In early December, I got the opportunity to work for Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child (OCC), an organization that delivers shoeboxes full of toys and necessities to needy children in third world countries. Many church folks are familiar with those red cardboard shoeboxes and have been donating for several years now. I helped out at one of the 9 Processing Centers around the country. These centers are the next step after the collection centers receive your boxes. Once there, each of the 8.5 million shoeboxes will be inspected before they are shipped overseas. With the experience I gained working at the Processing Center in Maryland, I wanted to give you a little bit of insight and some suggestions about how to pack your shoebox for next year.
Not all shoeboxes are created equal

1. Consider using the free boxes that OCC distributes. These are called "Go Boxes." This helps out in several ways, but two are A) They are lightweight and as we know, weight factors into getting things from one place to another. Whether its gas for the truck to get them from the collection center or the mule that carries them to distribution points, weight is a factor. B) They are mathematically perfect for the cartons that they are packed into before shipping overseas. At the processing center, a "perfect carton" is a box with zero air in it due to odd ball shoebox shapes. You can get 23 OCC Go Boxes in a perfect carton which is 8 to 9 more over the average carton, which means less shipping containers, which in turn means less shipping costs.
2. For those of you with generous hearts and think, "I'm going to fill that BOOT box I have in the closet!" Stop and take an extra moment to consider not only the cartonizing and shipping of that box, but more importantly think of the situation at the other end at distribution. Certainly, you are making 1 child extremely happy, but you might be causing sadness or covetousness to the children sitting next to them who only get a normal sized shoebox, which in turn may cause that 1 child you blessed feeling more awkward than blessed. Consider instead making 2 boxes and blessing 2 kids.
3. Many of us pack our boxes with those plastic containers which are roughly shaped like shoeboxes. Yes, these are great for keeping moisture out and are wonderful items in themselves as they might be a durable box to be used for something else, but please know three things. A) There is a potential for them to break. They get somewhat brittle when they endure the cold of collection centers, trucks, processing centers, more trucks, and shipping containers here north of the equator. And there is a lot of shifting, lifting, and dropping of cartons along the way. If they get damaged before the processing center, things are repacked in a new cardboard box at the Processing Center's Shoebox Hospital. B) Although they are somewhat shoebox size, they are more trapezoidal and actually cause quite a bit of empty space in each carton. C) If you do use them, consider wrapping the inside of them so kids can't see in. From what I understand, many if not most of all distribution centers hold an event when passing the shoeboxes out. As each child is given a box, they are told that they have to wait for everyone to get one before they can open it. Wrapping on the inside increases the excitement and anticipation during this short period of time and adds a whole lot of fun.

Packing your box

1. OCC provides a handy dandy list of what is good and what is inappropriate to put in your shoebox gift. Stick to it. No liquids, no chocolate that can melt, no camouflage shirts or hats, no weapon type toys, no nail polish, no glass, etc. Things that you can consider that ARE appropriate: tools such as hammer and nails and wrenches, sewing supplies, scissors.
2. Consider packing for older children. It's easy to get wrapped up in the toys and pretty little socks and such, but preteens need some love too.
3. Put any envelopes, cards, and money on top. All envelopes are inspected for currency because any money at the other end could endanger the child. This includes personal cards and letters. They will be opened and inspected before going back into the shoebox, so consider not sealing shut those envelopes, that way the inspectors won't have to cut or rip them open. 
4. Put something about yourself in it! Like a picture, personal letter, favorite verse of scripture, stuff about the place where you live, etc. Over the several weeks I was at the Processing Center, I heard several testimonials from adults who were children that once received boxes long ago and how those personal touches and connections stood out to them.
5. Worried that your box doesn't have enough in it? That's ok. Though they aren't in the business of filling up boxes that are completely empty, OCC has business partners that happily donate items for the inspection team to use to fill any empty space that might occur in a box.

