Cutting back

Pruning - To trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, esp. to increase fruitfulness and growth.

After a conversation with my flat mate and having being forced to watch a TV program about attempting to revive a dying village in Wales I have been thinking about dying Churches. These thoughts have been running round in my head for a number of days in a different form. This has brought me round to thinking about how we deal with small, shrinking and dying Churches.

In the UK we have a problem with shrinking congregations, reduced Church attendance and Churches withering and dying. In towns and villages up and down the country groups of Christians are fighting a losing battle to keep their Churches alive. My question is, are they wasting their time and is there a different way to tackle this problem.

John 15:1-2

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

Now for me it seems obvious that when something dies and has no life left in it something needs to be done. As in plants or indeed bodies if a portion of it dies then it should be cut off. If this is not done the dead or dying portion sucks up valuable resources and deprives the healthy areas of the things they need to survive. It can also be the case that these dead and dying portions become rotten or infected and because they have not been cut off they infect other areas.

As in gardening and medicine the Church should also be aware of areas of itself that have died or are dying. It is not that Churches can not be saved, unfortunately some can not, but once they are past a point is it wise to pour resources down a black hole when they could be spent expanding work elsewhere. As Jesus said, if a branch is not bearing fruit then it will but cut off, Jesus even tells us that these branches will be left to wither a dry up and then be cast on to the fire, they are no good for God if they are not doing his will. Even those Churches who are strong will be pruned back from time to time in order to bring them renewed strength.

The point I want to make is not that shrinking Churches are a bad thing, sometimes good can come from this and a Church that is pruned back to healthy stock can flourish again. However a dead a rotten Church is doing no one any good and could in fact be doing harm. I can't be the only one who thinks that the hard decision should be made to shut down dying Churches and use the money in different ways to extend God's kingdom. It is not even necessary to remove the money from the community it is in but perhaps use it in a more constructive way in a community than shoring up a failing Church.

When I think of Jesus and his ministry I see someone radical who pushed the boundaries of the status quo. I see some of the situations in the modern Church causing him to display the righteous anger from the temple. The way we are running the Church is not in my eyes in the spirit in which it started. The reason I think we see the problems we do is because we have turned away from God and are ignoring the Spirit. As I have already said they best way I see to remedy this is to return to the early Church, return to the Churches true calling. This is not going to happen if we continue to pump money into failing projects, dying Churches and continue to push our own agendas rather than follow God's.

Let me know what you think about this subject, do you have a better idea for a solution, or do you have any other thoughts on this subject. Please leave a comment below.

Walking the line

I work with street people, people with no homes, no link to society and no faith in their fellow man. These people often have no one and have been treat so badly in the past and often the present that they can not see it ever changing in the future. My role is to build relationships with these people and help them integrate in their own time and in their own unique way not by telling them how to fix their lives but walking alongside them helping to take the load when it becomes too much for them.

One phrase we have at work is that our best work is done when we are not only on the line, but sometimes when our toes are just over the line. For me this is an amazing way to work, helping people rebuild their lives themselves, giving them the option to fail and still provide the support and friendship, becoming more than just another worker pushing another agenda.

Since beginning this job 6 months ago I have come to realise that this way of working is also the way I act as a Christian. A way that I feel may not win more souls than other methods, but has a better chance of truly saving people heart mind and soul. This is because in my interactions with people I am not preaching sermons to them or trying to force people to live as I do. I am giving people the option to make their own decisions and never leaving because they act contrary to my beliefs. But day by day in every interaction I am showing them who I am, and through me I hope they see my Lord and Saviour, I hope they feel his love flowing from me. In seeing me and feeling the love Jesus has for them it leads me to a place where I have their trust and confidence where they know who I am and what I am where they know I will not judge them or condemn them. In this safe relationship they can then ask the questions burning in their hearts and minds and because they respect and trust me as I have respected and trusted them my words can carry more weight than a street preacher or another form of outreach. I see this way of working as very similar to that of our Lord and Saviour, getting out there and on to the same level as the people who need Him more than anything else. Not presenting myself as anything special, not acting as if I am better than them, but being willing to serve them and work for their benefit. 

John 15:19
If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world's terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God's terms and no longer on the world's terms, the world is going to hate you.

