I worked an eighteen-hour day yesterday on four hours of sleep, and then got only four hours of sleep last night also. I’m exhausted. I’m actually quite dizzy today. As soon as I finish this post, I’m going to go mow my lawn. Consequently, this may be my last blog post!  Ha ha.

During that looong day, I was able to have several good conversations with two of the Mormons I work with. I really enjoyed getting to know them and discuss their beliefs with them. There are a lot of similarities with evangelical Christianity, and many strange differences as well. For example, they have a unique solution to the “What about those who have never heard?”dilemma. They practice “baptism for the dead” by which you can be baptized for a dead ancestor in order to give him or her the opportunity to spend eternity with God. The choice is still up to them, but since you were baptized for them, they can now make a choice they couldn’t have otherwise made.

They clearly are trying to “convert” me. I think I might visit one of their “temples” this weekend. I visited a Muslim Mosque last year, so I guess I’ll try a Mormon Temple too.

But all of this only reinforces my opinion that you should not condemn or judge a particular people group unless you are friends with someone from that people group (which then makes it nearly impossible to judge and condemn them). We need to try to get to know other people–with no strings attached (e.g. “I’ll befriend you so you become a Christian”)–so that we can love them. Too many of us “Christians” spend all our time pointing the finger at people we know nothing about. We think we know them because of something we read, or because of what some Christian teacher said. Then, based on this distorted knowledge, we feel justified in condemning and criticizing these people and their beliefs.

I’m not saying that criticisms cannot or should not be directed at other people. It should. But such criticisms must only take place within a genuine, on-going relationship with someone of that group, in which we invite and accept their criticism of us. If we cannot accept criticism from others in a peaceful manner, we must not give criticism either. Only in this way can we speak the truth in love.

So who have you been condemning and criticizing recently? Maybe you should take them out for dinner, and with absolutely no agenda to “fix their life” or “correct their beliefs” just strive to get to know them as a person. Such a practice will change your life. I guarantee it.

Do you know any pregnant teenagers? Chances are good that you do. Apparently, teenage pregnancy is on the rise this year, and some sociologists believe it may have something to do with the movies “Knocked Up” and “Juno” which portrayed two young women who became pregnant and decided not to abort. I don’t know if sociologists are right on this or not.

However, in a recent article in TIME magazine called “Postcard: Gloucester” (June 30, 2008, p. 8), it was reported that Gloucester (MA) High School is seeing four times the number of teenage pregnancies as last year. Initially, “some adults dismissed the statistic as a blip. …[But] School officials started looking into the matter…after an unusual number of girls began filing into the school clinic to find out if they were pregnant” with many of the girls repeatedly returning for multiple tests, and acting disappointed when they found out they were not pregnant.

It was soon discovered that many of the female students had made a pact with each other to get pregnant and raise their babies together.

Why would they do such a thing?

One student, a girl named Ireland who got pregnant as a freshman, said “They’re so excited to finally have someone to love them unconditionally.”

Are you loving other people unconditionally? It may be one of the greatest needs in our society today.

I know many of you have been praying for me, so I just wanted to update everybody and let you know that I got a job. It’s not glamorous, but it pays the bills (some of them at least!). I am learning to clean carpets. I work 12-14 hour days, five days a week (which will probably hinder my blogging ability). The job pays $10 an hour, but it is all I could get right now.

The company I am working for is called ZeroRez, and it is state-of-the-art, zero residue, green carpet cleaning. It doesn’t use soaps and chemicals, and it removes 95% of the moisture (others cleaners only remove about 70%) so it dries faster. And to top it off, there is no other carpet cleaning company in the world that cleans as well OR as green. If you live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and want to get your carpets cleaned, go with ZeroRez. Of course, wait until I become a tech, so I will be able to come out and do it for you.

The most exciting thing about the job is who I am working with. Most of them are Mormons. As I rode around in the truck today, I was able to talk for two hours or more with a great young guy named Seth. We talked about the beliefs and popular misconceptions regarding Mormonism, and I look forward to talking with him more.

I used to think that the best way to evangelize was to preach in churches. I figured that most “Christians” were not actually “saved” and so needed to hear the “true gospel” (as preached by me), and once they believed it, they would then become “true believers.”

In other words, I thought that the most fertile soil for evangelism in the United States was among those who were already in churches. I saw the US as a mission field, and churches as the primary location to sew the seeds of the gospel.

As I have developed a missionary mindset, this thinking has changed. While I certainly believe that the US is a mission field, and while I do believe that there are many, many people who go to Christian churches who have not believed in Jesus for eternal life, I have found that the most common result of telling church goers that they might not be saved is a lot of angry church goers. 

I think that the average person in the average church, even if they don’t believe in Jesus for eternal life, are not very receptive or open to anything I might be able to tell them. If they don’t believe in Jesus, but they do attend church, they are likely to have a “Pharisaical” mindset, and therefore, it is almost a complete waste of time, money, and energy to pursue them.

The much more fertile soil in the US are those who would never darken the door of any church in the US. They are the ones I am hoping to reach, and who are receptive to talking about Jesus, and His promise of eternal life to those who believe in Him for it. Trying to tell this message to people in churches seems to do very little except split churches.

So who are you talking to about the free offer of eternal life through faith in Jesus? Are they primarily “churched” people? If so, how’s that working out for you? Have you seen any “conversions” recently? How about church splits and angry board meetings? I’d say that if as a result of what you’ve said, you’ve made more people angry than you have seen people come to faith in Jesus, you’re probably sewing seeds on the wrong soil.

Many years ago, I read a biography about a famous Christian inventor who gave away 90% of his income. I remember hearing others speak of his “sacrifice” in awed tones: “Just imagine! Most people only give God 10% and keep 90% for themselves, but this man gave God 90% and only lived on the remaining 10%.” I was duly impressed as well, until I learned that the man earned over $10 million annually…in the 1940’s and 50’s. So while I am truly impressed by his generosity, he nevertheless still lived on $1 million a year…which in today’s economy, would be like making about $10 million. (See tables here.) 

Then yesterday I read an article in a leading Christians news magazine about a plastic surgeon who gave up an income of $7-9 million here in the States to go help Ethiopians who have facial birth defects. He is now making $60,000 annually. That truly is quite a praiseworthy sacrifice! However, when you realize that the per capita annual income for an Ethiopian is $700, a $60,000 income in Ethiopia would be like making about $4 million annually here in the States (where per capita income is $46,000).

None of this is to criticize what these men have done or are doing. I do think they both went way above and beyond what the average person would do with their money. However, I think that God judges by a different standard than we do. Personally, I think that the person who is making $25,000 a year here in the states, and is barely able to pay their rent, but nevertheless gives $1000 a year to help others in need, is way more sacrificial than the men and women that get all the worldly praise and recognition.

(Some Christians might say, “Yeah, but $1000 still isn’t 10%. That Christian should be giving $2,500.” To this I graciously say, “You don’t know what you’re talking about. The 10% tithe is an Old Covenant principle used legalistically by some to steal from others so we can build bigger church buildings. And it never was even 10% anyway. It was closer to 30%.” But that’s another blog post…)

Anyway, I think God views giving much differently than we do. Is God pleased when rich people give away (or give up) large sums of money to serve Him? Sure. But I think He is just as pleased (if not more so) when people who don’t have much of anything at all, choose to use some of their money to help others. That, I am convinced, is true sacrificial giving.