I Corinthians 9

Verses 22-27
To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you now know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in teh games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not fight like a man beating the air. No I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.


The couple of things I take away from this passage are as follows:
1. Paul says he becomes all things to all men so that by all possible means He might save some.
Interesting isn't it? He was desperate to reach the lost. By whatever means possible. Are we?
2. Talking about runners who go into strict training to get a crown that won't last....
Paul talks about fighting for the crown that lasts forever,

Are you desperate to reach the lost, and are you confident enough to do so believing that the CREATOR of the UNIVERSE will equip you and meet you where you are at?

Thoughts

What is healthy?
I have found people able to achieve an AIC less than a 5 during a pregnancy with type 1.
People can achieve a healthy weight.
All of this takes work and discipline. Two things that are difficult.
The outcome is worth the price.
I want to have an AIC at 5.5 by my next doctor visit in August.
By that time I will have been doing Weight Watchers for 14 weeks, I would like to be twenty pounds lighter too.

Community

True community, this is what every person desires, in church or out of church. This concept of doing life together, having someone actually care when things are going well in your life or more importantly when things are down. If you are married and are lucky enough to have an understanding spouse, this can happen on the homefront, but as a woman I must say, not only my husband but a few women that I let into my "world" make all the difference.

That's the hard part about community you have to be real, when someone asks you how your doing a simple pretty good won't cut it. It also takes effort and time, two things of true scarcity in our world today. What me slow down and take time to listen?? Well I just don't have time for that! Fortunately God is teaching me to take time, and its in this time I've realized in a small way this is the stuff that really matters.

What's interesting is the group of people that God may have for you to be with is not necessarily people that you would envision. For example, my group is not all twenty somethings, its younger people and older and its a beautiful mix. My advice to anyone is take time for people and be real never be afraid to be real, someone may be going through something you've experienced and you can make a difference. The beautiful thing is when you need them they will return the favor.

Hypocritical

Luke 12:1
Be on your guard against the yeast of the pharisees which is hypocrisy.

Yeast is used to make things grow, ex. bread.
Hypocrisy is defined as an expression of agreement that is not supported by real convition.

I had a conversation with some folks this weekend that got me thinking. It was a small group ages ranging from 29 to almost 70. The question that was asked was why are so few young adults in church. Our church is small, and our demographic is mainly made up of folks in the older generations. One older woman said what will it take to get young people to want to attend??

Are the young adults in our community sick of hypocrisy in the church? I've heard that as an excuse before, people have based church attendance based on ill experiences from childhood.
What about music will that bring young people in? More programs?? I'm curious what will it take??

Conversely the youth group in our church is growing....I feel that ministry will take the kids as they are and invest in them, regardless of how many times they've fallen away.

If someone were to listen to the heart of our pastor and his wife it'd be hard pressed to deny that their heart is to see people come to Jesus, no matter the past, or the outward apperance, nothing would excite them more to see a diverse population arise at our small church.

Any thoughts??

update and more

1. Husband found job, full-time, even when the season is slow!!
2. Practice first week really really tough, second week, better, we want unity in our efforts to honor God. We had one new musician this week, thankful for new ones and grateful for the faithful ones.
3. Praying for the committment of one particular person and excited to see where God leads them.

Want to Just Write

This blog is going to simply be a daily or weekly account whichever I can fit in of things going on in my life. I am about to finish listening to the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It talks about many things, but specifically living a sold-out spirit filled life for God. Doing whatever it takes to pursue after Him, being completely in love with our Creator. Something I am trying to make a habit of in the morning is a prayer that surrenders to God.
First account Friday the 14th:
Two sermons in the morning at work, 1 particularly about giving.
Boss unexpectedly gave money for something, was able to provide some concrete things for a person in need.
Monday the 17th: Practice tonight: want to see the Holy Spirit move in our practice.
Prayer request, Husband looking for a job in bad economy, my trust is in the Lord.

There's a Revolution

The More pod casts I listen to, the more blogs I read the more I am aware of the fact that churches need to be different. There's a church in Georgia called Revolution church. Their pastor recently did a message on why "We do what we do". I loved it. He said we exist to reach the people who don't know Christ. Not to exist to get people from other churches who've been in church their whole lives. This church is concerned with the One, the one person, the individual. no matter the background the past, no matter what show them the amazing redeeming love of Christ. I've been guilty of judgement for a long time, I'd think "Should they be in church they do" (_____ fill in the blank). It's not about me never never never about me, or what I think. The church needs to be a place where people come as is, and get a relevant biblical message that transforms and allows people step by step to become more like Christ. Is the typical church ready to do whatever it takes to reach the one?? Ready to welcome all types of people, people that aren't the normal church crowd. Right now we're looking for a Pastor my prayer is that we have a Revolution in Georgetown, SC, to have a real church down to business and really open up the doors!! It's going to take people willing to get radical and willing to reach out of the comfort zone and start really working for the Lord, and keep a judgemental mouth shut.