We need to be in the world, how else could we complete the great commission that Jesus gave us? Yet we can not be of the world because to be so would mean that we had not accepted the Fathers love and have been saved. I think though that the "best" work done by missionaries, ministers and believers through the many centuries has been done when men and women of faith have been right on the line between being in the world and of the world. It is a hard place to be a Christian, it is open and exposed to the enemy and you are open to attack. Yet if our faith is strong and we can walk the line with Jesus at our side then we can do amazing work in this dark world. If more people were willing to leave their comfort zones, to put their faith into action I feel that we would see a true revival in our time, a revival that I hear many people calling for but see few taking action towards.

A while ago I posted about loving the unlovable and with this post I want to make that point again, we as followers of Christ should be getting out there and showing Christ's love in the many dark corners out there. We need to look hard at the example that Jesus left us and think about how we are acting as His disciples on earth now. Jesus preached to those who came to listen to Him, to those who wanted to know, but he also went out there and spent time with those who didn't on a level they could relate to, helping them without asking for anything in return knowing that in their own time they would seek him out. Love the unlovable, look for the lost, but don't force your expectations or desires onto them. Show these people the love of Christ, show them that Jesus is the one who will never give up on them through your actions. When their hearts are ready they will seek him out, it may not be the fastest road to conversion but a personal relationship with God will help these people more than any amount of sermons, study or preaching ever could.

Do you love your brother?

1 John 4:20-21

     If anyone boasts, "I love God," and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You've got to love both.

This is a concept that I will willingly admit to struggling with, there are certain people who at times cause me to come very close to breaking this commandment. I would not say that I go so far as hating anyone but at times certain people in certain situations have caused me to think some distinctly unchristlike thoughts.

I know that in being a Christian we should aim to be Christlike, to act as He acted and to love as He loved and I know this includes loving the unlovable. I know that this is axiomatic but it is something that we should not just brush over, something we should explore and consider carefully. I know that loving the unlovable is a paradox but through Him all things impossible become possible. If we have accepted God and the Spirit has come on us and dwells within us then these things that are humanly impossible become possible.

I was asked a little while ago by my minister about my feelings regarding my ex, what feelings remained, did I hate her or was there a part of me that still loved her. The answer I gave surprised me more than I think it surprised her. The reason being the one person in the world who has done more to hurt me than anyone else, the one person who in the eyes of the world I would have a justified cause to hate I don't. No matter how I think about it, no matter how much the memories hurt I can not bring myself to hate the person I once loved so much. I would also say that there is likely to always be a part of me that remembers and longs for the good times between us, she will always be a part of my heart even if it is a very small part.

On the flip side of this there is a particular client I have cause to deal with at work who would certainly be the cause of many a tarnished halo. He is a particularly difficult person to work with, he is one of those people who goes out of his way to provoke a response from people, someone so in need of attention he will do anything to get it even if it is negative attention. He works out exactly which buttons to press and works out which subjects are most likely to get a rise out of each individual. All of the staff at work to our shame have at times avoided this person and passed him off to a colleague and is the subject of much venting in the staff rooms. I felt particularly shamed the other day when one of my colleagues passed comment that as I intend to give my life to full time ministry and this person was getting to me it was particularly bad. Now all of my colleagues and most of the residents I work with know I am a Christian and most also know I intend to give my life to God's work and I felt I had let God down by my actions in this subject.

How can I someone who is a practising Christian and who is determined to do everything I need to to grown in the faith, someone who has grown to the point of being able to forgive the one person in the world who truly hurt me not feel the fraternal love towards this one person. I know that we are not Christ and that we will never be close to being Him, but we have to try. I know that I should be asking the Lord for help in this matter and hopefully God can use me as the person who can make a difference in this person's life. I pray that God will grant me the patience and the grace to work with this resident and that He will keep my feathers unruffled. If I am to boast that "I love God" then I must also be able to boast "I love all my brothers" too, I know this won't happen over night and will be something I am likely to need to work on for my whole life, but I do love God and so through Him I must learn to love my brother too.

Lean on me

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you don't let show

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

If there is a load you have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me

So just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'd understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Lean on me...

          (Bill Withers)

While out yesterday I heard this song playing and although I know this song well I decided to look up the lyrics and read through them. While I was doing this I also looked to find out what it was Bill Withers had to say about the song itself too. 