Sealing your box

1. Just use a single rubber-band to hold the lid on from your drop off point to the Processing Center. Each box will be opened and inspected, so anything more to keep the box closed just adds to the workload to the inspection team. It will be TAPED SHUT at the end of the inspection process.
2. Wrapping your shoebox is uber fun for the kids at the other end, just keep in mind two simple things. A) Don't wrap it in such a way that the wrapping paper completely seals the box. Again, it will be inspected, so it has to be opened. Inspectors try to respect the wrapping paper as best they can, but they will cut their way through it if they have to, to make sure all is right on the inside. B) Remember that TAPE that I mentioned a second ago? Big two inch wide white tape with the words Samaritan's Purse in big bold red letters emblazoned on it. Keep your efforts simple knowing that a portion of it will be taped over. Bows, ribbons, and such mostly get put inside the box during inspection to help with getting shoeboxes into cartons.
3. If you have to sit on your box to close it or it looks like there is an inflated football in there when there is no football, it's too full! Gently full is the term OCC uses. We want gently full boxes, people. If when you push on the top it pops back up a fraction of a bit, then you're perfect. If instead it springs up back at you like a "snake in a can" gag gift, it's too full, and you should consider making a second box. Better yet, don't consider... just make a second box.
4. Make sure to put a label on it and mark the appropriate age and gender. Maybe consider printing off a "Follow Your Box Label," from their website so you can know what country your box wound up in.

Pray

1. Pray for all the workers and volunteers who do everything that needs to be done to get the shoeboxes to their destinations. They are real people, some of whom are going through some tough stuff of their own, and they themselves can use extra prayer during this time of year.
2. Pray for the ministers of the gospel that will bring the message of hope to the children receiving these gifts. Pray that the discipleship that comes from this ministry is fruitful and multiplies.
3. Continue to pray for the child who will receive your shoebox gift. Mid-November is usually when we drop off our shoeboxes at some drop off point before they travel to a collection center. It's easy for us in America to quickly put Christmas aside and out of minds once December is over (here it is January 3rd and my family just packed up and put away all our decorations). But some of these shoeboxes will not get to their destinations until February or March. Continue to pray for the young people, that their hearts would be softened during this time. Pray that the Holy Spirit would woo them in the unique and powerful ways. May they hear the Word of the Lord and say, "Yes" to Jesus. 

Last summer, my son was introduced to the sport of fencing. He had a great time and learned a bunch. It was one of the first things that he tried that made him realize he still had a lot to learn. This summer he was able to get into a once a week class which helped to round out his beginner skills. He enjoyed it so much we decided to enroll him in a week long camp at the same facility which started while his weekly class was wrapping up. All this fencing has only fueled his desire to learn and do more. By this point in time, he had even decided which weapon he enjoyed most and wanted to concentrate more on. As he has progressed through the camp, his coach has taken an interest in Tim and he thinks Tim could go far in the sport. It's one of those opportunities that Carla and I can't let slip by. We talked it over as a family and Tim recognized the need for discipline to continue in a sport that will require quite a bit of finagling by the family as a whole to maintain (schedule-wise and financially). He understands that some weeks will simply require more effort than others because his emotions won't always be consistent. That certain weeks, he will simply need to power through when things aren't going so well. With summer ending and school about to start up, things will only get more congested in terms of time, but in the end, we all think it will be worth it for him to pursue what God is doing in this tightly knit circle of the fencing community. 
Disciplines are great things for us to work on as Christians, frankly because (like fencing) there are so many. One of the books I like to recommend to people is Donald S. Whitney's Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. This short book is a wonderful treasure trove of ways we can stretch our faith for the purpose of developing Godliness in our lives. Obviously, things like Bible intake and prayer are in there- and these chapters aren't some simple overview of age old traditions, but rather they help to make us really see and understand why we are doing these things and why we should be doing these things. There are also other disciplines that Whitney explores such as journaling, fasting, and one especially poignant for this day and age- silence and solitude (written back in 1991: two or three years before the internet became popular and roughly 10 years before cell phones started landing in everyone's pocket). The book itself isn't very long and reading it would definitely come under the heading of one of the disciplines he lists- Learning for the Purposes of Godliness. No matter where you are in your walk with the Lord, I suggest you take a look at this fantastic book.
And as you look at your own schedule for the upcoming fall season no matter what stage of life you are in, may you too endeavor to not just add some new thing or hobby or sport into your routine, but also a commitment to a more spiritually disciplined life.

**PS. On a lighthearted note, raising a son always comes with the reminders to "not hit others", at least in the early years.  Carla and I do find it odd that we have gotten to the place now with Tim entering fencing where we are OK with sticking a sabre in our son's hand and telling him to go out and hit another kid in the head/torso with it. Not only that, but we find ourselves sitting next to the parents of the aforementioned kid and we can both talk, laugh, smile, and cheer as their child does the same to Tim.
***PSS. Tim came home from camp today and told me how fencing is the safest sport there is. I neglected to tell him that yesterday his coach related a story to me of how he and one of his students once both drew blood at the same time while they were warming up for a competition. SHHHhhhh! Don't tell him.

