Tonight I had the unique opportunity to hang out with bikers (the real serious kind) and hear some of their stories. It was an incredible evening of seeing a God who transforms people's lives. Faith brings transformation, it brings fruit!
It strikes me that so many Christians are afraid to share there stories, and afraid to "hang their dirty laundry on a clothesline". My story is not one that will ever play well as a movie. There's no big exciting or horrific event. It's as simple as this... a girl who felt incredibly unlovable discovered that there is a God who loves her unconditionally, enough that God would send Jesus to the cross to restore a relationship that she had repeatedly broken, and today that girl lives in the freeing knowledge that she is loved, not because she's good, but because God has transformed her and set her free from her selfishness. My story is not mine, my story is that of God's redeeming work. How can I stay silent if I understand what God has done?
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Saturday, September 11, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Faith and Friends
Ken and I have been reflecting a lot lately on the nature of faith. What is it? What is it good for? Beyond the salvific function, what does faith have to do with living each moment? I'm not sure that we've come up with any good answers yet, just more questions. If Jesus said that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we could tell mountains to move into the sea, I must not have even that much faith because I've yet to move even a grain of sand. I suppose that my faith muscles need a little development!
This week a newly single mom asked if we would be friends with her and her son, and it left me wondering at the complexity of relationships. When we're children, we feel free to ask other children if they will be our friend. How do adults build new friendships? Not the kind of friendship that talks merely about the weather, work, or grocery prices, but the kind of friendship where people are free to be themselves, take off their masks, and say this is who I am. I'm struck by how much we adults complicate things. I think that maybe I will take a cue from this new friend and just ask, "Will you be my friend?"
This week a newly single mom asked if we would be friends with her and her son, and it left me wondering at the complexity of relationships. When we're children, we feel free to ask other children if they will be our friend. How do adults build new friendships? Not the kind of friendship that talks merely about the weather, work, or grocery prices, but the kind of friendship where people are free to be themselves, take off their masks, and say this is who I am. I'm struck by how much we adults complicate things. I think that maybe I will take a cue from this new friend and just ask, "Will you be my friend?"
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