I never knew when I was a child...

...that there are homeless children.
And now that I am an adult sometimes I forget that there are homeless children.
A group of us got to go feed some of the homeless men and women of Knoxville today and while we were there we saw some children, some children who were the same ages and sizes as our own children...and I must say that sometimes the homeless population slips my mind as I live, worship, and interact here in the Johnson Bible College community.
I re-realized today how firmly I believe that God created us to live life in community. That He made us to live with the people around us and interact with them and care for them. That if we don't do life together there will be no dicipleship, no stewardship, and no growth. That we will become a people who are dead, who are blind to the lost around us, who are blind to the needs of those who have less than we do. I was reminded that Jesus never went to the the exclusively religious venues to serve the people who already believed in Him, he went to hang out with the tax collectors and the prostitutes and the people who really needed Him. I guess what I am saying is that I think that we as a church, collectively, should be more than willing - I would even say we should be honored - to sit with the homeless and share a little love with them. That those children should know that even thogh their earthly father is gone, there is a heavenly one who loves them and would never leave. That there is a man from down the road who goes to this church, and he wants nothing more than to hear about your day and give you something to eat. That even though their earthly mother is gone, there is a woman here on this earth who would love nothing more than to give them a hug and some warm food. That is what we should be about as a church...we should be out on the streets serving the least of these to the glory of our God; not so that they will praise us, but so that they will be pointed in some way to God.
This is one of the reasons I am excited about The Summit church's new impact center...this is going to be a place from which we can reach the lost in our community. A place where we won't be hidden behind closed doors one day a week as a group of religious people taking part in something uninviting and intimidating to the lost, but where we can worship together and change our community throughout the week. Where anyone who wants to enter, even if they just need some hot coffee and a place out of the cold, will be welcome. I want to do life with the lost, not as one of them, not living the same way they do, but living beside them so that they will see Jesus in me, so that they will see love on my face, so that they will know who I believe in. That is what I want and pray for each member of the Summit. That is what I want and pray for myself.