In the picture (left) my wife and I got to watch Phoenix perform live at Austin City Limits Festival and it was awesome. Phoenix was my favorite show from the weekend. We got to the show about 15 minutes early, sat down, and talked as we waited for the show to start. It was a lot of fun. When we stood up to watch the show I looked behind us and out of nowhere about 60,000 other people joined us to watch the show. It was amazing.

From a spiritual perspective, through the weekend, I would just see so many people and I was curious about where they were spiritually and I thought typically the church would think we need to get “our” festival. You know, something like, Austin Christian Festival Without Limits. We would bring in the biggest Christian band, and the latest Christian speaker and it wouldn’t be nearly as cool as getting to see the B-52’s with their flaming red hair and teal dresses.

In the midst of the crowd I just felt overwhelmed because there were so many people and wondering how they could ever experience a fresh experience with Jesus that wasn’t clouded with judgment, hypocrisy, rules, negative experiences, false perceptions, misunderstandings, and internal frustrations. How are people ever going to see Jesus and church different than how it has already been tainted?

It seems that it starts with a Christ follower having a fresh experience with Jesus and then taking the time, energy, and resources to help break down all those barriers previously mentioned. It is overwhelming to think about, but what other options do we have? Fly through the city in helicopters dropping leaflets on the city about Jesus?