Just Thinking Out Loud Here

so i have been in palm springs the past few days with my family. my sister brought a few friends and kristin was able to join me out here as well (i love her). my family rented this ridiculously nice house for the week. there is a courtyard when you walk in through the "front door" with a huge fountain and the entire house wraps around this courtyard. there is an amazing pool right on the golf course. i got to play one of the most difficult/famous golf courses in America, the PGA-West Pete Dye's "The Stadium". it has one of the most famous holes in all of golf (i parred it, just saying when Tiger played here last he hit it in the water. booyah). so its been fun being able to hang out and relax with the family.

but i noticed something. when i was golfing and at the place we are staying at, we are almost the only ones here. i mean, not a lot of people would come to palm springs in the summer (we are not most people). i would say almost 50% of the houses out here are not used for at least 6 months out of the year.

then i read this quote from Rob Bell in his book "Jesus Wants to Save Christians." he says,

God measures our faith by how we treat the widows, orphans, strangers - the weak - among us."

my thought was, what if Christians took this to heart. i mean really took this to heart. i mean literally took this to heart to the point that it would probably make us step out of our comfort zones a little bit. stepping out makes you grow in faith. God measures your faith by how much you step out and care for the oppressed.

i got thinking, what if every family that had a house out here in palm springs, allowed a family who was homeless to live in the house while they were trying to get back out on their feet? imagine how many families would be able to have a roof over their heads because we allowed them to stay in a house that we wouldnt to stay in because of the weather? here is an excuse, "but homeless people are just drunk or high all of the time, you have no idea what they will do with our stuff." youre sort of right, SOME homeless are homeless for those reasons. but the fact is a huge majority of families are homeless because of bad luck. Look just around us! in San Dimas' Red Roof Inn, there are 60....SIXTY..... families living there. full families in one room.

could you really imagine if Christians stepped up and did something extreme like allowing others to use extra houses, or rooms, or shoot, extra anything you have. because if that quote is true, which i think it is because it convicts me like crazy, and God measures our faith by how well me treat the oppressed, i would love to prove God right in the fact that my faith is firm. and i can show others that God cares for them by the way HIS people treat and care for them.

God help me have an even bigger heart for the oppressed. let me show Your love through me to them to let them know there is a God who loves and cares for them. AMEN.

Random Fact: Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones and Vice President Al Gore were college roommates at Harvard.