People or Churches

Too many times we get more impassioned about what happens to our building, which we call church, than we do about the people we are called to minister to. Here is a good story taken from July 09 Sojourners magazine by Alexis Torres-Fleming

We organized a march (around drug dealers and crack houses) one beautiful Sunday afternoon in November. A couple of hundred people showed up, and two weeks later drug dealers, in retaliation, torched our church. I went to the site and found a sea of people in the church weeping over a broken statue of the Blessed Mother, and weeping over the church. There were many more people there than had shown up for the march, and suddenly God said to me, “Why are you crying over this? I don’t live here. My real sanctuary is burnt every single day, desecrated in the bodies and minds and spirits of the poorest of the poor who live right outside these doors. When are you going to cry about that?”

What is more important to us our building or the people we are called to minister to?
Where do we invest our money, in building or in reaching the people we are called to?
Where do we invest our time, in the building or with the people?

sex, gays and Miss California

David Fitch at www.reclaimingthemission.com has some good thoughts on the recent Miss California thing

The essence is that with Miss California appearing before thousands in a skimpy bikini, having had a sexually-enhancing cosmetic surgery, and taking a revealing photo shoot , she hardly stands as a Christian example of someone who should be saying that homosexual marriage is “biblically” wrong
We have elevated the homosexual issue to get attention off of our own sins. For the bible also says something about modesty, lust, pornography and divorce. We have no room to say a whole lot about the gay issue until we get our own issues resolved and our own house put back in order.
That old cliché fits well here, we need to be careful of throwing rocks when we live in a glass house.

Cataracts

For over a year now my vision had gone from good to poor. My reading had even slowed down because it was just too hard to focus on the words. I went to the ophthalmologist in January and was told that I had a cataract. A cataract is where the lens in your eye becomes foggy. It is like looking out a dirty car window. Thank God for living in the USA and because of our technology, they are able to remove the old lens and put in a new one. I had the surgery on Monday and all went well…I can see clearly again. (though now I need a new glasses prescription).

Where once was a fog, the sun has now shone through and the fog has lifted. A lot of people, spiritually speaking, see life through cataracts, everything is foggy and not real clear. They need to allow the Holy Spirit to correct their vision.

I thought of this passage in Hebrews
5:12-14 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Many who should be farther up the road than they are now, aren’t because of their foggy vision. Lord, give us clear vision.

What about Work?

We are losing a Christian (Biblical) view of work. Long before the sin in the garden God instituted work. God created, then he told man to take care of what He had created. There is a certain dignity related with work (yes, even hard work).

I say that, because there is too much of a discouragement anymore for people to work.
If you are looking for a job, many people instead of encouraging you in your pursuit try to dampen your interest by saying things like, “Oh. You don’t want to do that, that is hard work” or “don’t apply there they work you long hours” or “that job has a lot of heavy lifting” etc.

Lord willing in a few weeks I would like to get a message together regarding the dignity of work…Stay tuned.