Happy Wednesday all my bloggy friends! Since I have very little free time, I am still reading the same book I've been working on for about 2 months - "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne. I was reading while I waited for my son's basketball game to start last night, and came across some very true words that I wanted to share with you.

"I had a college professor who said, 'All around your, people will be tiptoeing through life, just to arrive at death safely. But dear children, do not tiptoe. Run, hop, skip or dance, just don't tiptoe.' In my youth-group days, I had seen all too many wild would-be Jesus radicals fall by the wayside because they had never been trusted with the adventure of revolutionary living. When I was a youth leader, one of the high school kids who had 'given his life to Jesus' got busted only a few weeks later for having acid at school. I remember asking in disappointment, 'What happened, bro? What went wrong?' He just shrugged his shoulders and said, 'I got bored.' Bored? God forgive us for all those we have lost because we made the gospel boring. I am convinced that if we lose kids to the culture of drugs and materialism, of violence and war, it's because we don't dare them, not because we don't entertain them. It's because we make the gospel too easy, not because we make it too difficult. Kids want to do something heroic with their lives, which is why they play video games and join the army. But what are they to do with a church that teaches them to tiptoe through life so they can arrive slowly at death?"

"I'm not sure where we get the notion that Christianity is safe or that Christians should play it cool.....the more I get to know Jesus, the more trouble He seems to get me into."

"Some Christians take so few risks, it's no wonder folks have a hard time believing in heaven."

"While the ghettos may have their share of violence and crime, the suburbs are the home of the more subtle demonic forces - numbness, complacency, comfort - and it is these that can eat away at our souls."

"Perhaps the most dangerous place for a Christian to be is in safety and comfort."

"It's not hell that makes me shudder but God, because I have no idea what in the world God's going to dare me to do next."

"I heard that disturbing whisper of Jesus telling me that even pagans hang out with their cool friends, that instead we are to be extraordinary and hang out with the not-so-cool, the people sitting in the lunchroom alone, folks who talk to themselves and have distinct aromas. In fact, Revelation warns that we must be either hot or cold, because if we are lukewarm (an old-school way of saying 'cool'), we will be spit out of God's mouth (Rev. 3:16) The end of cool - left in the smoke of people set on fire by God. I started to think maybe I should beware of things that are cool and normal, because Jesus didn't seem to be either of those."


I think this has given you alot to think about today - we'll continue our study of James tomorrow. Think - change - act.

Have a great day
Living fearlessly
Christie