I Love My Church....Really?

As I sit down to write this blog I am reminded of some of the things that people say without ever realizing that what they are saying may not have any meaning at all. (I know, run on sentence..its okay its my blog) I draw this conclusion from a post I read recently on a popular social media site. This poster was commenting on all of the name calling and backbiting that goes on in the church. She then follows this up with the statement "I love my church" and then gives the name of a local congregation. Now as catchy as that phrase may seem it is not only wrong its divisive. How so you may ask...good question. If the Bible is true, and we believe that it is, then there is only one church, the church of Jesus Christ, and all believers are members of that one church. So I guess technically Jesus could say I love my church and He does say that all the time. We on the other hand would have to say I love THE church. This however would not be as good of a marketing tool because now we are referring to the Body of Christ and not our favorite local expression of that body.( are you with me so far?) To continue in this vein if we are criticising one part of the body and then saying how much we love our little corner of the body we are therefore thinking that the congregation that we regularly attend is somehow superior to the congregation that others might attend. To go one step further if for any reason one was to think that "those things" aren't going on in my local expression of the body then that person is either a very new Christian or among the believers that zip in on Saturday night or Sunday morning for their weekly fill up of righteousness and then goes right back out to the world as they know it and chooses not to get involved with the life of the church and all those who make up the body. The body of Christ is made up of people, good people, good people doing their level best to follow Jesus. People are flawed, I know I am one, you are one! Will there be dissension in the church? Yes, Paul wrote about it in his letter to the Corinthians. Are there problems in the church? Yes, and they manifest themselves in every congregation no matter how large or how small. (yes even yours). Will being critical of other members of His body ever be profitable, you tell me. But I do believe that we all should be striving to be the body of believers Paul was calling us to in Ephesians chapter 4:13-15. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that writing this is going to get any body to stop saying "I love my church" but my purpose is to try to get you to think about what you are saying. And even if you are not saying it yet maybe we can begin thinking "I love THE Church".

PG

Time to start writing again

So, its been about two years since I wrote a blog. Life is funny like that. You get started on something and everything else in the world gets in the way. So much has happened in my world since the last post that I don"t even have time to go into it right now. Most of you that will get the automatic update of this post already know the magnitude of the life changing event and loss that I am now dealing with. I am hoping to journal some of the thoughts and feelings that I am experiencing as I go through the process of mourning the death of my beautiful bride of 30 years. I am not attempting to journal in any order of time line or of importance, but will be relating things as I see them and as I deem it appropriate to write about them. Some of the things I have been observing are not directly related to Barbara's passing but I think my current frame of mind is bringing out some aspects of life that I really wasn't seeing before. I also have a lot more time on my hands to think and ponder some of these things.


Family and friends are never to be taken for granted. Nor should we ever take tomorrow for granted. I have learned in the most devastating way that we are not promised a tomorrow here on Earth no matter what your theology is.


Never miss the opportunity to tell someone you love that you love them. Never assume that they know it and it doesn't have to be said. Say it!!!


I was told by my mentor in the Lord, a man much wiser than I that "our theology stinks, we don't really know God". As a student of the Bible, and a teacher of the same I have to say I couldn't agree more.


If given the choice to go to work or take the day off to join your grandchildren at the zoo.... make the right choice!


If you are a Mom with pre-school age children at home.... learn to do with less if you have to so that you can spend your time at home raising your own children. having money to buy more things is not an acceptable motivation to having someone else raise your children.





As you can see lots of thoughts in my head.. more to come, too late now. please let anyone that might be interested in these writings know where to find them..





His love through me,





PG