You To Can Be a Theologian!!!

so...it's 11:45 p.m. friday night. my lovely wife is asleep next to me, kids all nestled in bed, with visions of...oh wait. wrong story. you may be saying right now, 'why are you writing this at 11:45 p.m.'? well, i like the night life. i like to boogie...actually, i just finished a quiz for my classes and posted my initial thoughts on our reading for systematic theology...which for all of you outside of the high fallutin' world of seminary life, means something like the ideas and trains of thought that have shaped and guided christian folk throughout time...i could be all wrong on that as i'm not entirely sure i understand it at this point. i've been in the proverbial basement all week, nose stuck in a book that weighs as much as my youngest child, learning about all sorts of fun stuff like the doctrine of God, how philosphy has shaped theology, different modes of thinking on the trinity, and the historical evolution of christian thought. let's say it this way...one night, kari laughed at me as i read 6 pages in the span of an hour and walked away unable to explain to her what i had just read. it's really neat stuff...in all honesty, i love it! but it's sucking all my brain power...my computer has a beeper thing that goes off when the battery is running low. my brain is nearly full and has been beeping since wed. afternoon...which brings me to my point!

i was talking to kristyn on the way home about how the church is looking at ways to get us thinking about people outside our congregation who don't know Jesus, and how that would be good cuz it a) brings Jesus to them, b) stretches us as followers of Jesus, and c) gets us thinking about something other than ourselves! she's quiet for a moment, and then says 'daddy! i just made a connection...' hmmmmm.......so i ask her to explain. she tells me about 'cowbelles', a movie she got at the library that has aj and ally (disney channel chics, i think?) and how they were really selfish in the movie and only thought about themselves. i asked what happened. she tells me that they learned that when we only think about ourselves, other people stop caring about us cuz we don't show that we care about them.

i think my daughter summed up evangelism in a few short words. how can we bring Jesus to the people who really need Him? by showing them we care. by putting them in front of ourselves, and making them the focus for a bit. i think i'll pass on my christian theology book to kristyn -- she might have a better grip on this stuff than i do anyway...

thoughts to talk about:
how do you think we can better share Jesus with other people?
any practical, everyday ways that, as kids (and adults), we can start taking the focus off of ourselves and placing it on others?