Laurie and I went to a little, new church on Saturday night in an area of our city that’s called West Central.  It’s not a great part of town.  But the pastor, a friend of mine, believes that God has called him there to bring hope to those who are “the least of these.” 

                It was fun.  Clunky.  Holy Spirit inspired.

                There weren’t any musicians—he doesn’t have any, so we sang along with worship music on CDs, as the words were put up on the wall.  But the Holy Spirit was there.  He always is, when we worship the Lamb of God, who was slain before the foundations of the world.

                What did my friend talk about?  Living dangerously with and in Jesus.  An apt topic in this environment.  “Saddle up your horses,” Stephen Curtis Chapman sings, “we’ve got a trail to blaze, through the wild, blue yonder of God’s amazing grace.”

                There is no better life to be lived on this earth than one that is given fully to Jesus.  Is this experience talking?  Sure.  But this is Jesus talking, too.  “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”