Let us be bold enough to ask ourselves as Christians whether the Church of the Lord Jesus in the United States has anything to say to our nation and its ideologies of materialism, possessiveness, and the worship of financial security. Are we courageous enough to be a sign of contradiction to consumerism through our living faith in Jesus Christ? Are we committed enough to his gospel to become a countercurrent to the drift?

All I have learned through trial and error is to stay alert and aware, especially God smiling @ our silliness.

There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are.

Shame--what happened when my mother, the dragon, huffed and puffed and blew my self down.

Do the truth quietly without display.

We even refuse to be our true self with God- and then wonder why we lack intimacy with him.

In explaining the growth of his faith, psychiatrist Gerald May writes, "I know that God is loving and that God’s loving is trustworthy. I know this directly, through the experience of my life. There have been plenty of times of doubt, especially when I used to believe that trusting God's goodness meant I would not be hurt. But having been hurt quite a bit, I know God's goodness goes deeper than all pleasure and pain it embraces them both." Ruthless Trust, pg 22