May 13, 2004

Today is a busy day and we are preparing for a trip to Virginia Beach, VA for a friend's wedding. Melissa and I love to travel together (maybe a forshadowing of our future???) It will be great to see friends that we haven't seen in a while as well as celebrate with one special couple on their "big day".
I am thinking of all that we are studying in the Old Testament class that I am now taking, and I seem to be attracted to the recurring theme of our purpose as believers. It seems that Jesus talks of the two greatest commandments, which we read last night come from the Law of Moses in Deuteronomy. He said that the great commandment was to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (matt 22.37) and "love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments." (22:39)
The more that I look at these verses, I find that our real purpose in life as Christians is to Love God and the Love Others. I realize that this is in the simplest form, but I really think that with all our institutionalization (is that a word?) of The Body we could use some simplification! It's not about the programs and meetings and everything religious, rather it is about the RELATIONSHIP! If we are in a true relationship with Jesus we will Love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind and we will love others as ourselves. Relationships are the key to life! If that is the case, then why do we not put more emphasis on them than on money, material things, the "American dream"...Etc. If we really believe that relationships are the key to life, then we will place more priority on relationships than anything else. Our actions in America speak far more than our words could ever say. We are a selfish greedy society and we want our "rights" more than we want to obey God. It is easy to make converts.....it is very time consuming and difficult to make disciples, however that is what we have been called to do. Unfortunately today's churches, for the most part, are more into making knotches in their spiritual gunbelts than into getting involved in someone's life to the point that we make a difference. It is about life transformation, not about how many people we "converted" this year. Our focus in the organized church is way off, and if something is not done to radically change that focus back to the RELATIONSHIP with Jesus, we are in big trouble in the American church!
Whew!!!!! Now we can pass the offering plate. Sermon #1 is over. Sorry I got on the soapbox today, but it's just the way I am feeling. I will post again later and let you know about the wedding. In the meantime, please pray for the job situation for me. I am really feeling led to just get a job in business and work on developing the consulting/coaching thing on the side as I can. God is working and opening doors, so just keep praying for us. I would love for Melissa to be able to quit if she wants, so pray for God's will in that situation. Until next time...