We need the Church

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty proud to be apart of the body of Christ a.k.a. THE CHURCH.  There have been a couple videos going around like rapid fire on facebook about not needing the Church because it's so corrupt.  About loving Jesus but hating the church.  At first I avoided watching those videos because I thought they were going to be a waste of time.  But one day I decided to watch one.  I will admit, the guy in the video was very compelling and had a creative way of telling us what he thought.  But the message did not stir my heart strings.  As I thought about it, I was a little offended and upset at what he ultimately had to say. 

In the Bible, Jesus commands us to be a part of the body.  We need fellowship with a local church.  It's healthy for our relationship and growth with Christ.  Now, granted there are some pretty corrupt churches out there, but just because some of them are does not mean ALL of them are.  We are human, we sin, we will mess up, but that's the beauty of God's grace.  He redeems us and uses our mistakes to make good (if we so choose to let Him).  The Bible talks about Jesus' Bridegroom, how He will come back for His church.  In the New Testament, he had Peter start the church... so if He did that, why would we have the audacity to say that the church is a bad thing?

Hmmmm....

Another thing that is popular is "Jesus is my religion" or "I love Jesus, but hate religion".  Well, newsflash... loving Jesus automatically puts you in a religion.  Religion is not a bad thing.  We are called to be Christ-followers (CHRISTIANS).  When we let the fundamentals and nitty-gritty stuff about religion get the best of us and control us, well that's when we start having problems.  Jesus needs to be the center of our lives and the focus of our day.  Our love for Him should overthrow any complications we have within the church, but unfortunately because of our sinful nature, we still have problems with that. 

Watch this video and see what you think.  Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus: Spoken Word. 

Again, he was very creative and compelling in his speech, but ultimately I do not agree with him.  We need the church.  We need to be surrounded by believers to help build us up and encourage us in our walk with Christ.  We can't be alone in our growth because how do we know how much to grow?  We need others to help us and we will get that in the church.  No, it's not perfect.  But it is what God gave us to sustain us until His return. 

Are you for real?

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel totally drained and don't know what to do with yourself?  Well, today was one of those days for me.  I spent all weekend working on homework.  I just wanted to rip my books apart when I finally decided to stop working.  Sometimes I just get into these super productive moods (granted most of the time it takes awhile to actually get IN to the super productive moods -- but once I'm in them, there's no turning back).  I don't know.  It was just an off day. 

I decided to re-read my earlier posts and talk with my dad, but I still had this weird feeling.  I wanted to grab that rubber band and snap myself again to get out of this weird attitude.  In one of my classes the professor made us take a personality test.  The results of mine did not surprise me one bit, in fact it was pretty creepy how accurate they described me.  But in doing this test and having my prof talk constantly and in depth about it, I have become more aware of the people around me that have layers.  You don't get what you see.  That bothers me.  A lot.  I think I'm a pretty straight forward person, but I'm not going to tell you my whole life story the first time I meet you.  I want to get to know you first and really know if I can trust you with my feelings, dreams and goals.  There are some people, especially on this campus, who put up a front and show people what they want to see.  Regardless if they like you or not. 

I think I've just been noticing this and realizing how our generation is huge in tolerance.  We just go with the flow with everything that's going on in the world.  We go to a school where drinking is the "in" thing... so we drink.  We go to work where it's ok to cheat on paperwork... so we do it.  Despite our true beliefs and morals.  Acceptance is the key word here.  That is so frustrating to me I can't even stand it.  Why can't we just all be ourselves.  May our yes be yes and our no be no.  I'm sick of people telling me one thing and then the next day doing something totally different.  I want to get what I see.  I want the real person to talk to me.  No games.  No trying to figure out what you really believe. 

Have you ever thought that?

Yes, I have been blessed beyond measure for the people that God has placed in my life.  I have great friends who show me their real selves, and I love them dearly.  I thank the Lord every day for placing them in my life.  Let's go out and be transparent with people... show them the love of Christ they need to see. We can ALL work on that -- every day -- every minute -- every second.  Let's change the world, but first we need to be R E A L.

Execpect the Unexpected

So, I wake up this morning and the sun is shining.  I can't believe that it is 55 degrees out today!  Sometimes, we just need to thank the Lord for the pleasant, unexpected surprises that He gives us.  I hate winter.  The only time I can accept the cold, snowy weather is the week before Christmas, but then not a day after that wonderful holiday.  It seems like we just by-passed winter this year.  Fine by me!!

Today I just could not stop smiling.  I don't know why.  It was like all this energy was waiting to burst out of me.  It was just a grand day!! I love people: meeting them, getting to know them, and cherishing moments with those I already know.  Laughing is one of the biggest parts of my life, hopefully people don't see me as cranky because I would not like that!

I don't really have anything to say other then ENJOY LIFE!  God's presence is so real and well, present. (I had to :) ).  I can't wait to see what He has in store for me and my family and friends.  I've been struggling with completely being ok with handing over my future to Him, but lately it's been good. Worrying all the time about my future was not cutting it for me.  I finally realized that living my life day by day is good, and FUN! Yeah there are crappy days, and days where I just want the world to end, but everyone has those unfortunate ones. 

Well, I can't even come up with a coherent thought, as you can tell by my complete rambling.  I think all the caffeine from the coffee I had earlier today is getting to me.  Note to self: Stop being addicted to coffee.... HAHA! Yeah, like that's gonna happen.

Good night friends, dream pleasant dreams, and be excited for the lovely future God has in store for you and the loved ones in your life. :)