5.12.15

Love, Actually

I cannot believe it has been almost one full year since my last post.
Golly how has that happened?
So, here to catch up the world: My wife and I have been married now for almost 4 years, and that is grand. I recently had surgery and while painful and annoying, is for the best. We are now on staff with our local church. Speaking of, our church has a permanent building, and we are meeting in two services weekly.
So, what is my reason for writing tonight?
.We live in a time where the church is not seen as a bunch of Christians, but a bunch of Republicans. We need to shed all the labels, and get back to what is key: The Gospel.
We need to stop building walls around ourselves based on what we do in terms of style, of worship music, of everything. Christ is Christ. He is the same today and will be the same 100 years from now. We think that we can come up with some new way to show the Gospel, and end up making easy what we meant to make simple. As someone who follows Christ, i should show love to other people I should not be someone who turns away those who are lost, and seeking help, for i was once lost and seeking help. To do otherwise is unbiblical. . We are spreading the gospel, as we are commanded by Christ. But, in this we must not forget the most important commandment.
Love.
It can be shown in so many ways, We buy our coworker dinner on a long shift. We volunteer at a shelter, or help a charity with a cause. We babysit our friends kids, so they can have a date night and invest in their love. If we do not love, we cannot follow Christ.
If Jesus said it was the most important commandment, should we not heed it?
I submit to you, that without love, we cannot call ourselves Christians. We simply cannot model the life of Christ without love. It was love that held Christ to the cross. He poured His life out for love of us sinful greedy selfish people, so we therefore, must love. So, show love to others, especially in this holiday season. When you pass someone on the street, say hello to them. It may make the difference . You never know what sadness may hide behind their eyes. We show 'love' by buying things for people, but Christ showed love investing in people.
We need to be the same. You do not need to have your life all together to impact someone elses. Spend time with someone, and make the time to do so. You can go without seeing a football game once in a while if you are setting a teenager on a path that can change the world, even if you do not realize that is what is happening.
Christina, if you are not showing love, start showing it.
I don't mean make believe that all is good in the world, because it isn't. You can still show love even if you don't feel it, and I daresay it is most important to show it when you don't feel it. Tell your spouse how you truly love and appreciate them. take an hour in your week to invest in a young person you know, and ask how they are doing.  Spend time with people without your phone in your hand, or even on, Life did happen before mobile phones.  You will see the immediate impact in not just your life, but others in your life. Its a pretty groovy feeling.