The goal of the gospel is total transformation. It is not just an entry stamp that gets you past the heavenly velvet rope and into the VIP room, but a complete restoration of all that was lost in the garden all those yesteryears ago. The gospel of Christ comes in and seeks to restore our relationships with God, ourselves, others, and creation. Scot McKnight's book, "Embracing Grace", is really good on this point. Lately, I've realized (along with many others) that most of my Christian life has limited the gospel to just the vertical focus and my private relationship with God, which is important, it's just incomplete.

Long story short, as I'm working towards my Masters in Ministry and seeking God's will as far as pastoring/church planting, I've been looking at local and global (what Bob Roberts calls GLOCAL) opportunities to partner with as a means of supporting the transformation of others and creation. SRR will be supporting the Blood:Water Mission non-profit founded by the guys in Jars of Clay. They are building clean and sustainable water systems in Africa, where millions are dying due to lack of clean water, which seems silly since many of us pay for bottled water. Additionally, they are bringing in clean blood, since most of the AIDS pandemic solutions require this precious commodity that we all have running thru our veins. Plus, they are also using this as a means of bringing the gospel, since blood and water were shed on Calvary for the sins of the world. Check-out their site and get more of the details. They have numerous ways to support and get churches involved, as well as youth / college groups. Basically, it equates to about $1 paying for an entire year supply of water for one person. A percentage of SRR profits (which frankly, isn't much) will be going to this mission, but even a little when contributed by a lot makes a difference. Thanks for checking them out.