As far as I can gather the song has no Christian connotations or meanings and is simply a song about friendship. It is a song about friends being there for one another in times of need, it is about how friends provide comfort and support for each other in times of need. But when I got to the third verse I could not help but be struck by the wording;

If there is a load you have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me

If there is a load you have to bear? Now where have I heard that before?

Psalm 55:22
     Pile your troubles on God's shoulders-
          he'll carry your load, he'll help you out.

I talked about how our relationship with God is that of a parent and young child yesterday, our relationship with Jesus is not the same as the one we have with God, it is different and has a different dynamic. With Jesus we have a friendship, a true selfless loving friendship;

John 15:15 (NIV)
     I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Jesus called us His friends, He had the power to come in and rule the world as His personal Kingdom, He had the power to take the world and do as He would with it. And He did, but not in the way that mankind would, He took the world and made us His friends, we who could and should have been His slaves, He made in to friends. 

This is an amazing thing, Jesus, the son of God, the King of Kings, Lord of all, the Word through which all that was made, was made, He wants to be our friend. I know I harped on about this the other day about mind blowing moments, but walking with Christ is full of mind blowing moments, and my mind is blown yet again by this thought. Just consider for a moment, God is our Father and Jesus is our Friend, if we recognise and accept this then we should realise that we truly are a blessed people and nothing, not even the enemy can stand in our way.

Lean on God when you're not strong,

Jesus will be your friend,

They will help you carry on,

For it wont be long,

Until you're gonna need

Jesus to lean on.

Three times is a charm

Now I know that numbers are important, having studied mathematics as part of my degree course I know about the wonder and power numbers hold. I have also known for a while that numbers have significant meaning in the Bible. And the number I want to really focus on is the number 3.

When I was first beginning this blog I wrote a post on God is a quark linking the trinity to my knowledge of sub nuclear physics in a simple way as my understanding of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. When I wrote this however I missed out the significance of the number 3. In the Bible 3 denotes perfection, solidity and reality. My thoughts on the number 3 however were that 3 is the number of completeness.

Now I don't know if this is the same experience as anyone else, but I find that when God wants to tell me, or He wants me to do something the messages normally come in threes. Time and again when I have needed a push in a direction or there has been something I have had to do I have been given the sign or told in three different ways and often by 3 different people.

This happened to me this week. Last Sunday the sermon at Church was about Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman in John 4:19-42. Then on Tuesday night I rushed from work in order to make band practice at my Church and made it just in time for the devotionals in the middle of the practice, again the thought was on John 4:19-42. I could easily have put that down to either chance or the fact that the sermon on Sunday prompted the thoughts that led to the devotionals on Tuesday. The third occurrence of this Bible verse however could not have been the result of a cause or effect situation from last Sundays sermon, the reason is that the third time I came across this was in the daily devotions book I am using this year. So three different days, three times this Bible verse has come up, I can only think there has to be a reason and there has to be something to learn from it.

I am still pondering about this verse, the meaning and how it applies to my life but the thoughts from last Sundays sermon keep coming up and I feel have to at least be part of the reason it has cropped up as often as it has. The thought was that Jesus knew the woman before she even spoke, He knew everything about her and her life, He knew all that she had done. Not only this but despite the fact she should have been an outcast to Him and despite the fact that she had not always led a good honest life He still loved her. He wanted her to know Him and He wanted her to come into a knowledge of the Father. He also had a use for her, as imperfect as she was she was able to run back to her village and tell others of Him and her belief that He was the Christ. From this the others in the village came to Christ and heard what He had to say, and so they too became believers in Him.

God knows the very thoughts of our hearts, He knows when we are up and He knows when we are down. He has His plans for us and knows how best to use us so that we can be part of His bigger plan, but He also knows what He needs to give us to do that. He knows that as humans we are weak and that we have doubts in our abilities but He gives us the support and through Him we gain strength for the tasks in hand. We have been promised that He will always be there for us for all time, that He will guide us and pick us up when we fall. Better than that though, if we let Him He will be there for us and provide us with strength so that we can bear the load, if we allow Him He will ensure we do not fall. Trust in Him who knows best, and know that we know nothing at all that has not come from Him.

