The Church is to Edify and Encourage

I've always loved going to church. My best friends have usually been fellow church goers, and I have always planned my life and activities around church. For me, church has always been my social network. These people understand me, and are my friends and confidants. I have heard a lot of people say they don't need to go to church, because they can worship God anywhere. That is true, and we should worship God everywhere and in everything we do, but worshipping God is not the only reason we should go to church. We should also go to church to be with other Christians, and it's hard to fellowship with other Christians all alone in the woods. It says in I Thessalonians 5:11, "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, just as you also are doing." We should be uplifting each other and encouraging each other. We are also supposed to "edify" each other. Edify means to instruct or improve morally or intellectually. The old phrase, "if you can't find anything good to say, then say nothing at all." really comes to life here. It also says in I Corinthians 14:26 ". . . . When you come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done for the edification." When we come to church, we should leave feeling better than we came. One of the purposes of the meeting is to build up the members, strengthen them, and teach them how to live more moral lives. Church should not be demoralizing or depressing, or supporitive of sin. God is great and if we get together and share all the great things God has done and can do, we will then be encouraged to go out tell others of His greatness.

Helping Others Helps Me

I haven't forgotten about the church, but plan to revisit that topic later. I feel the need to blog another subject at the moment.

The summer before my senior year of highschool, my dad lost his job. He made us a comfortable living as manager of a cedar wood-working plant. I remember the feeling of worry that settled over our family that summer, and how I automatically knew that things were going to be different than I had originally planned. As I've learned over the years, financial difficulties can cause a marriage to break, and my parents marriage was no different. Those were some difficult years for our family, but I found a way through--it was by helping others.

That fall a lady at my church, Gwen Carpenter, began teaching a sign language class. I had always loved watching her sign, and began to learn and practice daily. I was very shy, and didn't like talking to strangers, but I decided that I would approach a deaf girl at my school. I basically had the vocabulary of a three year old with the amount of sign language I knew, but we began to be friends. By learning sign language, I met a whole other world of people and for many years they were involved in my life. It was a year or so after my life had calmed down somewhat that I realized something. Helping people had helped me. I received more blessings from helping them than they received from my helping.

In James 1:27 it says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." It also says in Matthew 25:35-36 "For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, and I was in prison and you came to visit me." I believe God placed me where I am so that I can help people, and that is the reason He placed you where you are. You have special talents that are needed for the situations you are in, and He will use you if you are available.

What Is The Church?

How many times have you worried about someone who was not saved, so you invited them to church? I have come to the realization that church in the form that God created it, may not be the best place to witness to an unsaved person. I know I am going to step on some toes, and I may be way off base. After looking at the first churches, I’ve realized that a church is a group of saved people who are meeting together. Like any club or group that meets regularly, a church has purposes and goals. The purposes and goals of the first churches were: the building up and edification of the members; instructing and training their members; and sending out men to tell the world about Jesus.

On a personal note, I'm looking forward to church tomorrow. There are times when I feel the need to go to church simply because I need the positive and uplifting feeling that church brings. Sometimes church does not bring those and feelings, and if you are in a church that causes you to feel demoralized and gloomy on a regular basis, you should seriously pray about making a change.

Did Noah Preach?

I have heard for all of my life how that Noah preached for 120 years and only his family was saved. Preachers have talked about how the door stayed open for a time giving other people a chance to come aboard. I had a blog all worked out based on this premise, and as I read the story of Noah again, I realized something. I'm not sure that Noah preached at all. He was never commanded to convert others. God told him I am making a convenant with you and your family. He doesn't mention anyone else. I am quite sure that people asked Noah what he was doing while building this monstrosity of a boat, and I'm also quite sure that Noah told them. I wonder if he said "Well, God is going to destroy everything but me, my family, and a few animals, so you better enjoy your life while you got it. I'm guessing he didn't say it quite like that, but I am in a quandry about whether or not Noah was ordered to preach and others were given the opportunity to be saved. I wish some of the biblical scholars who read my blog, if any there be, would comment and let me know your thoughts.

Giving as God Gives

Giving is a great biblical principal, and giving like God requires is very difficult. I feel that I am a fairly generous person, but I usually make sure my family is taken care of before I start giving to others. I read the story in I Kings 17:7-15 where the Widow of Zarephath was gathering sticks during the drought and famine. She was planning to bake her last cake for her and her son and then they were going to wait to die. Elijah came along and said "could you get me a glass of water?" The widow immediately went to get him a drink, although there was a drought and water was probably limited. Then he stopped her and said while you’re at it, bake me some bread too. She stopped and turned and said "I only have enough for me and my son." I can feel this woman’s pain. She so wants to give to this man, but she has a son to think about, along with herself. She wasn’t looking forward to going hungry either. Elijah tells her that God has told her to make him bread and that if she does, there will be enough. She does as he says and indeed there is enough not only for that day, but also for the remaining days of the famine.

