Jane and I were at the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church last week in Houston. We were staying in the Hotel Americas there at the George Brown Convention Center. A very nice place to spend 3 days. As you can tell from the picture above we were staying in a room facing the west. Normally I am not fond of the Houston skyline but when God says to pay attention to how He can clean up this world and turn whatever we make into a thing of beauty, I have to take a picture. Yes, it is another sunset picture that just made my day.
At conference we heard Kenda Creasy-Dean speak. She is a professor of Theology at Princeton University and I believe she specializes in youth. She spoke in reference to her book “Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church.” She speaks to the issues of teenagers not practicing the faith that they were brought up in as they mature into young adults. She also speaks to the issues of the parents who raised those children and how they exampled their faith to those children. Not just whether or not the children were raised in church but how the parents own faith was lived out in everyday life. She mentioned the fact the we as believers are translators of our Gospel but I believe that we must be translations of the Gospel message. Everything we do should reflect the Gospel message of love for the world that Jesus taught us. That before everything else God must come first and love of our neighbor is to follow. We will then be a living translation of the Gospel Message.
Are you living the Gospel Message? Are you that living translation that people will see and say “wow” that person sure is different from most of us? Yes we are called to be different from the rest of the world! Jesus Christ was different. Because of Jesus Christ the Apostles were different and because of them and many others who were different the world is a better place. Don’t lose focus on who God calls you to be and you too can make a difference for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Most especially in those you are around everyday.
Don’t be an “Almost Christian” and most importantly don’t be responsible for others being “Almost Christians.”
Please meditate and pray about your own faith walk and have a blessed day,
Pastor Randy
Tags: Almost Christian, Blessings, church, Conference, devotional, focus, God, Gospel, Houston Texas, integrity, Jesus, john, Lectionary, Lord's, love, meditation, methodist, peace, Scripture readings per Revised Common Lectionary, Spiritual growth, united
Wesley United Methodist Church, Orange TX 
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