Called to tell the world

As Christians we believe that Jesus has called us to be His people, that He shone as a great light into the darkness of the world and has shown us the way. Jesus told us this;

John 14:6 (KJV)
     Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

But being a Christian is not just about following in the footsteps of Jesus in our conduct or actions. We must also follow in His footsteps in regards to telling the world about the Father. We must follow the instructions that Jesus gave us about spreading the word.

Matthew 28:16-20

     Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshipped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.
     Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

Now we don't have to travel far to find those who we need to be spreading the word too. Jesus said far and near, He said train everyone. There is no one who we should not be trying to reach with the word of God, there is no one Jesus considers an undesirable. All people can be made whole through Jesus, all people are beautiful in His sight. This is something I have to be aware of day after day when working with those who have been cast out by society, each day I am reminded that these people are people, that they have hopes, dreams and desires. But most of all I am reminded that Jesus not only loves them and wants them to come back to His family, but that Jesus wants me to feel the same way too. It is not always easy to love the unlovable, but Jesus showed us it can be done, and with His help we can come to love them too, and through loving them we can help them to see the light which will show them the way. 

Advent Challenge Day 17

This challenge is now complete, please feel free to browse all of the 

completed tasks via the Advent Challenge tab.

So the task for yesterday was to place a Christmas Bible verse on my Christmas tree. I spent a while thinking about this and which verse I could chose to put on, in the end I asked my friend who selected the following verse.

John 1:14 (NIV)
     The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

As soon as I read it I knew it was the right one to put up, this verse sums up everything I would want to say about Christmas into one short passage. It tells of how Jesus who was there from the beginning came and dwelt among us, how He in His awesome glory and perfection came from God to us to give us the grace of God which leads to eternal life and the truth of the word through which we can live right.

I have placed this verse on the tree almost exactly centre stage so that everyone can see it. There will be many people coming in and out of our home between now and new year and who will see our tree. It is my hope that they will view the tree and take the small amount of time required to read the Bible verse which is quite prominent. Hopefully this Christmas a small reminder of the reason for Christmas is Christ, that without Him all we have is a pointless mid winter festival which means nothing.

The task which I am doing today is task number 16. Research the season of Advent. I enjoyed the google St Nicholas task I did at the weekend and hope that this one is as informative and interesting as the last. Check back tomorrow to find out what I have learned about Advent. Until then, Merry Christmas.

John 3:16-21

John 3:16-21 (KJV)
    For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
    He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

John's Gospel is possibly one of the best written books in the whole Bible. From the opening line of;

John 1:1 (KJV)
    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

up to the final;

John 21:25 (KJV)
    And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

every part of it tells the most amazing story in the most amazing way. I think at times we read the Bible as single verses or short passages and sometimes miss the context in which they reside. When looking at and studying the Bible we should be aware of not only the context of the settings in the surrounding passages but the context of the time in which it happened and the time when it was written.

I want to look at this passage in more depth but unfortunately don't have the time to do so right now. In the past I have done Bible studies such as the one on Job but this one is not going to be as lengthy. I do not plan on looking at John's gospel in it entirety but I will consider what the above passage means in respect to the general message of the book, the knowledge of the writer and the cultural context too. Watch this space as it should be ready in the next few days.

Are you fooling yourself

1 John 1:8-10
    If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins-make a clean breast of them-he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God-make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

I'll be the first to admit that I have done many things wrong in my life. I have sinned often and have done many things that I should not have done. The facts of my past are something that I will have to deal with for the rest of my life. There is no way I can undo the past to change the things I did then. But God has seen fit to account for my sinful nature, and the sinful nature of all people. Its an amazing thing that Jesus died so that we could be forgiven, He suffered so that we need not.

I am astounded that He could love me so much that He has paid the price for the sins in my life. I know I will sin again, I don't want to but being human it is inevitable that I will at some point. However we have to be careful that we do not use this as an excuse and become lax. "It's ok, I'm only human" can never be an excuse for sin. Because we are human we will sin, we have a sinful nature, but we must strive daily to be the best we can and not sin. Don't fool yourself, and certainly don't try to fool God, it wont work.

Know your sins and ask for forgiveness, know your weaknesses and ask for His strength. God know the very worst about each of us, yet still he loves us, it is enough for God that we love Him. Don't try to complicate the relationship just love Him and the rest will come by His grace.

