Have a Little Faith

I just finished reading a great little book, Have A Little Faith, by Mitch Albom. If the author's name sounds familiar, you might know him by his best selling book, Tuesdays With Morrie. Have A Little Faith is about the author's relationship with an 82 year old rabbi and a black Detroit pastor-a reformed drug dealer and convict-who preaches to the poor and homeless in a decaying church with a hole in the roof.

The book starts with an unusual request by the rabbi, he wants the author to deliver his eulogy. Feeling unworthy, Albom insists on understanding the man better, which throws him back into a world of faith that he had left years earlier. Moving between their worlds, Christian and Jewish, African-American and white, impoverished and well-to-do, Albom observes how these very different men employ faith similarly in fighting for survival: the older, suburban rabbi embracing it as death approaches; the younger, inner-city pastor relying on it to keep himself and his church afloat.

This book is a great read for the times we are in. Our world faces huge challenges economically, politically and spiritually. I am convinced that as Christians and for myself as a church leader, we must facilitate and resource relationships as a main vehicle for seeing people's lives changed and touched by the power of God. It is great to come together and worship and see the same church family members week after week, but we must do much more than this. We have got to find creative ways to bring people together who desperately need hope for the future and share with them the good news of the Gospel. If you get a chance to read Have A Little Faith, I think you'll know what I'm talking about.