We Believe -- A More Balanced View

Okay, so now that I have said what I liked and didn't like about my cousin's in the faith youth gathering, let me put it all together. I do this because nothing is just black or white, good or bad. What we believe as those who follow the German reformer is that we are simultaneously saint and sinner. This goes for both church bodies. We may easily point out each other's sins but we are, so to speak, in the same boat.

What was so wonderful about the gathering I just attended,  like the one in New Orleans in 2009, is that tens of thousands of young people came to praise God. Not only that, they came to help and serve in a city that has been devastated by natural and man made disasters. The city of New Orleans needs to know that the rest of the country has not forgotten about them and these young people let them know just that.

They walked the streets, spent their money on food and souvenirs and hopefully boosted the economy of this historical city. They were polite and well mannered. I heard this over and over as I visited the shops. And they went out, 12,000 of them to work all over the city. They were witnesses to Christ. Different than my denomination's witness, but witnesses just the same.

What is so wonderful in the culture that we live in is that it is still possible to gather so many young people together in the name of Jesus. Yes, Jesus' name was bandied about, sung, shouted and proclaimed. I have some problems with the way it was proclaimed -- I wish they would speak more about God's love; I suppose they would like us to be more pristine -- yet......In the gospel of Mark, John gets upset about others doing work in Jesus' name. "Teacher we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me." 

Indeed we may have differing ways to do the work of God, but we both believe that there is power in gathering, praising and serving in the name of Jesus.

Join me in this historic city in 2012, to sing, shout, praise and serve all in the name of Jesus. We are coming back New Orleans we have not forgotten. We come because 'we believe' in Jesus.