"Forget ever being a Christian again...

and never ask a friend, family member or coworker to become a Christian again..."  That was the message from a book I was reading today called, "The Big Idea."  It was written by, well, a Christian, but this was what he hoped the takeaway would be from that chapter.  He went on to say that, "85% of all Americans call themselves Christians.  However, research in North America shows that Christians are no more likely to give assistance to a homeless person than non-Christians; those who call themselves Christians are no more likely to correct the mistake when given too much change by a cashier; a Christian is just as likely to have an elective abortion as a non-Christian; Christians divorce at the same rate as non-Christians; even though there are more big churches than ever before, 50% of Christian churches didn't help a single person find salvation last year; when groups were surveyed on over 152 different topics there was almost NO difference between Christians and non-Christians, no difference in attitude and no difference actions.  If there is essentially no difference between the attitude and actions of Christians and non-Christians, is "Christian" really the word you want to use to describe your willingness to sacrifice everything you have to see God's dream fulfilled?"  Powerful food for thought.  Now many of us know people who are "acting" like Christians, who's lives and attitudes are committed to serving Christ, but can the same be said of you?...of me?  Good friends of ours, John & Kari Sowers, are doing some amazing things for the fatherless children of their community in Portland, and teaching other leaders to do the same.  John has written a book about theses issues and also talks about some of the solutions that they're working on.  I encourage you to take a look at the book here as well as the group's website.  What about us?  Being a "follower" of Christ suggests action.  What actions, what attitudes are we developing to bring salvation to the lost of this world?  Are we being the kind of people that cannot be confused with non-believers?  Please pray for the Spirit to move me to this new level and I will do the same for all of you.