Everyone Belongs (Part 1)

A couple years ago I read a book on prayer by author Richard Rohr. The book was called ‘Everything Belongs’. It had a lot of great insights and some impact on me personally. As I continued to read and reflect over the title of the book God kept tweaking the phrase in my heart. Over time I started using the phrase ‘Everyone Belongs’. I started signing my name with the phrase. I was looking at people differently.

You see I grew up with a conservative Christian upbringing. What I’m about to say is not a reflection on my family. Since they may be the only 5 people reading this I had to throw that in there. Quite frankly, in an independent fundamentalist background (Baptist one on side, charismatic on the other) not everyone belonged. In my world you ‘belonged’ if you tucked in your shirt, wore a belt, had your hair cut the right length and listened to the right kind of music. But especially don’t listen to the wrong kind.

Over the years, God has chipped some of that stuff away (I’m a work in progress), and I can’t go back to my previous way of thinking. I have learned that there is good and beauty in a lot of places I didn’t used to look for it. I have learned that God has placed a piece of Himself inside of everyone, and that a personal relationship with Jesus is how to activate the God-particles.

Never has that been brought more to light than when the Outreach team at West Ridge starting engaging what some have called the largest unreached people group in America…(Part 2, later)

Everyone Belongs,

Paul