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my mind is aswirl with thoughts of what is, what should be, what can be, what will be.. who will lead, who will follow, who will curse, and how will we continue to love? i’m drawn back to a very important weekend in my life, it was august of ‘04 and the place was denver. we were meeting in a very posh motel downtown, the adams mark. the occasion was the national house church conference. the keynote speaker was john eldridge. he used a lot of really cool film clips to illustrate his message and, as one might expect, many of them were from LOTR. he spoke about how the heroes were just a bunch of “knuckle-heads”. hobbits, a dwarf, an elf, a wizard, a ne’r-do-well ranger, and a power hungry general. these were entrusted with the fate of middle earth. he talked about how Jesus did the same thing, he put hope for the world in the hands of itenerate fishermen, rebels, and traitors. this truth is one that continually amazes me but then came constantine and the hope of the world was placed in the hands of the powerful and wise-in-the-ways -of-this-world and things haven’t changed we think that the best elders and deacons are those men who are wealthy leaders in our community. men who are respected by the world. we think that the best pastors are those with the most education. men who are respected by academia. we think the best missionaries are those who have the best strategic training. men respected by the institution. isn’t it time we place our hope back in the hands of the knuckle-heads? it seems to me the time is ripe for betting on the long-shot, going with our gut rather than our head, doing something foolish every day! its how God works! when the craziest idea in the world powers in with astonishing results, who gets the glory? i mean think about it… Gideon and his 300 some who defeated an army with torches, clay jars, and loud shouting! i wonder if that would work in iraq? a shepherd boy who becomes king a barely legitimate child born in poverty saves the world its time to put our hope in knuckle-heads who don’t really know what their doing. going out with no plan but to just love God and their neighbors. its time to raise up children to lead the adults. its time to say yes to the crazy kids excited after their week at camp. its time to figure out how a short-term mission trip to some third world country can become a long term mission trip at home… or where-ever. its time to throw the wisdom of the world in the shitter where it belongs and embrace a little Godly foolishness!
Original content by: http://towardsimplicity.net/?p=593.
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