OutreachMagazine.com: The Beautifully Sent Church

The Beautifully Sent Church
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Hugh Halter and Matt Smay on 02/18/2010

Exclusive: Chapter 1 from Hugh Halter's new book, AND ... The Gathered and
Scattered Church

Before I share this next thought, I feel compelled, out of my personal
insecurity, to tell you that I’m a man . . . a real man, a man’s man. I
like mixed martial arts. I often eat an entire Chipotle burrito with extra meat.
I enjoy fishing, hunting, and taking the top off my Jeep Wrangler during 2:00
p.m. lightning storms in Denver. I don’t eat glass, but I do enjoy the
challenge of seeing how many pieces of bacon I can consume without negative
internal issues. I’d like to keep going so you really know that I’m securely
entrenched in my manhood, but I should probably move on.
The reason I waste your time proving myself to you is because yesterday, while
in the lobby of a hotel, I was watching a morning news show where the
newscasters were sharing the story of Chris­tian the Lion. There’s a book
about this lion available, so I’ll spare you the details, but essentially
these two dudes who lived in London decided to purchase and try raising a lion
together. Even though they didn’t know much about lions, they apparently did a
great job. Eventually, when their pet lion reached adult size, they felt
compelled to release it into the African wild. They weren’t sure if he would
survive, and it was incredibly painful for them to say goodbye to Chris­tian.
A year later, they decided to return to Africa and see how the lion they had
raised was doing and whether he would still recognize them. They had a video
camera on the scene when Chris­tian came out of the woods, and the news show
let us watch their reunion. It was pretty amazing! Chris­tian the Lion came
slowly out of the savanna, caught wind of his old friends, and then saw them off
in the distance. Excitedly, he rushed toward them and mauled them with love and
licks and lion hugs and all sorts of other feline mushy stuff. As I watched, I
had to look around to make sure no one was watching me, because I was whimpering
like a teenage cheerleader who just got dumped by her first boyfriend.
So why all the emotion? Whenever I see someone invest time and energy and love
into something and then willingly sacrifice it, giving away what they have,
it’s powerful!
Read chapter 1 »
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