Sunday II

Another week we didn't go to church. I've decided that this will be a good way to journal about this experience. Why might it be such a big deal to me, personally? How does it impact my family?

First of all, you should know this about me. I was raised in church. My mother was saved when I was a baby, my father accepted Christ during my Dedication ceremony. Other than a few times in our lives when my parents weren't active members somewhere, I spent my entire life in this habit. We went Sunday morning and evening, Wednesday evenings, and occasional weekly Bible studies.

We were generally members of Pentecostal churches, some more radical than others. We tended to go where they were teaching-heavy. As a teenager, I sat under a born-again Jewish charismatic bible scholar. As newlyweds, my husband and I sat under an Old Testament scholar.

To say I have been steeped in Bible teaching would be an understatement. I've been basted, broiled, baked, slow-cooked, hard-boiled and steamed in it. Yet here I am. Not in church. It feels strange, as if I am slipping through some crack in the religious landscape, to discover another foreign world.

I am discovering a simple joy in spending my days and nights considering my Lord. Who is He to me? What is He to me? In being relieved of the pressure to conform to some society's concept of the proper Christian, I have been freed to get to know God, my heavenly Father, Jesus, my Savior and joint-heir in the Kingdom, and the Holy Spirit, my constant all-knowing companion.

This is not where I will be quoting scripture to convince myself of my right or wrong. I know them, and that they apply. It is never sufficient to just know any part of God's Word. Without the wisdom to apply it to my life, it is fruitless. So, in this time of not being in church, we are sitting down to the dining room table each Sunday morning to read and discuss Proverbs. If it's wisdom we need, that's a great place to start.

Eventually, I trust that God will lead us to the right place of fellowship with other believers. In the meantime, I'm going to practice this concept of being the church, where ever I am. Perhaps my sons will come to know God in a more personal, un-religiously-cluttered way through this experience. I do not question what God is doing in our lives right now. It is all about walking through the fog, toward his voice, and finding we've been supported by grace all along.

What about you? Church or no church? Why?

Walk in Wisdom

"Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time." Colossians 4:5

I have meditated on this scripture all day, and it just keeps amazing me. If we apply this to every situation that comes up, think of how we could influence the world. You see, if we apply this scripture, then we are going to seek knowledge to know how to treat all people. If you were to ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom each time you encounter an unbeliever, you would be unleashing the power of the Will of GOD in your life AND in theirs!!! Incredible. To realize that if we were to treat each and every person on earth as though they are precious to our Lord, and they are, then we could see true redemption happening in society around us!

Truly, if we apply God's wisdom, then He promises to redeem that time. What does that mean, exactly? To redeem a time, it has to have been lost or wasted - right? So, if by this specific action, we buy back the time, what does that mean to us? I believe it means that we can buy back this generation. We can turn around events and troubles for our nation. We can even see people that have turned away, come back into relationship with Christ.

This is a big impact! Not because we are changing the world, but because we are releasing a promise of God upon the world.

So what is walking in wisdom to those who are outside? It is treating others as Jesus would have treated them. It's not WWJD - it's Who Would Jesus Love? I'm not talking about a mushy, permisive, all-grace, kind of love, either.

Think of all the words that you have spoken to strangers today. Were any of them measured by the wisdom of God, and spoken in grace, peace, mercy and truth? That is walking in wisdom. That is making right choices in our words and deeds, and that is buying back lost time for the salvation of so many.

What would it cost you to do this thing? To study God's Word. To grow in your relationship with Him. To desire to see people as God sees them, so that your words and your actions are quite naturally those of a Godly person.

Think about this - as a person studies a martial art, they repeat the movements over and over again, so that it becomes instinct to block a punch. The same would be said of the concert pianist - they practice over and over again, so that their fingers move without the brain laboring to send each finger it's instructions. Apply this kind of attention to your relationship with Christ, so that each action, and each word, has already been rehearsed and practices, and flows from your lips in words of affirmation, words of encouragement, words of promise, and words of life!

Let us walk in wisdom, and redeem this time!