August 4 2009
Reading Why We Love the Church : quote, attributed by Kevin DeYoung as coming from someone else, even though he doesn't seem to remember who, “The church is kind of like sausage—it's better to just enjoy the thing and not look to see how it all comes together behind the scenes.” (p. 211)-- I like this picture. The church is made of parts rejected by the world, the foolish things of this world (1 Corinthians 1:27) that God uses to confound the wise. But we're not pretty apart from it, and really only do we serve a delightful purpose when together. We'll stop there, because the analogy breaks down this side of being cooked in a skillet in grease, then chopped up, put in gravy, and poured over a biscuit and....(ok, I've lost 16 pounds, and it's showing today it what I want to eat!) Anyway---point being that those of us who are the church, in one sense of the word, aren't pretty. We're redeemed sinners. Is it any wonder that churches have issues? We have issues the other 162 hours a week when we're not in church, do we really expect the issues to vanish at the door? Then we're not exactly being honest when we're here, are we? Sure, we must strive to be more like Christ, and church is the best place to start, because no one here should mock you for that, but it still has to expand. And it's still unpretty sometimes.
Dailies:
Psalm 145:8-9 →Well, you might need to read that too. But I sure did. Good to all, gracious and merciful, slow to anger. Mercies all over His works. This is the Lord God Almighty, both who He is and what He does.
Psalm 145:14-21 →The Lord sustains all who fall, all who look to Him, Lord God, help us to look to you today for what we truly need: You. My commitment for today: v. 21: My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. No debates, I must intently do this.
Proverbs 4:3 →It may not be here, but I'm hearing father saying to son “When I was a kid, your grandfather tried to tell me this stuff, and I thought he was wrong. But guess what, kid? My old man was smarter then than I am now, and smarter than you'll ever think I was. Because he was right. And I'm right: you need to learn this stuff.”
Proverbs 4 →I don't really have anything new in this, it's a great reminder of the value of wisdom and the contrast between the wise path and the foolish path. It's clear here, at least to me, that the number of available paths for life aren't limitless. There's basically two: wise and foolish. So which one do you want to take? Here are the consequences and situations of both paths. Choose.
1 Peter 3:1-7 →Peter is pointing out here that Christian life begins at home, within our family relationships. He's given some instructions to the church, some guidelines for individual behavior, and now says: “By the way, this comes even in how you relate as husband and wife. Your most intimate of relationships, those are impacted by your faith.”
1 Peter 3:9 →How hard is this? We are frequently quick to treat others as they have treated us, rather than as we would be treated. Yet this is what Christ commanded, and Peter reinforces it. I think he's come a long way since Gethsemane and that whole thing with the sword and Malchus's ear. That later in life, people will compare my later and former years and see that I've come closer to walking in Christian behavior, that I have become more like my Lord commands, that would be good.
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