Catalysts

So I finally have the next topic I want to talk about for my Hiding Behind the Mask series.  I'll hopefully work on that either today or tomorrow.  It's probably going to be a really slow week--I have off all week.  The busiest parts of my week will consist of school work and getting life together and cleaning my house.  What fun.

I recently bought a Kindle.  By "recently" I mean last week.  And I've transferred all my Kindle books over to the Kindle and have been working on downloading .PDF files of all the paperbacks I have and putting them on it as well.  It's not exactly the most legal thing to do (shh...), but I'm not stealing anything because I already own the books, so I have no problem with it.  Anyway, I started reading the book, "Tortured For Christ" by Richard Wurmbrand recently.  It's the biography (auto?) of this guy and his ministry to the Russians during WWII and all the torture and persecution that he suffered for the sake of spreading the Gospel.  I read something last night that really hit home.  I couldn't find the quote here and I have to get back to class in a few minutes, but he was talking about the difference between Russian Christians and American Christians.  When American Christians get saved, they quietly begin to go to a church and live their cushy little lifestyle, never stepping on someone else's toes and never being so outgoing or bold that they get their toes stepped on.  When Russian Christians get saved (at least in this time period) the persecution was so great and Communism was so oppressive that they weren't allowed to become Christians, yet the church was still exploding.  When they because a Christian they literally were giving up their lives and severing ties with their family, friends, children, and significant others.  They were saying that to live with Christ is worth it, even if their children become orphans or their wives become widows.  They were willing to lay down their lives for their sake of Christ on a whim because they were filled with overflowing joy of the One who saved them. 

There's a stark contrast between the two churches, and if you look at the American Christian church today, you can see the stagnancy and the obvious discontentment.  Hypocrisy is running rampant (hence, my series), there's more youth out of church or currently leaving the church than there are in church or attending.  With that said, something needs to change, and a catalyst must be placed in the river of the current stream, to direct the river of the Church to newer, more radical grounds. 

That change is us.
I am a catalyst.