Thoughts that challenge

I have a shepherd friend who emailed me the following challenging thoughts.

Fred: I’m in a hotel near Birmingham England. Visited a couple of cathedrals on this trip; neat places. Love to go to them and think about the effort, time, construction methods... and people it took to build them. I can't help think about how I can see the evidence of faith (imperfect faith maybe... but faith) in man and the results of their faith hundreds of years later.

When I think about our religious efforts today, I wonder how they will pass the test of time. I’m okay with even leaving buildings and structures behind for the next generations to see the evidence of our faith, but those structures must be relevant to society today. So I have spent some time thinking about what type of “hardware” we should be investing in to serve our society today and then be an inspiration for the next generation.

Wandering aimlessly in the wilderness may have weeded out the weak ones from God's people, but God's plans for mankind didn't go forward until they moved once again with purpose across the Jordan. I also wonder where our Jordan is that needs to be crossed.

We plan on getting together and thinking these thought through. Want to contribute to the conversation? We'd love to hear your thoughts. Be sure to post your comments.