt than it has ever been before because the presuppositions of those around us is completely different than ours.

The thing I had the privilege of doing was going to the Lighthouse Youth Services Boy's Home on Saturday. Of all the things I did, during this month, that was where I saw Christ in action. My small group is committed to spending time with these boys. They come from all around and have basically no family. They live in this home and the budget for activities during the week is about $100 for 13 boys. It's hard for the workers. So we went in, took them some food, played some games, (I still can't believe I lost the cornhole tournament), and really hung out and talked with these boys. Sure they were rough around the edges, but they were still teenagers that needed love.

Andrew, from my group, started talking to a boy named Andrew. They seriously talked the whole 3 hours they were there. Andrew came back to group this week and just talked about how awesome it was to become close with someone who needed it, and how it happened that quickly. It's cool to see it. Every member of our small group that made it to the house had meaningful interactions with one or more of these boys.

To me, this is the way the church should be. A bunch of boys needed some love and attention and shouldn't the church be there to do that. We are committed to doing this on a regular basis. We may not see the same boys every time we're there, but we know that anyone who ends up in that house needs some love and attention.

I want to challenge you, if you read this, to find a place like this you can serve. Lighthouse is not a Christian organization. All the better for us to bring the light of Christ to all those involved. We got to interact with the workers and show what it meant to be a Christian. Where ever you are, find a place where you can volunteer. It's what Christ would have done.

I'm going to say this, but I'm not going to apologize. Being a Christian is not about going to Heaven. There, I said it. I feel like we as Christians, (myself included), have come to a place where we just look forward to heaven. Yeah, we know the world is fallen and we are to be a light in the world, but really we just look forward to heaven. I don't think that is what Jesus intended. When Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God, he was talking about us, Christians. When the Kingdom of God comes... Why is it that now we just think about being in Heaven? Why do we think about that's when life will be great? Jesus called us to make life great now, here, for everyone, not just me.

That's the real problem, isn't it. Selfishness. Why is it that everything that we think about always involves us? I am always thinking of myself. Here is my radical thought, if we stop being selfish and start being the Kingdom, then we can be more effective at bringing Heaven to earth. That's our job right? To be the Jesus that people come in contact with.

I talk about this a lot, if we get onto this kind of topic, but I think about in Exodus. God calls Moses to go to Pharaoh and demand the Israelite go free. But Moses is a little but timid about that. But God says something to him and Aaron that will alway stick with me. He basically said, you guys, when you are in front of Pharaoh or Israel, you are to be like God to them. What I see from that is that we are the only example of God people may ever come in contact with.

Man, Heaven is a reward. It's an unearned reward. But man, I want to live like I need to earn it. I want to live like Jesus did. Jesus was the start of the Kingdom on earth. We spend more time and effort on making sure our houses look nice or we have our school work done, than really spend time begin like Jesus to people. Where is our sense of urgency. I love that my job is about bringing Jesus to people. But honestly, sometimes it makes it harder for me to find people to bring Jesus to. I think that's why I am passionate about finding time, wherever I can to touch some ones life. Man, we need to "be" Heaven here on earth, live like you have a purpose and not just this need to consume. Then let's see what God can do then.