Over the years, there have been several things that have stuck in my mind from the pages of God's word. One of them is the word fervent. It is used several places in the NASB translation, and I am always blessed when I see it used in the lives of people. 
    It's a concept I think we can always use a little more of in our lives. The intended idea of fervent in the Greek is one of stretching out to a maximum limit and an intention that is without ceasing. The ultimate example of this can be found in Luke 22:44, "And being in agony He (Jesus) was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground." Let me ask you... when was the last time any of us prayed so fervently that we even perspired, let alone sweat so profusely that it dripped to the ground like blood running off our heads?!?
   Fervent comes up only a few other places in the New Testament and one of them is in my favorite passage in the Bible: Romans 12:9-21. Verse 11 says, "not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;" The thought here is to be continually seeking to serve God from a place of perpetual/constant growth in the spirit. And let us not forget that the context for this verse is serving others in love.
   Which brings me to my last reference today. 1 Peter 1:22, " Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of a seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. (verse 23 added for emphasis)" Love is one of our greatest assets and we should desire to use it maximally in every facet of our day.
   May we be a people who seek to live out our fervent spiritual life - seeking ways to live it out maximally, rather than figuring out what the minimum is that we could get away with and still be considered righteous. May we be a people who stretch out and fervently love others as Jesus did on the cross. 

Grace, Opportunity, Dignity

It’s that time of year again. Those days where you reflect on New Year’s resolutions that you’ve already long forgotten. Maybe you simply shrug your shoulders at some. Maybe you actually feel a little disappointed in yourself. Some probably even warrant laughing at yourself, “How could you possibly be so silly as to think you could…” On the other hand, some aren’t (or shouldn’t) be cast off so easily.

Many Christians resolve to read their Bibles more. Many only follow through for a short time, and then “life” gets in the way, or at least that’s the excuse we use. But I would contend that this spiritual discipline is one that should be hard pressed for. Be sacrifical with your time. Make the effort to actually move forward and read God’s Word.

Allow me to issue you a challenge. At the date of this post (February 3rd) there are 76 days until Easter and there are 27 books in the New Testament. Try reading the entire New Testament before Easter Sunday. This might be a change for many of you who may only read 3 or 4 chapters during the occasional sitting. Coincidentally, there are 260 chapters in the New Testament making for a daily regimen of 3.5 chapters a day for the next 76 days, but that’s not what I’m suggesting in this post. Read on faithful reader…

My challenge to you is to read whole books of the New Testament in a single sitting. I understand this flies in the face of many Bible study advocates and I can already hear their laments, “How much will you be missing if you read that much at one sitting?” And my rebuttal is two fold. While certainly, this isn’t how you would always want to study the Word, 1) I would argue that most people, who aren’t especially apt to read more than 3 or 4 chapters a day, when they actually sit down long enough for some quiet time, can hardly remember what happened in chapter 2 of a book like Acts, and how it may or may not impact the events they read in chapter 28 a week and a half later. This leads me to my second fold… 2) Reading whole books in one sitting can illuminate familiar material in new ways. Books, that we’ve studied in the past with small groups or through some sermon series that took months, take on a whole new light and perspective when we can read them beginning to end (as they were intended to be read). Themes and important points come to the surface that may have eluded us, even through prior meticulous study.

I hope to encourage you to actually follow through with this, but I do have some closing tips/suggestions/whatevers to make your time not only easier to manage, but also help it be more than just checking off a box.

A) Read in a version that is easy to read, but that isn’t your "normal" version. This way it forces you to actually read what is there and the language itself will be new. I would suggest the NIV or ESV. If you already use both of those, try the NASB.

B) I know I am talking about reading whole books in one sitting, but longer books are long. Don’t feel bad about splitting up the reading some, but don’t take longer than 3 sittings with any one particular book.

C) As good as a study of reading one gospel after another can be, this probably isn’t the time for that challenge. My suggestion would be to read a gospel and then read 3 or 4 other books before going on to another gospel, just so you don’t feel like you’ve read the same thing over and over.

D) Take the extra time to think of the answers to these following questions on a grand scale (Maybe meditate on them throughout your day)

1. What does this book teach me about who God is?
   
2. What does this book teach me about who man is, or my sinful nature?
   
3. Is there a sin to avoid?
   
4. Is there a command to follow?
   
5. How does God expect my spiritual life to flourish from the reading of this book?
   
   

E) It’s okay to miss a day. Get back to it the next day. Realistically, you can probably do the whole New Testament in less than 40 days (17 of the 27 books are six chapters or less and 4 of those are only one chapter!), but the heart of what I am encouraging you to do IS NOT about the math and how much you need to read and when you will likely wrap up and how much to make up after missing a day, etc. It’s about generating a love for time spent with God in His Word. Take the time. Enjoy spending it at His feet. Cultivate this spiritual discipline to the point where doing it is the norm and not doing it feels like you left your wallet at home.

Try reading Colossians followed by Philemon today. How are they related? Hint: it has to do with the people. How does a better understanding of Colossians inform how you read Philemon?

My family and I are unashamed Phineas and Ferb fans. And I am always partial to the Heinz Doofenshmirtz storyline. Maybe it is his whimsical style of trying to take over the world or maybe there is some evil scientist element within me that is always trying to think of ways to take over something. I've even already have plans for a costume complete with a working "-inator" for this year whenever the need arises. Anyway, below is a series of Facebook posts that started off simply enough, but escalated quickly. Why post these here? Just because it was too silly and sometimes I crack myself up (even if I am the only one in the room).

Feeling very Heinz Doofenshmirtz-y this morning. ***sits down to draw up plans for a Squidgeemcdiggit-inator 
'MUAHAHAHAHAHA 

Ahh Perry the Platypus... What a remarkable entrance. And by that I mean totally MARKABLE! See, I thought you would land here as you crashed through the sliding glass door. Look, I even drew in your fancy 3 point stance. And now I have you in my traaAAaap.

BEHOLD!!! My Squidgeemcdiggit-inator! You see Perry the Platypus, just the other day I was talking with this grocery bagger guy at the check out line. You know the type... plays tetris with your groceries to get them in the bags, but this guy isn't very good at it and only puts like 3 things in each bag and tries to make up for it by being overtly friendly and talkative in hopes that you won't notice. Well, he was using these 5 dollar words, when a 10 cent word would do. You know, words that sound like real words but no one knows what they are... Like they got that Word-a-day calendar for Christmas and have been memorizing it since then so they would sound more intelligent than they really are. I hate those guys! So I created THIS... The Squidgeemcdiggit-Inator! It causes people to make up words and use them over and over in conversation! Soon everyone will be using words that no one will understand, and in the ensuing communication break down and chaos I will take over the Northern Virginia, DC, Maryland AREA! It's sort of like the tri-state area, but only larger.

And now my semi-aquatic egg laying mammal of action friend, I only need to point the Squidgeemcdiggit-inator out of sliding glass door, you so conveniently broke on your way in. Seriously, next time just knock or something. And then I pull this lever and I will shoot green bolts of linguistic confoundity all over the place AND the internet. Social media will be agasp with all the confusing words from people during the day!

***points the Squidgeemcdiggit-inator out the sliding glass door. 
AND NOW, I will just put this on an automatic random firing pattern... 
***pulls lever
PEW PEW PEW...
and now Perry the Platypus, I am off to the dentist. Good oral hygiene is an essential quality of a tyrannical ruler. And I need a haircut. You can never go too far with personal grooming. Have fun trying to escape from that elaborate necktie trap I have you ensconced within.
***leaves the room

Oh, hello Perry the Platypus. I forgot you were even here. I see you are still stuck in those neckties. That one is particularly obnoxious. It's the Eldritch Knot. I don't know what connection it has with H.P. Lovecraft, but it makes you look like Cthuhlu with your fingers all stuck around your chin like that. 
***PEW PEW PEW out the broke glass door.
AHh, I see that my Squidgeemcdiggit-inator is still functioning properly. 
***An android steps into the room
What is it Virgil? ...
No, you may not invite your squidgeemcdiggit robot cousin Norm over.
No, I don't care if he needs your technique of making Cheeseballs.
What do you mean he is on the phone? Just tell him then! 
NO NO He can't come over. 
Tell him to tell Heinz I say, "Hello, and that I love that Youtube thing he's been doing. 
Perry, do you need to tell Heinz anything?
Is that noise even a word? OH WAIT A SECOND... has my -inator worked on you too??? MUAHAHAHAHAHA

***PEW PEW PEW
Hey Perry the Platypus, it's really cold outside. How about I make us some nice warm macaroni and cheese? Perry the Platypus? Hey... Where did you g-
***WHACK, PUNCH, KICK
Hey cut that out... OW! Stop that!
***Doobie Doobie Doo Ba Doobie Doobie Doo
Seriously! OW. Your foot is in my face!
***A thrown fedora sails through the air
NONONO Not the self destruct button!
***BOOOOOOM!
Curse you Perry the Platypus!
***Agent P
Ahh Squidgeemcdiggit.

