I am just stunned by Glenn Schwartz’s personal journey: http://www.wmausa.org/page.aspx?id=83541

This isn’t someone like me - a foolhardy young hothead obsessed with the latest Christian psychobabble fad. This is someone I want to become - a wise man, deeply experienced in God, the mission field and in cross-cultural evangelism.

I am experiencing resonance, especially with these words describing a pivotal stage in Glenn’s journey almost 30 years ago:
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On Monday at the perspectives-on-missions course that Alexis and I are taking, the class for this week was about cross-cultural communication of the gospel. The instructor was Glenn Schwartz, executive director of Word Missions Associates.

I got to meet Glenn during the mid-session break, and we had a great conversation then and again after the class was over. I am really enthused about Glenn’s thoughts and insight into the problem of dependency that most missions-established churches have, i.e. their dependency on outside funding, especially American dollars and the many damaging cultural and spiritual problems such a dependency brings.

Check out the World Missions Associates page here: http://www.wmausa.org
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I think one of the biggest problems with Christians or contemporary Christian thinking is the attitude that humans are wretched sinners.

Okay, wait, hear me out on this one - yes, I know the Bible says we are all sinners, and I believe it too, so don’t click away just yet.
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So, during today’s morning church service, I found myself getting negative again about the whole Sunday-morning ritual of Christianity, and this time I decided I’d simply journal during the service. Here’s that journal entry…
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I’m super pumped - I found mah soulmusic!

I was working @ Starbucks in Amherst today, and during lunch I wandered into Mystery Train Records, a great used record store. I told the helpful clerk that I was looking for “music that’s, like, groovy, with a good beat, just kinda bluesy, you know, sorta like Propellerheads meets Stevie Ray Vaughn, you know, funky I guess”.

She wasn’t very sure about this genre, but she put me on to a group called Soulive - and it was *FANTASTIC*. It’s a three-person band: drums, guitar, and Hammond B-5 organ. Groovy groovy stuff. Check em out!

I got all excited and went back and asked for similar stuff. A guy helped me find some classic old-style funk records - I’m listening to “Funkadelic” and “Parliament” now. I’m not sure I like those as much as Soulive, though.

I think mah groove be jazz-funk, dig? Ya!

The Soulive record I have is called “Turn it out”, and here’re the liner notes - I’ve emphasized the sentences that grabbed me:
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