Christians give me heartburn

The inspiration for this, this morning is John 17 (the whole chapter) - Jesus' heart was and is for unity between believer, and if you read the rest of the Gospels you'll find that thread of truth for interacting with all people.

So if there is one thing that comes to my mind over and over, when concerning the Church, it's what Christians say and do. Often I read or hear Christians saying simply mean things about others, weather it's some snarky remark about a politician, or complaining about a pastor, and everything in between. While I know Jesus certainly criticized the religious leaders in his day, he was also God, we are not, and I don't believe the apostles went around (in a mean and critical spirit) poking at the Christian leaders in the early Church (nor really the government).

The thing is, we will fail at this, we'll slip up and koin our co-workers in this stuff, we'll get into our little Christian ghetto huddles and mock people. We lean on his grace in these situations, and the funny thing is that most of the people outside the Church have far more grace for these slip ups than us in the Church.

So we need to have an attitude of change, to apoligize, and to seek God's heart for all. Of course we have the right to question, critique, and correct - within the bounds of a loving heart.

Christians give me heartburn

The inspiration for this, this morning is John 17 (the whole chapter) - Jesus' heart was and is for unity between believer, and if you read the rest of the Gospels you'll find that thread of truth for interacting with all people.

So if there is one thing that comes to my mind over and over, when concerning the Church, it's what Christians say and do. Often I read or hear Christians saying simply mean things about others, weather it's some snarky remark about a politician, or complaining about a pastor, and everything in between. While I know Jesus certainly criticized the religious leaders in his day, he was also God, we are not, and I don't believe the apostles went around (in a mean and critical spirit) poking at the Christian leaders in the early Church (nor really the government).

The thing is, we will fail at this, we'll slip up and koin our co-workers in this stuff, we'll get into our little Christian ghetto huddles and mock people. We lean on his grace in these situations, and the funny thing is that most of the people outside the Church have far more grace for these slip ups than us in the Church.

So we need to have an attitude of change, to apoligize, and to seek God's heart for all. Of course we have the right to question, critique, and correct - within the bounds of a loving heart.

Serving in Poland

So what may serving in Poland look like?

The first thing it will look like is mentorship, coming alongside the christians we know and partnering with them to fufill God's dreams, promises, and build them up in their identity with Christ.

The second thing serving may look like is befriending our neighbors, our language school peers, and any other people of constant touch and letting them know the God we serve.

The third way we might serve is in with the currently established churches, small groups, and even with catholic groups (God willing) and pitching in wherever our visions and missions are similar.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell, it's about 10 plus years of ideas, the next ten is "going out"... we'll talk about that when we're ready to cross that bridge.

One of those days

Today was "one of those days" a day where your thoughts are filled with everything except the task at hand. My thoughts were consumed by how to "make right" the stupidity I expressed to Alexis yesterday evening. Which I am reminded I can't "make it right" I can only do the right thing. So I find myself very humbled and in God's grace - again.

I have a lot to learn in this area but I think this is one of the biggest lessons. The bottom line to the conflict is my inability to manage some of the differences we have in organization, and the underlying frustration caused by it. I love her more than the problem, so why do I get so frustrated by the problem? It's hard for me to identify any "fears" or any causes other than "I don't like it".

In the end I believe I need to let God address each thing on its own - as I feel any level of frustration, as I notice things, I need to take it to him and move acccordingly - and deny my fleshly thought of "it's not fair".