I am reading this new book that a friend gave to me on Sunday. Its calledThe Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, in the book he talks about his activities as he explores what it really means to live a chirstian life. I am only in the first few chapters of this book so expect more on it as I go further into its depths.

I am amazed by how funny the first chapter of the book is, not in a comical way funny but a "this is so true that its funny" way.

Claiborne says that all the people that we see as saints of the faith, we take away their dangerousness, their rebelion, their passion and we put them on a level of tame memories that are far from the truth. St. Francis of Assissi has become nothing more that a small statue that looks pretty in a garden, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gets a national holiday where children look forward to a day off of school rather than relecting on the risks that he took to speak his mind. We have commercialized Jesus to where he no longer has tha radical sense about Him, he was a radical in His time, He was a "freak" among His peers, He said and did things that could have and did get Him killed. But now we can walk around today with a Jesus t-shirt on and proclaim His holyness, His truth without much threat on our lives. We have no idea what it is like to live with the thought that we might die for what we beleive in because now it is cool to be a Christian.

What if we lived with a daily threat on our lives just for being a believer in Christ? Would our passion for Christ fade away as we tried to fit into the "normal" way of life or would we live with the passion of Martin Luther, the German monk who nailed 95 thesis on a catholic church door, and speak out against those who are saying we are crazy for living and believing the way we do. Would we be willing to stand arm in arm with others while we face a fireing squad who is asking us to deny God's as the only god or die? I want to challenge you to be that kind of Christian and not just a Sunday Morning Christian who lives as the world during the week and then lives as Christ for an hour on Sunday.

Go in peace, and may God bless you in all you do.

M

Time is so little

I have just found out that one of the children that I taught as a 3 year old was killed in car accident on Saturday. With this I am reminded of how short life is and that every moment is very precious.

Carter Mayes was only 6 years old. He has an older brother Cooper7, and a little sister Maggie 5, I know that they hurting because of the loss of Carter. But Cooper may have said it best when he was interviewed by the local news station, "When I get to heaven I'm going to have a welcome back Carter party", Cooper at 7 knows that this life is not forever. Cooper and the rest of the Mayes family have the comfort of knowing that Carter is now in the arms of God.

Carter was like most kids, he would say "When I grow up..." he had dreams. How many of us did the same thing? I know I did. But who of us knows exactly how much time we have on this earth? None of us know the exact amount of time that God will give us. Time is precious, time is limited.

During this busy time of year, with all the holiday hustle and bustle. I want to say this maybe during this time of year instead of running to the store to buy one more gift, or running out the door to make it to one more holiday party, we take time to spend with our families in worship to God. God gave us Jesus so that we could spend an eternity with him, and God gave us every minute of our lives. In both of these gifts God also gave us the comfort of knowing that when we die it is the end of our time on earth but it is the beginning of our eternity with him. This Christmas season take time to be with your family and  to teach your family of God's love. In teaching them these things we can be like Carter's brother Cooper and say when a loved one dies "When I get to heaven I am going to have a welcome back Carter party."