There you have it... if you've read this far and are wondering who is this guy, read some of the other posts to get a better picture. A more serious post is on it's way; I just wanted to share this one while the giggles were still in the air.

I knew it had been a while, but man, those months went by quick. 
Anyway, being in a new year and all, I was simultaneously cleaning up some files, making lists, envisioning the upcoming year, and I stumbled upon a blog post I never finished that sort of coincided with my planning for the new year. 
  "My wife and I are reading A.W. Tozer's Pursuit of God and it's got me thinking about how we approach Bible study. He really tries to get the reader to think beyond simply having a correct understanding of God and move to a place of deeper driving desire to be closer in relationship with Him. This prompts me to adjust how I tend to teach in Bible study. 4 questions to 5..."
  Poorly written, I know (that's why it stayed in the draft folder so long) but it still resonates with me. See, I am encouraging the church I pastor and my family and friends to read the New Testament by Easter. Not really a tremendous feat of academia by any stretch of the imagination, but you would be surprised how many evangelical, Bible toting Christians out there have never read the New Testament to completion (let alone the whole Bible). Along with directing them towards this goal, I am sure to mention to let The Holy Spirit enlighten the reading, and I also usually give 4 questions to help facilitate the study of The Word to help those who merely read it and move on with their day. 
  1) What did I learn about God from the passage, 2) What did I learn about man or myself, 3) Is there a sin to avoid, and 4) Is there a commandment to follow. These questions help guide the reading into a thoughtful inquiring time that is sure to help enrich time spent with The Lord; though in retrospect they are quite antiseptic, clinical, admittedly... a little dry. I still stand by them though and encourage you to ask these same questions during your time in God's Word. But I think, thanks to Tozer, I will start adding a 5th question.
   5) How does God expect your relationship with Him to flourish because of these verses?
   This, I think, should be a natural expectation even before we open the pages and set our eyes on the first words. That we are excited at the possibility of an ever deepening trust, understanding, love, reverence, etc. due to the time we are spending with Him. I know that this last bit is worded awkwardly, but how can you put your finger on what an all powerful God can do? It will be a different kind of excitement for different people at different times. The point is, that a byproduct of our time spent with God should be a desire for deeper commitment toward Him in whatever way The Spirit directs us.
  May 2014 bring you exponentially closer to Him who created and redeemed you. Read your Bible. Try getting the whole story of Christ in before Easter. His Birth, His Early Church, and His Return.

Luke 10:41-42 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Blessed is the man who does 
1a) not WALK in the counsel of the wicked
2a) nor STAND in the path of sinners
3a) nor SIT in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord
3b) and in His law he MEDITATES day and night
2b) he will be like a tree FIRMLY PLANTED by streams of water
1b) which YIELDS ITS FRUIT in its season
and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers
{Psalm 1:1-3 Numbering is my own, for emphasis}
   I can't even tell you the number of times I have considered these verses. It is mostly because they have been the subject of some of my favorite songs in the past. But... as all things scriptural, the Lord will from time to time breathe new life into the Word, and what you thought you had a good grip on, merely turns out to be "only the leg of an elephant." The Lord did that to me this morning in my meditations. 
   Notice the poetic structure that is presented before us. This A-B-C-C-B-A pattern is known as Chiastic structure. But the pattern is not as important as the message. I've already got a sermon brewing (which I won't type out for you here. It's like a sermon writers dream... 3 interconnected points, all pointing to having an active faith, with object lesson examples baked right into the passages!!! It doesn't get much easier folks!)
   I digress. The point I was trying to make was about the freshness of the Word. I came to this passage again for the "millionth" time, because it came to me in the shower and my mind stopped on what meditation means for the Christian. As I did, wouldn't you know it, not only did it reveal some things that I had going on in my own heart, but it also brought me to a new understanding of these very familiar verses. What the first three actions imply and how they are connected with the next three. I love when the Lord does this for us. He shows us what not to do, but in the same breath points out the preferred righteous actions to emulate. 
   Please be praying for me in this "season" - that though the fruit of full-time ministry is dormant, my leaf has not withered; I am still full of life, the life everlasting; all thanks to the Living Water of Jesus Christ!

