Blogging

I got to say I am getting hooked on this whole blogging thing. I absolutely love it! I mostly enjoy reading other people's blogs, chewing on them a bit and responding once in a while. I love to read how God is alive in people's lives and how they are processing life and/or scripture. I can get my fill of good real life theological discussions, iron sharpening iron type stuff.

I stumbled across Paul Connors blog called theospeak.net a couple of weeks ago. The dude is a blogging maniac...seriously. Seems like 2 or 3 entries a day at least. Check it out, he has some pretty solid thoughts.

Abide in His Love

I pulled this quote off of Paul Connors blog so props to Paul for posting it.

All that is not the love of God has no meaning for me. I can truthfully say that I have no interest in anything but the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. If God wants it to, my life will bear fruit through my prayers and sacrifices. But the usefulness of my life is his concern, not mine. It would be indecent of me to worry about that. -Dominique Voillaume

I think Jesus said it this way "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me he can do nothing. "

Time Alone: A test for the Church

Here is another excerpt about church life from "Life Together"


"Every day brings to the Christian many hours in which he will be alone in an unchristian environment. These are the times of testing...Has the fellowship served to make the individual free, strong, and mature, or has it made him weak and dependent? Has it taken him by the hand for a while in order that he may learn again to walk by himself, or has it made him uneasy and unsure? This is one of the most searching and critical questions that can be put to any Christian fellowship."

Note: It is important to realize that when he mentions strong and free he is not implying that as Christians we should be independent of one another, without need of Christian fellowship. He is simply talking about moving from babies needing to be spoon fed to adults who are able to get the food themselves as well as feed others.

"Furthermore, this is the place where we find out whether the Christian's meditation has led him into the unreal, from which he awakens in terror when he returns to the workaday world, or whether it has led him into a real contact with God, from which he emerges strengthened and purified. Has it transported him for a moment into a spiritual ecstasy that vanishes when everyday life returns, or has it lodged the Word of God so securely and deeply in his heart that it holds and fortifies him, impelling him to active love, to obedience, to good works?
"Is the invisible presence of the Christian fellowship a reality and a help to the individual? Do the intercessions of others carry him thru the day? Is the Word of God close to him as a comfort and a strength? Or does he misuse his aloneness contrary to the fellowship, the Word, and the prayer?
The individual must realize that his hours of aloneness react upon the fellowship...Every act of self-control of the Christian is also a service to the fellowship.
On the Other hand, there is no sin in thought, word, or deed, no matter how personal or secret, that does not inflict injury upon the whole fellowship. An element of sickness gets into the body...The body is infected. We are members of a body, not only when we choose to be, but in our whole existence. Every member serves the whole body, either to its health or to its destruction. This is no mere theory; it is a spiritual reality." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer