A recent television show portrayed a man who had lost his daughter to cancer months earlier as one driven and focused. The initial portrayal caused you to think the direction of his attention was in an extremely vile avenue. Only as you watched did you see the reality unfold of what this grieving father was actually doing.

He had gone to bat for a young lady he had never even met, but who reminded him of his daughter. Against the odds, and at great risk to his own reputation, he began to fight on her behalf, to free her from bondage.

Ultimately, his efforts paid off and the young lady was free. Upon her final freedom, he released his pent up emotion. Though he was a hero for his efforts, he was not often viewed this way by the shows main characters. They saw him as "over the edge."

I think the world view of believers is often like this. Because we fight for the freedom of those who have fallen prey to Satan's lies, we are viewed as radical... extreme... the religious right.

Religion has little to do with what we seek. We would lay down our reputations for the opportunity to see one lost soul come to Christ. In the process, the world will cry, "foolishness!"

This does not matter. We know 1 Corinthians says that the He "chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise." I would rather be out of my mind for Christ, than wise and accepted by this world.

Even as I think on this, I am amazed by one who was so young, and yet "got it." Upon arrival to the hospital a year ago, BJ was starving for breath. His body was heaving as he tried to draw it in.

Even so, he never forgot whose he was and what his purpose on this earth was. As he fought for breath, the nurse who checked him in tried to help him relax. BJ had one desire. As she told him to focus his attention on getting oxygen to his lungs, between pants, he asked her if she was a Christian. He would spend those moments sharing his faith, and his testimony with her.

This would be the last day he would speak. The intensity of purpose in his life was so sure that his focus was not on himself when it most needed to be. He wanted to know that she knew what he knew. He wanted her to have the assurance that she was free from bondage.

I want to be that "foolish" with my life.

dad