The worlds ways

1 John 2:15-17
    Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world-wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important-has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out-but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

I already wrote a post on sinning and why the enemies side seems so good, but I want to take a look at the same thing in respect to scripture here.

The worlds ways are not our ways, as Christians we should be in the world but not of the world. When we become wrapped up in worldly ways and worldly things we lose sight of what is truly important. We end up following our own desires and fulfilling our own plans. In the past when I was wrapped up in the world and its ways I thought I was happy. But when I was able to look objectively at it from a different perspective I saw how empty it really was.

I can't claim now that I am not of the world anymore, I try my hardest but there are many things I struggle with. But can anyone really be not of the world? Is it possible to be in the world but not of it? I think it is a really tough thing to do in life. However that should not stop us trying our hardest to follow these commands. As with many things in life we know what we are told to do and we know the reality of the situation. But just because we can not attain perfection in this life does not mean we should not strive with all our being to get there. Surely it is better to shoot and miss than to never try at all. The harder and more often we try the closer we will get to our goal. God knows we will never be perfect, we are after all only human, but he does ask that we try.

Christian friends

I have some amazing friends, I haven't always. Until I began attending my Church I had a lot of friends, but no one I could rely on. I thought I had good friends, but time and again I would be let down or left short on something. It has come as quite a shock to me that I have managed to acquire such good friends over such a short period of time. These friends have been there when I have needed them most, they have helped me get through some tough times. Even without knowing it they have done so much for me and asked for nothing in return. It has helped my spiritual growth so much to have Christian friends, it has made fixing my problems and issues much easier than if I had been doing it alone.

Jesus never intended us to be in this spiritual journey alone;

Matthew 18:20
    And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

Jesus could just have as easily said that "whenever anyone is worshipping my name or doing good in my name, I'll be there". But we are not supposed to be alone in this, we are supposed to be part of His Church, we are supposed to gather and work together.

Matthew 18:19
    When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action.

This does not mean that God will not answer our individual prayers, but it is a clear sign that both God and Jesus intended us to work together. As the Church we are the body of Christ, and we have all heard the story about how each part of the body must do their job and by working together as a whole the work gets done. Very often in Churches because they are made up of humans we have disagreements and arguments. This will always happen and does not make you a bad Christian. However the way we act in these situations does say a lot about our faith.

Matthew 5:9 (KJV)
    Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

From time to time there will be situations where we do not agree with the path our Church is taking, or someone's actions within out Church. Jesus is not saying we should just accept the situation and "lose". He is instructing us to do what is necessary to solve the problem but with as little friction as possible, leaving the best impression of being Christlike.

Regular gatherings are also an important part of Christian life. We should be meeting with other Christians often to pray, worship and eat.

Acts 2:42
    They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.

By gathering together like this, as a family, we are strengthening the bonds within our fellowship. All three activities are most enjoyable and productive when done in a group. Jesus was not a hermit or a lone wandering preacher, He surrounded Himself with His disciples. He gave us a model for the Church by his dealings with the disciples. How to act, how to follow, how to learn and teach but also in how to gather. The early Church would gather in each others houses to pray worship and eat together, why should we be any different 2000 years on.

So far I have talked about gathering in groups and Jesus wanting us to be together. But there are times in life where we need to be alone or cannot be surrounded by our Church for whatever reason. We are provided for in these situations;

John 14:16 

    I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. 

The Holy Spirit was given to us so that we would never be alone, the Spirit is our constant companion as a Christian. God promised to always be there for us and to carry us when we can not bear the load. It is through the spirit that this promise is fulfilled. The spirit is a wonderful gift and ensures we are never left alone, however it can not be seen as a replacement for the Church, there should be no such thing as a lone Christian. There are however situations where Christ instructed us to be alone, to remove ourselves from the bustle of daily life;

Matthew 6:6

    "Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. 

But this is not a commandment to become a hermit or lead a life of isolation. It is Jesus showing us that at times we require the stillness of being alone in order to fully immerse ourselves in the presence of God. After which we should return to our Church and our lives.

