An encouraging note from Down Under …

After the jump …

I just wanted to say a big thank you for making the journey …
I wanted to say that over this past year reading books by yourself and a few
other authors like N.T Wright, I have managed to navigate a fairly
substantial crisis of faith.. well not so much in God and who He is, but in
Christianity.
…I have known from a very young age how much I have in comparison to the majority of the rest of the world and have wanted to ‘help’ people ever since. It’s a no-brainer and I can’t look at myself in the mirror without dedicating my life to this. … I go to an evangelical church and have found it so hard sitting there
hearing or singing about personal relationships with Jesus, and living my
life to the full… when that very day I’m trying to find out how we can
help millions of people in Pakistan who have just been displaced by
fighting… and how little the world and the christian community cares about
them.
You talked about my generation being the one who moves from simply having
‘mercy’ to that of ‘justice’. I know so so many people … who are so passionate about justice. I have friends walk away from the church but pursue justice relentlessly
because church doesn’t seem to even engage in let alone care about the
issues on the wall you mentioned. I know you hear this all the time, but I
wanted to let you know that your message and that of others like Wright is
so desperately needed. This year has been incredibly difficult reconciling
what I know of Christianity (I’ve grown up in a Christian home, went to a
Christian school most of my life, and have always gone to church) and the
reality of the world…
Thank you for being such a crucial part in helping me to move through this
and still love God, and people, and want to pursue justice on this planet
with every fibre of my being for the rest of my life. Be assured that … a lot of people my age who feel the same way.