Living life with steps of faith

I have a sneaking suspicion that my hometown is being "punked" by Ashton Kutcher via Facebook!   Thought I'd put this suspicion out in the open!  I have several friends who were good friends with Chris before he became famous and people in our area have many connections with him.  Anyways, I  now have several "mutual friends" with him on Facebook, but none of them are any of his "real" friends.  Looking at his Facebook page, his status updates are all quotes, and the notes on his wall are of locals sharing their "connection" with him.  This is all to say that either Ashton is "punking" us or someone else is!

One of my favorite New Testament stories is of the Samaritan woman's encounter with Jesus at Jacob's well.  I love this story, because it models to me what it means to share the gospel.  In it, I am reminded to speak the truth in love, to invite my neighbor to have his or her thirst quenched by the Living Water, to use what is before me as a tool for witness, and to reach out to those who are marginalized by society.  I typically interpret the woman to represent in modern times those disfranchised in society by race, poverty, or culture.  But, today when I read it, I saw it in a new way.  The Samaritan woman had faith. She believed in the Torah and worshipped God.  She was at odds with the Jewish believer because she chose to worship God in a different way and she rejected parts of the Scriptures.  I read it and I heard an encounter between Jesus and a Muslim woman. I also heard the part about her having several husbands in a new way.  Previ...