As we prepare to “invest and invite†our friends, co-workers, and even family members to Fuel’s kickoff session, “Wide Openâ€, I was reminded of the buffoonery of my first attempts to share my faith about 13 years ago…
 First, I bought everyone in my family a bible, and thought they’d magically start reading it and discover the error of their ways, and call me and thank me on the spot. I am still waiting for those phone calls…
 About a year or two later, I visited my college buddies on a retreat weekend. This weekend was all about how many beers you could drink and stupid things you could say. Yet, undeterred to save their heathen souls,  I brought everyone a copy of the book, “Man in the Mirror†and was quickly called David Koresh for the rest of the weekend.
 After needling me the entire weekend about how much I “sucked†for my new found faith, I finally retorted, “God shall not be mocked.â€Â Yet, I was mocking God by doing the exact same thing my friends were doing.
 Why is that I seem to forget that God can creatively show up in the lives of the people I love,  just as creatively as He showed up in mine? Its almost as if–unless someone mimics my relationship with God, and sees Him through the same lens I see him, their salvation is in jeopardy.
 Romans 5:10 0 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
 Why can’t I seem to let this verse play out in the lives of the people I love? That verse works well for me–that God saved me, while I was his enemy. But, all you sinning evil doers better start looking more like ME, so God can love you too.
 It’s ridiculous. It’s almost like trying to go on a diet your friend went on—hey, jack, it worked for me. Therefore, it should work for you too. But diets don’t work the same. And our faith is very individualized as well—open to great possibilities that many of us never think of. And often times, when we frame God for others to see him just as we saw him…He rarely comes into focus.
 I am not saying there are multiple pathways to God outside of Jesus—HE is the ONE way to God—but what I am saying is there are multiple pathways to Jesus that look nothing like the pathway He blazed for me (or you) to find Him. And I need to—we all need to—be aware that our experience with Him was made for us, uniquely.
 I find God when I am with my sons, when I am fishing, and when I am discussing life with my fellow Christian brothers. I do not find God through systematic theology, interpretive dance, long sermons, or meditating. IF those were my only options, I’d be doomed.
 I have friends who find communion with God on the gun range, when they hunt, on the golf course, or when they go camping. Whatever it is, it is something that I shouldn’t judge—
 I should be open, wide open, to the fact that with God, all things are possible.
 See you in the morning!
6:30AM, Hidden Creek Country Club.
Pat Mancuso