Having a daughter, I’ve tried to put myself in the widow’s position. Could I give the food I was going to give to my child to someone else? Am I willing to give to God sacrificially? I am afraid God has taught me lately that I love to give so long as I have an abundance. When my resources are limited, I’m not near as giving. I am much more frugal in my giving, when I don’t see how my own needs will be met from day to day. God instructed us in His word to pray for our daily bread. He never told us to store up enough food to last a month. I also know that God promised to supply all my needs. I just have to reconcile what I think I need with what God thinks I need.

Living Water

I am very blessed to live in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where there is free spring water. I go to the Happy Hollow Spring about once a week in order to stock up on that free springwater. While there, I usually get into conversations with people about the superiority of this particular spring water. I think it is better myself, and one man swears his dog can tell the difference between the spring water and tap water and refuses to drink anything but Happy Hollow spring water. I have seen people from Texas and Louisiana there with trucks filled with jugs to stock up on water. Water is very important to our physical life, and it's no wonder that Jesus used water to paint a picture for us of what he offers. God's water is absolutely necessary for our spritual lives, and he offers living water that will fulfill our thirst forever. This means you only have to go to the spring once. There are many religions that offer water, that just doesn’t "taste" the same as that living spring water. People keep searching in other areas of life to fulfill that thirst that is not being quenched. The Samaritan woman's life was completely turned around by this living water, and I hope you have experienced the living water of Jesus.

Will You Love Him Even If. . .?

Many of you may have seen the movie "Facing the Giants" which was a Christian movie that became a big hit recently. There are a few parallels in this movie–most of which are not very subtle. For instance, the movie is entitled "Facing the Giants" and the football team, which is known for being weak, has to play a team called the "Giants". These guys are big and fast and impossible to beat. Then the kick that wins them the championship game is performed by none other than "David" who is smaller than all of his teammates. Nevertheless, despite the very obvious message, it is still a good movie with a fairly interesting story line.

The message that spoke to me was more secondary; it spoke of surrender to God’s plan. When the wife of football coach Grant Taylor says "God, I will still love you" regardless of whether or not you provide what I'm asking you for. I know that this is a hard pill to swallow. I have said those words myself, and I didn’t get immediate results like she did. We sometimes have to really resign ourselves to the fact that God may have something better in store for us. I know we’ve all had those dreams and desires in our lives, and sometimes we blame God. We pray and ask Him and he keeps saying "No", or just seems to ignore our request. We sometimes feel indignant; as if all of our "good" service somehow entitles us to what we want. I have had to deal with this attitude in my daughter this week. She has begun to act as if she should get what she wants. She thinks if she whines enough, I will give in. What she hasn’t learned yet is that her whining translates to ungratefulness for what she already has, and then I don’t want to give her anything at all. So many times my parent-child relationship seems to mirror my relationship with God. Maybe, when I pout because I don’t get what I want, God feels annoyed that I am ungrateful for what I have. He may just want to be reassured that I will still love Him even if He chooses to give my dream to someone else. Loving God is akin to serving Him and sometimes when I feel like I’m not getting the blessings I think I deserve, my service slacks off. I have no scriptures for us tonight, only a prayer that we will all still love and serve God, even if. . . . .

My Plans, His Direction

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

I have spent most of my life wondering what God's plan was for my life. I've prayed about it, thought about it, sang about it, and ended up frustrated by it. A friend of mine is always saying she's waiting for a neon sign telling her exactly what she needs to do next, and we've decided we are probably not going to get it. I always feel like I am somehow missing the boat; I should have done what I did not do and shouldn't have done what I did. When I read these verses in Proverbs, I realize I'm doing exactly what God wants me to do. He wants me to plan and acknowledge Him, and he will direct me as I go. I always like to look up the definitions of words to help me fully understand a concept and Webster's tells me that a plan is a "detailed proposal for doing or achieving something; an intention or decision about what one is going to do." On the other hand, direction is "a course along which someone or something moves, or which leads to a destination; a point to or from which a person or thing moves or faces; the action of directing or managing people." A plan is a intention, and direction is actually moving from point A to point B. The problem is that when my plan doesn't transport me from point A to point B, but instead it transports me to point C, I immediately think I was wrong to plan that to begin with.

Last year, I felt that God wanted me to apply to Law school. It was not something I took lightly. I prayed about it, argued with God, and finally surrendered and said "I'll do it." I went through the whole process which took lots of time and a little money, and I began to believe that it was all a possibility. When I got my rejection letter, one part of me knew it was going to happen, but the other part said "God, why did you want me to do this?" "Did I hear you wrong?" I was confused and a little angry to be quite honest. I still have no answers, but have resigned myself to the fact that God doesn't have to explain himself. He is God and he will direct me. Sometimes His direction seems confusing and I feel like I'm lost, but He says that if I trust Him he SHALL direct my paths. Many days I feel like I'm wandering in the wilderness, but I think "Canaan land is just in sight."