Random thoughts 1

I've been struggling with this one trying to tie the pieces together. Don't know if I've succeeded.

The word "impart" implies giving something that's more alive than just information. We worship a Living God - emphasis on Living. There are things He’s revealed and things He hasn’t. We parent, teach, lead, share hoping to impart something but impartation is a mystery. Sometimes understanding gives life and sometimes explaining robs experience of its power.

I really can't explain the difference between walking 2 growing black furry four-legged walking machines and walking on the treadmill. But I can tell you that the commitment and the benefits of interacting with something alive are different than the commitment you make to a machine or a program and what you get out of it. Something alive is growing and changing and requires that I grow and change, too. If I ignore something that's alive it moves on or it dies.

Bringing children to worship is something that's very alive right now. Apparently there really are people trying to do this to greater and lesser degrees. Something to nurture. Something challenging with potential for growth and change. We can use a "how-to" to facilitate communication but the rest is relational. We're looking for life but we may not be able to measure it or explain it even after the fruit matures.

If you do something because it pleases God you don’t do it to see whether it works, you do it anyway. It's not just an experiment. The people looking at the crucifixion were probably not convinced at the time that it worked. The people of Israel were surely not convinced that the land God promised was worth battling giants.