fruition

I am amazed, time and time again, at how much knowledge there is to attain always. Never does one week go by when I'm not reminded of how much potential people have in restoring what is broken in our world - whether it be regarding

neighborhoods full of kids who grow up around drug and crime as the norm ...

exposure to how real hunger is in South Africa ...

the ever-present, ever-changing, unattainable status of being attractive in Seoul ...

the need for investment in the capacity of today's young adult generation in Cambodia ... oh, does the list go on!

Now as a Christian there is also the reality of spiritual warfare, and the need for me as a Christian to stay guarded against certain things, meanwhile knowing when to be open to other things. Now I'm thinking of this because I just learned about Tim Tebow, quarterback for the Denver Broncos and also son to former missionaries in the Philippines. After watching interviews and sports commentaries about Tebow, I was just amazed at all the attacks he has to deal with constantly and also this obvious and rare quality of being calm and steady in his responses to all these media outlets. This same quality I see in so many different types of people around the world - usually a fruit of finding the peace in Jesus Christ. This character often seems to come coupled with humility, a fruit of committing to an identity in Jesus Christ.

The genuine Christians - not the nominal ones, just b/c you mark on a survey or personal information card that you're Christian doesn't mean you are - are the ones who need to take up more leadership positions and be willing to be attacked and in SPITE of those attacks .... maintain the very inner calmness, peace, love, humility, etc .. that Jesus has. And for those of you who can't imagine that, think of MLK Jr.; Dietrich Bonhoeffer; William Wilberforce; those model men and women you meet in the most unexpected place/s and time/s of your life :)

I have found that as I study more of how a true Christian is spos to live, the better I can identify the types of character in people I am particularly turned off by, as well as the character in people I particularly admire ... all the while showing me how much I fall short of what I'm spos to be. I think of that saying...

I'm not who I should be, but thank the Lord I'm not who I used to be!

thanks again google, for the only visual images in most of my blog entries