Things to Mention

I enjoy going to my church. I enjoy the people, the environment, the atmosphere. So much is to be loved about this place i call home. Yet being there for about four years i have struggled so much. I have struggled with friendships, relationships, authority, leadership, personalities, and so many other things. Also i can say in these areas i have had blessings. Everything i found myself looking for answers. I would ask questions, i would pray about topics, i would read books, and i would read my Bible most definitely. So i would encourage others to do the same. To myself i would think that my relationship with Christ would not be worth wild if i had not seek for answers. There must be this hunger for Love, for Truth, for Hope, for Wisdom, for sinlessness, for understanding how to live life, for Christ Himself. It is so easy to fall into a deep trance and just follow this world. I know that for a fact. I know that it is easy to become numb to the situations that are apart of our lives, but isn't there more to life than just being numb? Should we really look at life with what the world wants us to see it? Should i say that i need to be in a relationship with a female because i am pressure by all the world? No, but to a degree. It is important to understand what it means to let Christ be the center. Truly He has to be the center. Life to me cannot go on without this strive to see Him move in my life. I feel as if i need Him to breathe in my conflicts and in my joy. So i encourage myself and others to seek Christ. Now how is that? First the Lord's Prayer has pointed something to me so importantly, that this prayer is not just between me and Christ, but between me, my family, my church members, my friends, my co-workers, this world, and Christ. The Lord's Prayer does not start, "My Father...", but as "Our Father..." This is so significant to all people, because "it takes a community to know an individual" (Keller). For myself to know a person it makes it worth wild to see a person act in different situations with different people, because you can see different parts of the person. For example, me, Andy, and her. Now when i am with her she acts if she knows i am a shy person, yet can be deep into a conversation and she reacts with a different personality. Now with Andy she is more vibrant and bright. She shows a side of her that only i can see with Andy around. With certain people you can know that person even more. The community allows for viewing of different parts of a person. Same goes with the whole community as a church. As a community we get to see the Christ we seek within all ourselves. The Christ given characteristics in Justin are different from those of Paul's, but i still see the Christ figure in each person and can see a different side when they are around others. This concept of the community is important and i realize how much more the Body of Christ is meant to work. Not only do we heal each other or support each other, we get to learn more about Christ which is within all of us. Good example of this is the fact me and Justin talked about the sensitive subject about porn. Our culture thinks of it as a normal thing for boy's to see and go through, but as i watch Peasant Princesses from Mars Hill Church and want to think about my future family, i do not want to carry this certain sin with me. This subject was difficult to talk about at first, but my heart was seeking a way out or a chance of hope that i could not have seem to find, on my own, since i felt like i was able to walk alone with Christ for sometime. As time went by this conversation became so much more than what i had expected, since our culture between guys is so casual when with certain people and think about it girls do the same. But is it shameful to confess that a person wants to leave that life. That a person would want to look at his wife with the eyes of love and not lust. I felt if it were by grace that this sinful nature can be conquered. I felt this hope inside and currently feel it, but need to take it day by day. Yet for once in a long time, i felt this peace that i was not alone and that someone understands and that in that someone the Christ in them understands. It is important to have community. It is of importance to have communication. To listen. To understand. To talk. To just be humble. I think this is where the Lord's Prayer talks about forgiving our debtors and having Christ forgive our debts. Once again 1 Peter 5 talks about how Satan is a lion ready to attack, but to be humble before your elders for it makes you strong as well. This is communication at its best. For being young is effortless, but to grow takes strength from a community. I experienced this first hand many times, but recently i can say it make much more sense. So i encourage everyone to communicate, to elaborate, to speak up, to be in community, to strive for goals, to search for Christ in every situation and in ever person, to understand that he is "our God" and "not my God". I think this is how a church can break down the four walls of a church as a community and reach for others outside.