Church

Today I visited a church, it was really interesting and it made me thankful for my church family back home. I sat in a pew in the back watching the congregation “worship”. I couldn’t understand half of what was being said, it was a Greek Orthodox Church, and even the English part was hard to understand because they sing it all! As I sat there, I watched this lady to the far left of me and noticed that she not only knew most of the prayers by heart but she even knew the hymns in Greek and Russian, and she crossed herself frequently. I would say that in an hour and a half service, she probably crossed herself 50 times! I understand the meaning behind crossing yourself, but sometimes I wonder when it becomes a habit or an everyday ritual and not something that is a meaningful symbolic reminder of the cross? When we arrived at 10 am the service was just starting. We walked into the sanctuary and less than a fourth of the pews were filled. Throughout the service people continued to file in, and fill the pews. By the end of the service, right before communion, the place was packed. I wondered why they didn’t arrive on time so I asked around, here’s why. For them, salvation comes in fulfilling the sacraments, i.e. communion. It doesn’t matter if you miss the “preachin” and the “singin” and you arrive two seconds before communion, as long as you are there to participate in communion. It’s all about the works and good deeds for attaining salvation.

While sitting there I couldn’t help but critique them, and that’s when the conviction happened. How many times do I do the same thing in worship? How often do I sing a song and not take the words to heart? How many times do I say “amen” or nod my head in agreement, but not really listen to the words being prayed or preached? Do I rush through the motions, arriving late just to check another thing off of my spiritual to do list?

I am thankful for my experience today even though I didn’t walk away encouraged or inspired by the Word, I did come away from that experience evaluating my heart and actions.

God Provides

God is so good to provide for me girls that I can just sit back and laugh with a recklessness, which is something I haven’t done since I left home! I love that and I’ve missed it so much. It has been a little hard here for these past few weeks, but like always, God provides. He has provided me lifelong friends, and I know that I will always keep in touch with these amazing godly women.

This week in our sessions, we are focusing on church planting. It is so true that God has called us to be fruitful and multiply, but so many times, we are just complacent and satisfied with our lives and happy with our casual addition to our numbers. We do not go out and reach the lost. I realized today that I have just been sitting back, and my short little two-week trips are nothing. Yes, they are great, but I feel like most of them only boosted my knowledge, self-esteem, or pride. Of course, I came away with a greater awareness for missions, and God can definitely use those trips for mighty ways, but many times, I think I’ve used them as a chance to see the world, not reach the lost. Yes, I have already answered the call, but my previous trips were nothing compared to what needs to be done. There are so many lost people groups, and not many church members are answering the call to reach them.

What are you doing to reach them?

The past couple of days I've felt like Bella in the Twilight series when she has to constantly drink out of her cup…all my avid Twilight buffs know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I felt like her in the sense that she has to have that cup of liquid to sustain her and to give her energy. Well, the past couple of days I've been living in a dorm type setting, and I forgot how hard it is living without a kitchen and frig, and with a big glass to fill with water. So, anyway I've been really thirsty so I got a styrofoam cup, with a lid and straw, from the cafeteria and I walk around all day long with this cup filled with water. I've been extremely thirsty, and I'm not sure why. I drink water at breakfast. Water at lunch. Water at dinner. It's water, water, water, yet I thirst for it all day long.
I can't help but think that as a Christian I should be just as thirsty for Him, and His living water. So many times as Christians we walk around all day long with a thirst for Him, but we do not always fill that thirst with the much needed liquid. We fill it with dr pepper or my favorite diet coke, when truthfully the only thing that will make the thirst lessen is water. How many times do I need Him, but fill myself with the diet coke of the world, and not His word, and seeking Him daily in continuous prayer?