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A church is defined by what it teaches, believes and stands for. You might think, “Well our church is known for its love.” Perhaps, but if you really want to know how your church is perceived, ask a waitress. On any given Sunday, these hardworking servants serve the servants. Get ready for a gut-check. They may tell you that your organization is only interested in political or social issues. They may tell you that the Sunday crowd is large, noisy, demand everything and leave nothing in return. Or they might say that your church is defined by the core objective and prime directive Jesus gave us: loving God – loving others and making disciples.
Want to really change things? I would suggest that you humbly ask your church leaders to focus on the same mission and commission that our Founder gave us. Is your church really known for its love and making disciples? Ask a waitress.
From bondage to spiritual faith
From spiritual faith to great courage
From great courage to strength
From strength to liberty
From liberty to abundance
From abundance to leisure
From leisure to selfishness
From selfishness to complacency
From complacency to apathy
From apathy to dependence
From dependence to weakness
From weakness back to bondage
Charles R. Swindoll, Come Before Winter, 500.
Depth of character is realized under pressure. Anyone can be a Christian when things go well at work, but how do you do when a little pressure, a little pain, a little discomfort, criticism or gossip, a sick child, loss of income, are applied? When your fruit is squeezed, what kind of juice comes forth? We must remember that it is God’s will, “that you should be sanctified” (1 Thessalonians 4:3; Romans 8:29), to make you whole, mature and complete, not to make you happy, but to conform you into the image of Christ Jesus – the true blessing. We should see our struggles as opportunities for growth. God will not leave you alone with your problems; He is as close as you will allow and will help you grow. Read the rest of this entry »
We’re on a journey. It has a beginning, middle, and end. It’s a process.
God has a plan and the pattern is Christ Jesus. The goal is to become like Christ. You will never understand your journey until you understand your destination. Knowing your destination, where you’re going, gives you an interpretation and an explanation of your journey. If you don’t know where you’re going, it doesn’t matter where you are – you won’t understand the trip. Read the rest of this entry »
The phrase “no man is an island unto himself” is actually an idiom and not found in the Bible. The precise quotation is, “No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main. – John Donne – Meditation XVII.
However, the meaning behind the quotation is central to God’s plan for man as evidenced from the Genesis account and carried throughout the whole of the Bible; it is called restoration, first to God, and secondly, with each other. Read the rest of this entry »
