Tuesday, October 18th, 2005

Community

We are all in a community. We are part of one, even if we don’t realize it.

[excuse my bad grammar, it's late and i'm rambling -- i hope u understand what i'm trying to say]

They support us. they help us. we help them back. communities work by the contributions of individuals. the bible talks about contributions, and what type of requirements we ought to have in our christian communities…
(acts2 last para)
- devotion to the teaching of the apostles
- giving heart
- gathering with a sincere heart
- prayer
- priase and worship [to God]
(ephesians4:1-17)
- unity [keeping it also]

we are all given different gifts, and we can all give back to community in our own ways. however, the list given above is often not met.

devotion to the teaching of the apostles – is one that is really not popular in most of lives (including me at times) it’s hard to continaully read in God’s word, cuz we’re so “busy” but even so.. we find time for our favorite tv shows. our friends. our work? we just ditch God’s word and his teachings. sometimes we practice what we believe in at church, but do we do it when we are outside in the real world? is it just easier to conform with the rest of the world? go with the flow, instead of fighting the current? but that’s not what God asks of us. we should continue to read His word, and act in a manner that reflects what we believe in. –

i guess the hardest part about this task is having the faith to do what the set of instructions require. sure, reading a book other than the bible is easy. cuz we can tangibly see our results. but reading a book written from above is something people really question. is it really written from God? does a God exists? the level of our faith reflects on how intent we are to read our bibles or follow God’s word. If we were all first class believers, with complete faith in God – we would all be God fearing people. but we aren’t. there is a level of faith .. actually many levels. for someone that just believes God is there, picking up a bible on a regular basis is really hard. and it’s a challenge that i want to offer people.. to take their faith seriously.

there was this one story that really showed me what it means to have faith.

“during a time of drought, a church gathered
to have a time of prayer for some rain.
When they finished praying, they decided to meet
again the next day to pray for rain again.
but when the next day came…
even with the clear skies – only one,
one person! came to the prayer meeting with
an umbrella“

this story reflects on what having real faith is all about. believing in something so much, that you would put it into actions. and that is something we lack. putting what we believe into actions. sure we believe in the teachings of the word. but do we do it? isn’t it hypocrisy if we don’t do what we say? Last fall retreat, this story was told to reflect what it means to have the gift of faith. and i think it’s a very hard lesson to learn.
also faith affects our prayers. if we don’t believe 100% that God will do everything in His own time, our prayers will become inconsistent. and well. we will become discouraged. even when PRAYER is such a huge part of our faith, communicating with our heavenly father.. not many people do it regularly. and even less when we pray for a community. why? because we are self-centered people. and yes.. it’s true. nobody is that self-less…. at least not that i’ve met.
‘the community? whats that??’ …. ‘why do we need to pray for that? it doesn’t concern me.’
thats the sort of attitude it recieves… i would personally love to see more people putting prayer higher up on their list.

…

sure… going back to the original topic of what we need in a community. we’ve got the whole praise and worship down to the finest detail in most churches, and sure unity are great in most churches. lots of people gather with a sincere heart… (well at least for most churches)
but why is it that teachings and prayer so low on people’s list?
anyways I would just like to challenge people to start taking their faith seriously. do what you say, do what you believe in. it is not until you start to take it seriously that you will meet God at some deeper level. anyways. i’m very incoherent. hope that all made sense. i’m not gonna bother reposting another time. comment and tell me if it needs clarification. i’m out… so late

***

still pray for my midterms!

Leave a comment » Filed under my walk by Mike at 23:49.

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