The Reason For Not Posting This Time

Hey Webs -
   I do realize that 87% of my posts are posts explaining why I don't post more frequently, so in the interest of full  disclosure and consistency I felt it was due time to update with yet another.

This week has been such a beautiful and messy week filled with spiritual growth, dirt, paint, service, community, free food, precious people, very occasional showers, free food, WORSHIP, learning to not be the self-righteous kid I am 78% of the time, and free food. And the opportunity to beautify and serve my city in the name of the LORD.

Hopefully I'll explain better at a later date. But for now, it's been 14-hour days and no compie time, and I AM LOVING IT.

This week is leaving me with a faint sweet taste of Acts 2 (NIV):

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. ⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷ praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

What a gift.

-bRob

The Gift of Community

It is true, of course, that what is an unspeakable gift of God for the lonely individual is easily disregarded and trodden under foot by those who have the gift every day. It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of Christian brethren is a gift of grace, a gift of the Kingdom of God that any day may be taken from us, that the time that still separates us from utter loneliness may be brief indeed. Therefore, let him who until now has had the privilege of living in common Christian life with other Christians praise God’s grace from the bottom of his heart. Let him thank God on his knees and declare: It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren.

- Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Having chosen to follow Christ later in life means it is sometimes difficult to find community - I have a lot of friends who don't share these beliefs that I hold dear. While I treasure each and every precious friend, beliefs aside, Christians need to fellowship with other believers.  There have been seasons where there simply wasn't a whole lot of community around me, and then there have been seasons where I willfully rejected community. Both hurt.


A member of my old church posted this passage the other day. Community is a precious gift, and I hope we never take it lightly.

-bRob