Wednesday, May 21, 2008

We can't do it alone

Here's something I just read this morning in "Looking for God" the new book by Nancy Ortberg. This would have been great to use in this past week's message. Let me know what you think:

"Community is very powerful. It is God's people living together with God at their center. It is the way of life out of which evangelism and discipleship emerge. Community is where we learn the truth about ourselves, where we are deeply loved, where walls are broken down, and where people who are usually excluded are included."

Following Jesus cannot be a completely independent effort. The path must be traveled in community with others, and that is one of the best explanations of it I have ever read.

Now for the meaningless discussion of the day. It looks like Archuleta will be the next American Idol. There's no way I can watch the whole show tonight. The two hour build-up for a 15 second announcement drives me crazy. My plan is to start paying attention about 15 minutes before the end of the show. I would rather David Cook win, but I'm not sure he would rather win. I get the feeling he'd rather finish second. Maybe I'm wrong. It just kind of seemed like that last night.

2 comments:

Lisa Wilson said...

No real comment about community other than to say I agree with you.

However, about IDOL - I am glad you were wrong - Yea David Cook. And, you really should have watched the entire show - the entertainment was really pretty good.

Lisa

Anonymous said...

My only comment would be that the effectiveness of a true Biblical community depends heavily on how "real" people are willing to be. Wearing masks only hinders us from allowing God to truly work in our lives and the lives of those around us. Unfortunately, some of the greatest persecution Christians face is from other Christians because in some ways "being real" scares the living daylights out of others and in some cases causes others to distance themselves when we would otherwise assume they would draw near to us. True Biblical community means abandoning all judgmental attitudes and insecurities and laying them down at the foot of the cross so that we may effectively minister to those around us and in turn be ministered to ourselves.