Thanksgiving was really good. I got to see my big brother, which was nice. He's soon to turn 28. He's married with two kids. It's a rare occassion for my dad, mom, me, and my big bro to be alone together, but last Friday night we were for the first time in probably 3 or 4 years. It was great... we all just sat and talked for a while. My brohter talked the most which was good. I did a lot of listening. He and I also had the opportunity to talk about matters of faith. He's not a believer...yet. He's kinda' come to the conclusion that faith isn't all it's cracked up to be... he's not sure that he buys it. The problem is that my brother knows all to well that he's a really messed up guy (he knows this about the rest of humanity too) but he doesn't have any Christians in his life who acknowledge this about themselves. There's a big difference between giving lip service to the idea of personal sin and then actually wading knee deep in your own shit. My big brother is well aware of his sin... He knows he's got problems, but at the church he occassionally goes to there ain't too many folks who are willing to acknowledge their humanness. I want my brother to understand that it's possible to be a Christian AND a human! My brother knows he has a need... that's why he isn't satisfied with the conclusions that he's come to... that's why he began to tear up when I talked to him about my sin, his sin, and Christ's perfection. He's not there yet... It'll take some more time I think, but he's on his way. He's asking questions. This is good. My prayer is that God would bring friends into his life who earnestly, in the depths of their heart, love Christ and desire to know Him, but who are also ABSOLUTE #$%*-ups... I mean complete boobs! We are all screwed up people... My dear brother just needs some close freinds who will acknowledge this about themselves and point him to Christ. I want this for my brother... I really do. A dear friend of mine use to wear a t-shirt that said "Christ is for losers." I really liked that shirt.