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Everywhere that I have had a bank account, the understanding is basically the same.

First you must make a deposit.  There is a period of waiting until the initial check clears.  Then if you choose, a withdrawal can be made.

I have never heard of a bank that allows a withdrawal before a deposit has been made. (If you know of such a bank, you really owe it to the rest of the planet to let us in on this amazing institution…  This deal must be advertised a bit.  How they would stay in business is not important to us - it’s just important that they allow people to withdraw from a nonexistent fund!)

This routine of “Deposit First - Withdraw Later” is violated continually, by regular church people - and without realizing what they are doing - church leaders-teachers-pastors are encouraging this pattern.  How so?

We model and strongly encourage people to approach virtual strangers with a call to a dramatic life change.  This is akin to not just a spiritual drive-by.  Think drive-by with a rapid fire bazooka and you are close to the reality here.

Am I suggesting one ought never to call a complete stranger to conversion?  Not in the least.  What I am saying is that a dramatic encounter such as this is the exception to the norm.  The norm is that we ‘bring’ the gospel.  We don’t ‘send’ the gospel.  To bring anything has everything to do with personal connections, relationship, a touch, and the word we love to use around Christmas - ‘Incarnation.’

It’s funny how we love to talk about ‘Incarnation’ around Christmas, but shun that word / concept after December 26th.  We bring the message of Jesus every time we connect with people.  If you continue to ‘send’ the message - well, you will continue to see lots of rejections. 

When those rejections come, do all of us a favor - for Pete’s sake, don’t sit back and glibly mutter something about the hard-heartedness of this generation.  You may be partly right.  Then again, you may be referring to your own hard-heartedness.

Thoughts along the outward journey from Janie Sjogren

Here’s a switcharoo as an entry for today.

My greatest asset on the planet is the lovely and talented Janie Sjogren - we just celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary. I wake up each morning now with two spontaneous thoughts - "Jesus, thank you I have one more day… thank you for the indescribable gift of Janie…" 

As you read here you will see why I use some of these adjectives.  My life has been immensely shaped by her heart.  She is the most remarkable person I have met.  (No kidding, many have told me the same thing!)  Since she doesn’t have a blog (yet) here is some of her heart…

Have you noticed how often the ‘right now’ thing God is up to happens on the way to what we thought was the plan?  If we are open to noticing what he is about, a steady stream of adventures cross our paths. 

New Friend - James C., 75 Years Young

“So you can read better now?”

This was a rhetorical question. I was just making conversation during the long silence.  His eyes lit up - his demeanor said the rest. 

It isn’t ‘cool’ for men to tear up, but he got a little misty - kind of surprising even though we had just met a couple of minutes before. 

This happened in the Ybor City section of Tampa - an older, gentrified area with nice restaurants.  Several dozen friends from CoastlandTampa were together to give away a few thousand bottles of water at a half marathon. What better excuse to connect with people, both runners and the crowd, than walking out a practical expression of Jesus’ love through bottles of water!  Sometimes Jesus ‘cup of water’ - Matt. 25 - is literally what is needed at the moment.

This elderly black man was reading his newspaper as we walked by.  What was unusual about him - he held the paper so close that his nose nearly touched the print! 

“You look like me when I don’t wear my glasses!”

He asked me to repeat myself so I did.  With that we had a conversation going.  I happened to have an extra pair of unisex reading glasses on me.  As he slipped them on, I couldn’t help thinking that they looked pretty good on my new friend. 

Who Gained The Most? Easy Answer

Not too long ago I was intimidated at the notion of approaching a stranger with what was probably an inspired ‘notice.’  Today I couldn’t walk past James without addressing his obvious need. Honestly, the thought that came to me was, “How badly can this go? At worst, I will never see him again!  At best, this could be the beginning of the dominoes toppling in his life until he becomes a Jesus follower… if he isn’t already in love with Jesus.”  Either way there is nothing to lose.

It wasn’t long ago that this encounter would have gone differently. 

A. I would have not noticed him in the least, OR

B. I would have had no idea how to connect with him. 

I now realize God does his noticing through me.  I walk past lots of people with needs - the noticing is not occurring with all who have needs - it is just with those being pointed out by God. It’s very simple really.

This I know - the invitation from on high is being picked up on by me clearly now.  I remember now how I started out noticing when I first began following Jesus, but somehow I lost my ‘glasses’ along the way.  I convinced myself that it is complex and difficult to read God’s eye chart.  Not true at all! 

This noticing thing is contagious and ironic.  The one who picks up on what Jesus is up to is always touched / blessed more than the receiver of ‘glasses’ of any sort being handed out.  Yes, they begin to see, but more importantly, the glasses giver remember how it is to see and how to notice our way into the lives of those God so loves…

Those around me are gaining courage as they see how uncomplex this all is.  Those previously fearful of noticing - noticing myths bite the dust. 

This is downright viral!