We live in Texas and if you grow up in Texas or live here long enough there are two things that happen: First, you become a big fan of Texas. Not necessarily the “Lone Star State” guy who puts stars up all over his house, but when you are surrounded by states like Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Mexico it just leads to arrogance. After all we do have paved roads.

Second, you enter into a religious blender of spiritual activity. There are ridiculous amounts of mega churches that have over 5,000 people and counting. I am not sure who goes to these churches but they are full on Sunday. Sometimes these huge churches can be dangerous because it gives an illusion of spiritual activity. There are also a great many people who have been “exposed” to spiritual activity but have walked away wanting more. They know the words, they have heard the story, but something didn’t connect. Maybe it was a poor communicator, a hard heart, or a stalker for a youth pastor; I am not sure, but nevertheless, they walk away.

As a result most people in Texas are across the board spiritually and we have to be careful with our language when we describe a relationship with Jesus. Recently one of the people on our core team was able to introduce their friend to Jesus and she met Him for the first time. She did an excellent job of helping her friend see that you can know of Jesus but until you meet Him it doesn’t matter. Because when we meet Him, when we place our faith in His death, burial, and resurrection, we will be transformed.

So in Texas we have to be careful that we all are not using the same words with different meanings because many people have heard about Jesus, they know about Him, heard the stories, or even walked an isle, but they have never met Him.