These are just my thoughts which have been triggered by conversations with friends recently. But I know from my experiences with Churches I have attended in the past that when only meeting on a Sunday or even less frequently, the health of a Church decline rapidly. We should not let divisions in our Churches become permanent, we should always be on the lookout for how to heal hurts and fix problems in a way that is best for everyone. A Church is a community which cannot exist in isolation, we must work together within our own Churches but also with The Church in general. This is not a new situation, in fact it has been with the Church from the beginning;

1 Corinthians 3:4-6

    When one of you says, "I'm on Paul's side," and another says, "I'm for Apollos," aren't you being totally infantile? 

    Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us-servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment.  I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow.  

As I already said, disagreements and divisions are an inevitable outcome of having humans together. But at the end of the day we have to remember that we are not just humans, we are also Christians too and should act accordingly when our human nature causes problems.

Finally, Jesus left us with His promises and instructions, I would like to leave you with the one bellow as I feel it is a fitting end to what has become a slightly epic post. I apologise for the length but hope that you find it as helpful to read as I have in writing it.

Matthew 28:20

    Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

Lessons from Jez

A friend of mine recently posted a fantastic story on her blog. I would recommend that you read it here. This post shows though that Christians are in need. The world needs people who are loving, compassionate and willing to make a sacrifice in order to help. We need to go out in to the world and be courageous for Christ. It is not enough to sit in Church on a Sunday or which ever day of the week you attend and sit there feeling that you are doing what God wants. Yes God does want us to worship him, but that is just a small part of what He and Jesus command us to do. We are to go out into the world and show people the love of Christ, that he is there to love and save all people regardless of the past. We need to show people that there are no barriers to the love of Christ, that he loves us all and wants us all to love him. We can not go around saying Christ loves every one, except you, he hates you. This is not who our Lord and Saviour is. He came to Earth and died for all our sins, not all my sins or all your sins but all sins of all people. Be courageous, be loving, be Christlike. Go do what Jesus would do and serve the sick and those who need some love in their life. Because the love we have to offer which flows from Jesus is like no love they will have known, it is the best there is, the best there can be. Yes there is risk and danger in doing this but what about the risk of doing nothing, that has eternal consequences and is surely much worse. Jesus said;

Matthew 25:35-40 (Paraphrase)

        I was hungry and you fed me,

        I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,

        I was homeless and you gave me a room, 

        I was shivering and you gave me clothes,

        I was sick and you stopped to visit,

        I was in prison and you came to me.'

       'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me-you did it to me.' 

In addition to this there are the following verses;

Matthew 6:3

    When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. 

John 3:17  

    God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. 

Hebrews 13:6

    we can boldly quote,

        God is there, ready to help;

        I'm fearless no matter what.

        Who or what can get to me?

John 1:1-14 (KJV)

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
    There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Its only words! Right?

Does swearing really matter? Because lets face it, they are only words right? Wrong! "The simple moral fact is that words kill." Matthew 5.22. And again in Matthew 12.47 "Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation.". Words have a significant meaning in Christianity, Jesus was the Word, John 1:1-3 (KJV) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." God brought the entire Universe into being with a word which shows that words have a power beyond mere speech. But lets face it, we all inevitably use bad language. Even if we claim not to, we all have our personal curse words. And just because they are socially acceptable does not mean they are any better. Take 1 Corinthians 6:12, "Just because something is technically legal doesn't mean that it's spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I'd be a slave to my whims.". We need to be careful about the way we live and our actions in this life, we are always being watched by someone. Our very actions could be the catalyst to bring someone to God, or even to drive them away. That be as it may though, at the end of the day we are all only human and as such we are victims of sin. We will always fall short and we will forever be sinners. God knows this better than we do, and he has already provided for us. Mark 3:28 "Listen to this carefully. I'm warning you. There's nothing done or said that can't be forgiven." with the same sentiments echoed in Matthew 12.31. We will sin, we will swear and we will always fall short of the life we are supposed to live. That doesn't give us the excuse not to try though. "Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance—isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.' Matthew 7:21-23. We know what God wants us to do, we know how He wants us to live. It is not expected of us to be perfect, only to try and live to the guidelines set out for us and to ask for His forgiveness when we fall short. I know this post has been very heavy on the Bible quotes but this topic is something quite close to me and something I have studied frequently. I hope it speaks to you as much as it does to me, please leave your thoughts and comments on this and any other post.