May be we could all just stop going to church

Well, today I hope that every follower of Jesus Christ stops "going to church". [Yeah, take it with a grain of salt]

A while ago I talked to a person who said they trusted in Christ and so "they want to get back in church". And you know, I applaud the desire to do what is right in the Lord.  But, my applause is nothing. I think what people want to know is whether God is applauding them for "going to church".   What I think people really mean is they want to begin going to a building on Sunday and be in attendance. Perhaps they would participate in the singing, saying amen, and listening to a Sunday message. Some people assume that by doing this every week, God is pleased and they get spiritual brownie points.  In truth, it is the church who has caused this myth to gain full momentum in the lives of nominal Christians.  But what's even more true is that God won't love you any more or less if you go to church or not.  And while there is the possibility of more favor being placed upon you (because you are around the Body of Christ where God promises to show His presence-not because God is happy you got up out of a sense of duty to come see Him), there is no condemnation if you don't. 

Now, I must make it plain to you.  I AM AN ADVOCATE OF GETTING UP ON SUNDAY (or whatever day your assembly meets) AND GOING TO CHURCH.  More plainly, going to be WITH the church.  But I believe we have missed it when we simply want to go to church. 

Instead, Jesus did not intend for us to go to church, rather He intended for us to BE the church.  Put another way, Jesus did not intend for us to go to church.  He intended for the Church to GO!  That is, where ever we are, that is where the Body of Christ is.

So, my prayer is that we (I) learn how to BE the church by being like Jesus to those around us (me).

Does God Eat?

So philosophers, theologians, and pontificators, my daughter asks my wife this question. See what you think.

Mom, "Does God Eat?" (LOL priceless)

Our children have a way of challenging our theology and sometimes making us question what we believe and why.  A NECESSARY PRACTICE FOR ALL PEOPLE.  Especially for people of the Christian faith.  So the latest question that makes us question what we believe about God is the one my daughter asked my wife.  "Does God Eat".  I love this question (maybe because I love my little girl so much)  First, because it reminds us of the simple innocence of a child's heart as they seek to know God.  Secondly, after we get over the cuteness of childlike simplicity, it makes us consider with more depth how God actually sustains Himself.  We, humans, must eat to sustain ourselves.  If we don't eat, we whither away and we die.

In contrast God needs NO sustenance.  There is NOTHING He needs at anytime that He does not have presently, within Himself.  He is the giver of life and sustenance  because He alone has life and sustenance to give.  In fact, isn't this the dilemma of humankind in our quest to be fulfilled.  We consistently seek to be our own source of sustenance, power, and energy (in essence attempting to BE our own gods) or we seek to find those sources of sustenance, power, and energy in things outside of His purposes.  Ultimately, though, we run out of energy and need more sustenance.

But, there is more.  When we say there is nothing God needs that is exactly true.  He needs no thing from us; not even our worship.  He does not feed off of it.  In fact, God is equally as confident in His worth whether we worship (ascribe worth) Him or not.  However, even while God does not need our worship, He allows us to imitate Him as sustainer by allowing us to give to Him.  It's like when my children give me some of their food.  I bought the food so technically, it's my food and they don't have anything to give me except what I give them. I am made happy (blessed) by the idea that they want to give back to me.  But if they choose not to give what I have given them, it is well within my means to get my satisfaction for food somewhere else. In his address to the Athenian philosophers the Apostle Paul said it this way,

 "24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for 'In him we live and move and have our being...'"

 So, in my opinion God does NOT eat. He is totally satisfied in every way within Himself.

This is the God we serve.  And since He has everything He needs, We can have everything we need.  Perhaps the question is then, Have we eaten from the God who satisfies?

Grace and Peace