Barbarians at the Gate (Of the School)

WARNING: RIGHT NOW MY SPELL CHECK IS DOWN ON BLOGGER, SO MY SPELLING IS BARBERIC!

Barbarian is not usally a title that we hope to acheive. The picture of the barbaian in my head is the image of a brutal, dirty, uncivialized warrior. So why would anyone want to be a barbarian? Who would choose "The Barbarian Way?" Do we really want to stive to be barbarians? To call ourselves a barbarian tribe?

I have just finished Erwin McManus' book titled "The Barbarian Way, unleash the untamed faith within"
Quoteing from inside the front jacket,
"In The Barbarian Way, McManus calls you to return to the ancient, primal, and dangerous faith of Jesus and his early disciples. Let go of a sanitized Christianity and get back to the powerful, raw and ancient faith that chooses revolution over compromise, peril over saftey, and passion over lukewarm and watered-down religion. Christ's passion drove Him to the cross; the cross of Christ drives you to His passion. Take up the challenge of the 'barbarian way,' and your life will never be the same."

Wow! That's just what I want. That touched a place in my heart. In a nut shell it is what God is saying to me right now. As you know we are in the process of getting this school, Corner Stone Academy, going by September 15th. Now if we were living a safe domesticated faith we would have said no way. This school thing is way to big of a beast to take on. It's unrealistic. But evertime we would try to walk away from it God would put it back in our laps, so we took it on. We went to the river, picked out 5 smooth stones and took on this giant of a task. In human terms it is a ridiculus task, impossible, but who would have guessed that little David would win. Or that when Moses pointed his staff at the waters the sea would part and the captives would cross through to dry land. Who would have even thought that Moses could have gotten Pharo to set the people free. Or that God would get His holy hands dirty by becoming human like us, and then sacrifice Himself for a bunch of dorks like us. And that through that barbaric sacrifice He would take care of all our junk. The most foolish actions, paying out the most amazing results.

We are barbarians at the school gates, making foolish choices in the eye's of the world. We have been working out our salvation through the development of this school, pursuing the barbarian way. As McManus says, "The land of promiss was not a land free from dangers. The milk and honey they were promised awaited them amid a land of giants." For the last few weeks I have been feeling that exact thing. When 12 spies were sent into the promised land to check it out, 10 of them reported back there were giants in the land, but 2 of them said sure there are giants, but the fruit in enourmouse. The land of promise was not a land free from danger. (They should have listened to the 2 not the 10 becuase they didn't trust God and ended up spending the next 40 years in the desert. )

So what shall I do? I want to live by faith not sight. I want to choose to "follow the One whose barbarian path lead Him to the brutality of the Cross." I want to face the giants in the land and see the enourmous fruit. I want to let go of a sanitized Christianity and get back to the powerful, raw, and ancient faith. I want to dance like David with all my might, half naked, before the Lord our God. I want to never be the same again. I want to live the Barbarian Way. Be Barbaric and Be Blessed