What does this mean for us today?

            So, what does that mean for us today?

•     Be accountable to each other- Find a partner, someone  who you can trust to not judge you, and if there are things in your life that you need to change, allow that person to keep you accountable and with that let them “ spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”
•     Feed and be fed- if you are not in the word daily, find a Bible study and be a part of it.  That way you are constantly being challenged to learn the word of God.  Not only that, but prayerfully consider someone who you can  train in the Word, too.  True change comes when you are sharing with others, too.
•  Err on the side of grace-  I know all of us know someone who is not living a life worthy of Christ. How do we change that?  Love one another.  It doesn’t mean compromising on your beliefs, but what it means is don’t force that on someone else. We are all a part of the body of Christ. However, you can line five of us up right now, and we all have a different theology. That is ok! I have yet to find a place in Scripture where bad theology keeps you out of heaven. Unless you don’t believe that Jesus Christ is God, we all in our different realms of belief,  have a chance to be a part of the Kingdom.  Following Jesus’ example- Jesus never once condemns a non- Christian.  Never. They already aren’t living Christ like lives, so Him pushing beliefs about a Father  they don’t know or believe in is not helpful.  Use Ephesians 4:29 as a guide. Build them up, offer hope, don’t tear them down. If they ask you your opinion, give it, but not until then.  If the world knew what we were for rather than what we were against,  this world would change.  

Extreme Makeover 4

The final verse is  in  2 Timothy 4:13. " Bring Mark with me, because he is useful to me in my ministry, my books, and above all the parchments.( paraphrase). What I love about this verse is that Paul himself values teaching and leaning. He values the books, which shows me that he is not above learning something new. Here he is saying I need to learn, too.  He brings Timothy with him, sort of his right-hand man to disciple. He allows him to do it through hands- on training. He goes with him, learns what Paul does, and then is sent out to do it himself.  But, he also places an emphasis on “ the parchments”. Parchments in those days were made of a certain material so that it would last, and not be lost. So, whatever he is learning, he is writing down. Why? So, that generations after him can benefit from what he has learned.   It’s that give and take relationship that benefits the body of Christ.

           

Extreme Makeover: the Unveiling 3

Let’s look at another verse that I think drives this point home: John 5:19-21 " I can only do what I see my Father doing..." The day that I was writing this I had my son with me. For Christmas, my son received a little V-tech laptop computer that came with a carrying bag that looked similar to the bags my husband and I use when we go out to do writing. I bought it for him because I knew he would like it and he could be like us, so, of course, he was so excited when we went out and he opened up his laptop to do his work and I opened up mine to do my work.  Picture this for a moment: we walk into Starbucks, both with our bags with our computers in them, slung over our shoulders. I order my drink and the barista gives him a little cup of hot chocolate on the house. So, we are carrying our drinks in one hand, carrying our bags in the other, both drinking our drinks and working on our computers. I could not think of a better illustration than that for this verse. I never taught him that, I never said ‘ this is what I do for work.” We taught them by our lifestyles. He watches his father everyday walks out of the house with a coffee cup in one hand and a bag on his shoulders in the other.  My example taught him how to live his life.  Likewise, our example, is the best way to show Christ to the world. 

Extreme Makeover: the Unveiling 2

I believe the best illustration of this is found in Titus 2:3-5. 

There are a couple of things I noticed in these verse. The first is that both older and younger women are in need of training and learning.  When I say older or younger, I do not mean the color of your hair or the amount of wrinkles on your face. In this context, it means spiritually older or younger, or the ones who are already exhibiting these attributes.  These are the ones not gossipping about her neighbor, not conducting themselves like the world,  but loving their husbands and children , self- controlled,  not lazy, etc.If the  Holy Spirit, is not already there doing His rejuvenating work in us, the world will see nothing different about us. There is nothing to attract them.  The church, which by the way is the people of God, not the building you meet in,  must be made blameless. It starts with us. Revival starts in the head and then travels to the heart.  The main way we get there is through " sharpening" each other through fellowship.

Extreme Makeover: the Unveiling

My favorite part of the Extreme Makeover show is the unveiling   because when I’m watching the show, I wait the whole hour and sit through all of the tearing down, then watch them scramble to rebuild everything in time before the family comes back from whatever lavish vacation they have been sent on to enjoy.  But, what would the show be if we never saw the end result? Would we even watch? No, we would probably lose interest fast. Why? Because there is nothing to inspire us to be better. It’s like the show tears down and builds up, but it never offers the hope. See, this section is the unveiling part,  the part where the family is offered the new home, the new place where they can dwell. But, who else is around them- the world? All of their friends, neighbors, and family are watching and enjoying along with them . They participate and all scream aloud those famous words from the crew “ Move that bus!”  The gifts and attributes are not just for us to keep for ourselves, but they are for others to enjoy as well.  That is how Christians bring forth  the Kingdom of God  in the here and now. 

Tomorrow I am going to talk about three verses that I think best help Christians to " unveil" themselves to each other in the church body.

The Man at the Pool

Why is it that we, as Christians, think that the way to usher in the Kingdom is by condemning the world? Where are the Bible verses that support this? What example in Jesus' life supports this idea? Take John 5, the healing of the man at the pool, for example. Jesus comes to the man who has been a paralytic for over 30 years. He asks if he wants to be well. The man  says "Yes, but I don't have anyone to help me into the pool." He puts his hands over his eyes and heals him. Then, Jesus goes to the Temple, when he wants to get his life right, and then says " Stop sinning, or something worse might happen to you."  Jesus earned the right to speak into his life. He met his need first. Meet the needs of the community first, then speak into their lives. You'll find they will be listening much more intently when you seek nothing except to help them first.

The Power of Community 2

I was at my writer's group last night and I am just astonished on how powerfully the Holy Spirit works through each person. Whether it is through the bible study from the pastor or critique from the other members, I always feel the Lord speaking to me. I always leave refreshed ( and overwhelmed) with direction as to where to go next in my writing.  I am very thankful the Lord has brought us all together, and I hope I can be just as much of an encouragement to them as they are to me.
So, dear reader, I want to challenge you this morning. Do you have a group of people who push you to be the person God wants you to be? Do you feel refreshed when you leave their presence? Are you challenged by them?  If not, I encourage you to find one.  I think you will find you are pleasantly surprised.