Let me give you a little personal history lesson from my past, as I recall it. See, I'm a 3rd generation Nazbo, but my own spiritual heritage comes from the heart of my church.
Some time during the 19 somethings, Chicago 1st Church reached out to a 19-year-old young man, asking him to play in their basketball league. They believed that their message and resources weren't just for themselves, but they were intended to be shared. So they did. They built a gym, shared it with those from their community, and one 19-year-old was loved into that church, and it all started on the basketball court.
That's the beginning of my spiritual heritage. That 19-year-old was my grandfather.
I come from a church that understands that it wasn't, and isn't created for it's own purpose. It wasn't and isn't for those who are already there. It has been and is for those who aren't. A church that reached, and is still called to reach out, to prostitutes, drunken men and women, the homeless, gay, and many other marginal groups, inviting them to join us on this incredible journey of rediscovering who our God is, and how much he loves us. A church that started with 10,000 members, and has grown to 1.8 million in 152 countries. That's still a blip on the screen, but the reality of a dream for those called Nazarenes. It's the realized dream of a group of people who believed that their purpose for being was for "them".
It's been a great 100 years. Not perfect, but God has used the people called Nazarenes to work with our other brothers and sisters in the faith to redeem our world. As good as the first 100 has been, with God's help, may the second be better.
Praise be to God!
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