Last night, an atheist told me that the pope said  atheists can go to heaven if they do good deeds and that there was no longer a need to hold on to "the dogma" of believing in Christ. 
After pointing out the fallacies in this line of thinking, I spent the morning looking for the pope's words. Please understand that being a protestant and a Calvinist, the Catholic church and I differ on many theological issues, but this blog isn't for the purposes of airing out that dirty laundry. As a matter of fact, in these few paragraphs, I am setting some personal convictions aside for a moment to hopefully render a proper interpretation of what the pope had to say. 
  Now for the life of me, I couldn't find the Pope's message to read for myself, but what I did find was an overwhelming response to what the pope discussed- that atheists can also do good along with Catholics and that Christ has redeemed them too and that this was common ground for us to be working together. And that the Catholic church should not hold on to the dogma that only Catholics can do good in this world. The discussion has two basic points. 
   First, people are capable of doing good. Sometimes we evangelicals, and maybe Catholics, run all too quickly to the verse that says that our good works are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Remember, this scripture is first off a comparative set of words which juxtaposes our righteousness to the righteousness of The Lord. Secondly, this is poetic language which includes hyperbole to get its point across. There are plenty of people in the world today and we Christians certainly haven't cornered the market on doing good and/or right by people. I've covered this in other blogs... go back and read my opinions there.
  Secondly, the distinction between redemption and salvation comes into question. Now, the pope was speaking from Mark 9:33-49 where the apostles were trying to stop someone from doing miracles in the name of Jesus, all because that person wasn't part of their inner circle. Jesus rebukes them about this, but there is NO evidence to point to the fact that the person in question was an atheist. It was a lesson in directing those who are "more in the know about spiritual things" not to handcuff those of little faith. On the contrary, in Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus points out the importance of having faith and a personal relationship with Him. And that salvation IS NOT yours just because you do good deeds, even if they were in the name of Christ!
   Let's look to what the Bible has to say about this distinction of redemption and salvation...
Romans 3:23-25A 
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood
Here we see the redemptive work of Christ on the cross and what it accomplished (John 3:16A For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son...). I'm guessing (and hoping) that this was the point that the pope was trying to drive home. That Christ has paid the penalty for EVERYONE'S sin, not just Catholics. The question of whether or not the theology behind this is all inclusive of everyone during all of time is a debate better left for another time. The point here, is that the pope was simply pointing out (hopefully) that sin is sin and that Christ has paid the price for ALL sin once and for all.
   But now let's clear up any confusion that may lead to the line of thinking that would bring someone to think that atheists go to heaven because of Christ's redemptive act and doing good things alone. Let's put these two and a half verses in the context of the verses around them. Look at how redemption was Christ's responsibility which has been achieved and the act of salvation is based in faith in Him.
Romans 3:21-26
But now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood--to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
   Though the price of our sins has been paid by Christ, this redemption only comes to the full fruition of salvation through faith in Christ alone. 
   Again, I couldn't find the pope's speech, but after seeing some of the quotes around the internet, it seems like our selfish desire to get away with as little as possible, with help from 140 characters and a news media that wants to be as inflammatory as possible, mistook the meaning of the words of this man to mean that everyone who does good deeds gets to go to heaven. I don't think this was his intention (if it was, then that will be one more thing we don't see eye to eye on). I trust the pope meant that redemption was available to everyone; that faith in Christ is CRUCIAL for salvation to an eternity in heaven rather than being damned to an eternity in hell; and that we might be able to meet, in this world, in the common ground of doing good to those around us; which in turn could potentially grant Christians the opportunity to earn the respect of atheists so the gospel could be heard; which in turn could possibly bring them to salvation by this redemptive work of Christ. 

{Chiasmus is the figure of speech in which two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the clauses display inverted parallelism. The elements of simple chiasmus are often labelled in the form A B B A, where the letters correspond to grammar, words, or meaning. Here, instead of dealing with one of the many direct chiamus found in scripture, I have collected several scriptures and put them into the form of a chiamus to make a larger point.}

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” –John 8:58

and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. – Ephesians 5:2

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” – Matthew 27:46

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:31-39

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. – Romans 12:1

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” – Isaiah 6:8