I have let this blog get a little stagnant, so I’m starting over.  I’m starting with a new idea and direction for my blog. So go check out the new address: westbrooks.wordpress.com  Thanks! 

- "That night, I learned that reformission requires that Christians and their churches move forward on their knees, continually confessing their addictions to morality and the appearance of godliness, which does not penetrate the heart and transform lives. In the end, I learned that God’s mission is not to create a team of moral and decent people but rather to create a movement of holy loving missionaries who are comfortable and truthful around lost sinners and who, in this way, look more like Jesus than most of his pastors do."

- "When Jesus relocated his ministry to Galilee, he chose to travel through Samaria, rather than avoiding that region." –Samaritans and Jews did not get along at all! Both groups despised the other. Picture the conflict between black people and white people at the height of the civil rights movement in the US in the 60’s, yeah, it was probably worse than that. The Samaritans believed in the first 5 books of the old testament, but also added their own pagan and occultic beliefs and practices. Yet, Jesus, even though he was Jewish, decided not to avoid the Samaritans. Who are the "samaritans" in our lives? Do we avoid them on purpose? If so, why?

- "One of the underlying keys to reformission is knowing that neither the freedom of Christ nor our freedom in Christ is intended to permit us to dance as close to sin as possible without crossing the line. But both are intended to permit us to dance as close to sinners as possible by crossing the lines that unnecessarily separate the people God has found from those he is still seeking."

- "…the Gospel must be contextualized in a way that is accessible to the culture and faithful to the scriptures."

- "While it is true that we are saved not by our good works but by the good works of Jesus (Eph. 2:8-9), it is also true that we are saved to good works (Eph 2:10). The gospel is not simply about getting my sins forgiven and then sitting around until I get to heaven or until Jesus returns. The gospel compels us to participate with God in the culture we live in. Any gospel that does not compel us into mission overlooks both the duties and delights of being a Christian."

Ok, so those are just a few parts of this book that challenged me, or affirmed some things for me, or just some things that I thought were pretty cool. I’ll do more later, just didn’t want this to be too long.

You know what’s really cool to think…just as Christ loves us enough to die for us, he loves each and every one of the people in this video just the same!

What blows me away is that Brendan could have asked for pretty much anything, and somehow, people would have made it happen. His last two weeks could have been spent riding Space Mountain and getting pictures taken with Mickey Mouse, or maybe getting to meet Derek Jeter or Peyton Manning or whoever! But that’s not what happened, I guess you could say “he got off his donkey.” Like I said earlier, Brendan Foster got it right. “…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” -Matt 25:40