Christian Service

I am extremely troubled at the number of People who claim to be saved and have no desire to serve through the Church. I know some of you will say that you don't have to go to church to worship and you are right but do you really worship when you avoid the gathering of the Church? But understand This is not about whether you attend rather it is about your service. Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew, "Take up your cross and follow me". Since He was constantly serving the disciples we know He was with them. Whether you beleive the church was organized by Jesus when he called out the Disciples or that it began on the day of Pentecost Jesus was with the future church or the present church. We were granted Gifts with which to serve and God does not pass along these gifts lightly He expects to use them to build up and expand the Kingdom.

Now shall we look at another aspect of service. It is in using the gifts God has given me that I find the most fulfilled. When for any reason I am unable to serve with those gifts then my life just does not seem complete. For instance for the past few weeks I have been unable to be with the church I serve because of sickness and the strength and richness of life is not as full. God has planned it this way because He knows how week we are by ourselves. The church is far from perfect because it is made up of you and me yet those imperfections need to seek the very Presence of Almighy God in the presence of other beleivers.

Many come into the presence of the church and say be a blessing to me today or I need to be blessed today and go away lacking. Then there are those who come and say God, make me a blessing to others and they go away with great blessing and fulness of life. Blessings do not come to us by simply attending a woeship service they come when we freely and joyfully use our God given gifts to be a blessing to others.

I would love to hear from you about ways God has blessed you when you were trying to be a blessing to others.

Jesus, the Money Changers, and the Temple

In Matthew 21:12-13 we find the account of Jesus as he cleanses the temple. While my curiosity got the best of me I just had to know more of the traditions of the time concerning the temple. While I was searching I was literally able to read the writings of Jewish scholars and found out that there is no compulsion nor discouragement in the writings outside of the Bible to be reverant in the Temple and that all things that should be sacred are and was just fodder for profiteering. Now enter The Son Of God Yeshua and understand the His disdain as he begins to witness God's house being used as a place of business rather than a humble place of prayer and worship.

I can also understand the contempt Yeshua felt for those who were suposed to be he spiritual leaders because the only thing they were interested in was the accumulation of more wealth. They really did not beleive in helping those who were less fortunate only in pushing them further down. Imagine going into a Church expecting to find a place of peace and rest and having merchants jumping in your face trying to sell his merchandise. The Church is no longer a place of sanctuary but a place of stress and frustration. It is no longer a place to commune with God but a place that has closed God out.

Dreams

We all have dreams that we would love to accomplish but many never really try because you just don't think you can. Let me say this to you with seeming to be to harsh. Dreams will never come to pass unless you step out and try. You may fail at first but you must take note of all you tried and try to correct the things that went wrong and start over. Thomas Edison had a dream to build a working elecrric light bulb he didn't give up because it didn't work out the first time he continued to try until he suceeded. If every preacher gave up because he was not good the first time then God's word would not be preached. You have a dream and now is the time to reach out and try. Dr. Martin Luther King had a dream and he gave his life to see it suceed but it is being accomplished as you read this. It is nothing for black and white to sit at the same table to break bread. We work together every day and America is seeing progress in the acceptance of all races every day. Dreams are a must if we are going to accomplish anything in life. Dare to dream and dare to work to see your dream become reality.