Melting Pot

If I were a betting man, I could win a lot of money with this question: what is the most ethically diverse city in the United States?  New York?  Los Angeles?  Chicago?  No, sirree.  The most ethically diverse city in all of the US is Houston, Texas.  Yes, Houston, Texas.

This past weekend I and two friends from FBC were in Houston to have a look.  There are many possibilities for ministry there, and we were wanting to see if we should get involved.  Let me tell you, it was an eye-opening trip.  We visited a Muslim mosque, a Buddhist temple, and a Hindu temple.  We ate Vietnamese sandwiches and Iranian shish kebob.  We prayer walked in Little Chinatown.  And to top it all off, we were joined on the trip by folks from Chile, Paraguay, Honduras, and Mexico.

The world has come to us (we were told that there are high schools in Houston where over 200 languages are spoken!).  It is a golden opportunity for the American church, and we simply cannot squander it.

As it happens, our adult choir performed its spring musical Sunday.  It was called "Grace".  How appropriate, I thought.  I spent all weekend learning more about sincere but misguided people who are striving with all their might to earn God's favor.  We, on the other hand, rest in the work of Christ, who took our place and bore our shame.  It's called grace, and we should never tire of celebrating it.