the for real last?

alright... i do believe i am going to be able to get back on track and begin updating more frequently. here's hoping it happens *fingers majorly crossed* but now, what to talk about?!?

while we were on vacation, i noticed a book on one of my grandmother's many bookshelves... a day later, i noticed it again on a coffee table *meaning someone had picked it up to read* and i don't think i would have noticed the sudden jump of a single book if it were not for the title of the book... "the last Christian generation" by josh mcdowell.

i was strongly opposed to the title, and thus, avoided the book. i didn't want to read it or acknowledge that it may have legitimate truth bluntly presented within its pages...

but that didn't mean that we couldn't discuss it among family... this is the beauty of my family- we can act like complete idiots and two seconds later carry on a conversation that is heavier than everything we own. i joined my grandmother, aunts and mother on the porch for breakfast one morning. the book was now outside and had caught every one's attention...

*background* i feel the need to be x-tremely honest with you today :) ^x-treme is more serious than extreme... ps^ there was a time about three years ago that i no longer believed in the label "Christian" because i did not want to be considered part of my body of peers that identified themselves as such- the pretenders, the fakers, the ruiners of all that they claimed to represent. i was going to a "Christian" university with "Christian" friends and my eyes were opened to the world's idea of "Christian." it was a hard time for me... here i was, once so proud to wear the name of Christian... now, i didn't want to be under that label. and it stayed that way for a long time... you know the famous ghandi quote, "i like your Christ, i don't like your Christians," well, that was me to a tee!

aligning myself with shadows pretending to be lights vs. shining without the unified body... quite a dilemma...

through careful reading and desperate searching, a message from my home church, and a chapel speaker *oddness in itself :)* i arrived at a point where it was no longer a choice to wear the label. if i couldn't wear the name "Christian" what hope was there? if i couldn't align myself with the shadows in the light, what good was i? how was i benefiting the kingdom?

i took back the title of "Christian" with the mindset that the label no longer had boundaries and limits that i had grown up believing existed. "Christian" could be how i lived daily regardless of my peer's actions and attitudes. like a blinking bulb on my forehead, my primary identity is "Christian" with the true definition of "Christ-like" as my goal... not the definition of the 21st century world.

*present* which is kinda where josh is coming from. the beliefs of today's youth concerning Christ are vastly different than previous generations... and i agree with that, but i have a serious problem with generalizations and stereotypes (especially when they include me!) staggering statistics, like 50% of churched-youth do not believe that Jesus is the only way to get to heaven, prove shell-shockers... but what kind of church are we talking about? what kind of leadership is responsible for their confusion? but this post isn't about the book, it is about the topic...

what did the people four generations ago think of the "love" generation? was the point made that america had entered a post-Christian era? what about the generations that fought music involvement in worship services? what about the present generations refusal to accept newer praise and worship? when does "Christian" become limited in action or practice? when the Bible is being taught and hearts are being changed, when is that wrong?

not that i don't have reservations about the mass church movements... the huge churches that draw massive numbers on sundays at multiple sites and preach the hard-core gospel but fail to follow up throughout the week... and invest in the lives of the young children and teach them to be solid believers... that is only extending permission to be like the rest of the world... allowing people to wear the name without understanding the true nature and cost of their potential freedom...

and i may be spinning you around in circles, but this is my real point-slash-question-slash-thought... if the ball has truly been dropped (for which there is a strong argument) how is it picked back up? the responsibility has passed from the hands who dropped it and fallen into the hands of a weaker Christian generation. how are we supposed to hold it up... fewer Christians, more people than ever... how? as a member of the generation after "the last generation," i beg you to invest in us. i don't think my generation understands the deep need for positive influences... teachers... leaders... friends... all of whom are firm believers in Jesus Christ.

thank you to my "more mature" influences, teachers, mentors, and *most importantly* friends for your investment into my life... for setting the example of a truly selfless life... for constantly giving even when you couldn't see the return... for helping me understand that my purpose in life exceeds my own dreams. it is my sincere hope and prayer that your example to my generation will refute the claims that you are the last Christian generation.