So here I am again apologizing for the lack of posting this past month.  Where does time go?  Anyway, anyone following this blog, a huge apology!!

Well this will be a quick post seeing how I have traveled to Columbus Ohio this weekend from MI for childhood best friend's wedding.  This is the second wedding this summer so far, and my own right around the corner in 3 weeks.  With all this wedding business going on, I have really been thinking and dwelling on what marriage/a wedding is all about.  Of course the passage that keeps running through my head and I find myself glancing at from time to time is Ephesians 5:22-33!  Now we can see how this is Paul's petition for marriage and the correct God glorifying type, but more so I have been really dwelling on verse 32.  Verse 32 reads, "This mystery is profoud, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church."  So Paul is comparing marriage to the union between Christ and the Church.  Wow!! Talk about a high calling on us as men and women of faith portraying a godly relationship to the world. 

Now getting married in 3 weeks makes me not even a rookie yet in this marriage category however I see at least 3 truths that Paul's lays out in this passage that I think through daily and have been challenged with myself. 

1) Women image bearers of Christ submit to their husbands. (vs. 22-24) In today's world this seems so opposite to the norm. Since the women's movement, a woman's role is seen and taken as very similar to a man's role in today's culture.  Truth is, God has placed that husband over the wife as a leader and head of the family (listen up men that is a bigger issue for you than you may first think).  The godly wife recognizes this leadership and position of her husband and more so recognizes the sovereignty and authority given to her husband comes from the Lord. This small picture of the Churches sumbission to Christ is a great opportunity to really trust and obey God and His control in life.

2) Men image bearers of Christ love their wives as Christ loves His church. (vs. 25-30) Guys, time to man up, and I am talking to myself as the #1 guilty party of not being a man of God as described here.  What is love? Look at 1 Cor. 13 for formal definition but more so look at Christ!  He is our Savior, propitiation, redeemer, sacrifice, and Lord, what an example to follow and what a tough call to follow.  I do not want to down play the toughness of following Christ example (even Christ said it would not be easy, Mt. 7:13-14; Lk. 13:24-30).  However guys, God has called us to love our wives as Christ loves His church.  Let's think about that love for a second!  The church- seen as a harlot, unfaithful, unwilling to give back, and stubborn.  Christ- came while we were still enemies, faithful, died for us, rose for us, intercedes for us, and loves us unconditionally.  Comparing those two are quite the contrast.  Men we have a high calling of loving her like Christ loves His church- faithful and unconditional.

3) Unity between image bearers. (vs. 31-33) When Paul calls us to "leave and cleave" it is our duty, responsibility, and priviledge to work at and become one as two seperate people.  This involves work on both parties!  Both respect from the wife to husband and again husbands love your wives, vs. 32.  Unity must be sought after, battled for, and regarded as a need!!

Final word: Even after looking at these three truths marriage still comes down to reflecting our Lord and Savior to a dying and needy world of lost souls.  Marriage must be viewed as a great opportunity to show a dying and seeking world the Savior and peace they are longing for.  Do not take these words lightly, but do not take it from me, take it from Paul and more importantly God.  We have been called to a higher calling (Eph. 4:1)- are you willing to answer?

Ended up being slightly longer than expected, sorry, but hope you enjoyed!

Until Next Time,

Kenny

So as I was sitting down beginning to think about what I was going to blog for this week, nothing was coming.  I began to think back over the events, lessons, circumstances, and situations that had taken place in my life during the weekend and beginning of the week and was coming up empty.  However, this is when I looked back over the outlines from the Sunday service at church, the youth group lesson from Wednesday and my own study of Hosea this morning, and what verse came up in everyone of them....James 1:17. 

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17 (ESV)

So how does a sermon on Psalm 4, youth lesson on tabernacling with God, and a study in Hosea all come together or touch on this verse?  Because this verse points out and gives a few characteristics of God.  The characteristics named are His sovereignty and immutability.  Sovereignty!  One of the most comforting and humbling characters of God to any believer.  As I think about God's sovereignty how can I not be comforted.  This omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God is in control of my life and all the circumstances in and around me.  Wow!  I do not have to worry about what will happen, when it may or may not happen, if it is a good or bad thing, or how it will turn out in my life.  God knows and has planned it all out.  And not only that It is going to be good and going to be perfect for me, exactly what I need at that time.  He is the one who is in complete control of my life and the situations I encounter.  Humbling?!  Wow, I am not the one in control.  I do not make the sun rise or the moon fall.  I do not cause myself to breath in or breath out.  I cannot make time stop or do anything outside the laws of nature.  I am powerless in this world.  But I know and have a relationship with the one who CAN do all those things.  And He calls me His son.  How comforting and humbling is that part of James 1:17.

But the verse does not stop there.  It goes on to show and praise the immutability of God, or His unchanging nature.  God is the Father of lights spoken about, and with Him, "there is no variation or shadow of change".  God does not change from day to day.  Now you may say or think, but what about my circumstances which He supplies, one day I may be completely content and happy and have everything I need, and the next day nothing, it is all torn away or disappears.  "How can you say God never changes? When everyday my circumstances do."  Well who is the true "god" and ruler and one in control of your world then?  Are you really trusting and allowing God to control the situation and not be trapt in your own perspective of things?  Or are you saying that God is in control as long as it fits my plan and my desires or dreams, in other words I am in control but He can put "good" things in my life all He wants.  Who is defining "good" is what it comes down too. 

Think about when you were a child.  Dad said do not cross the road before looking both ways!  Now at first you may have wondered and even gotten upset (as I may have done when younger) for dad trying to "control" your life and tell you what to do at every turn.  However, quickly you learned that if you did not look both ways that the possibility of getting hit by a car dramatically increased.  Using that as an example what if the same was true of every circumstance in your life.  Say you do not know why your best friend's life would be cut short by a horrible accident.  Or maybe your athletic career was ended abruptly by some horrible injury.  Think even of the possibility of an ended relationship, friendship, dating, marriage, etc, maybe you are to blame, or some other circumstance.  But in all of these can we really say, without full knowledge of what tomorrow brings, they are "bad" scenarios and should not happen.  Ok so maybe your best friend should not have died, and maybe ending an athletic career, or relationship are all actually awful and not so fun situations, but let me ask who are we to complain and grumble about these?  Just as in the illustration with looking both ways, are you, am I, willing to say that we see every angle and understand every perspective as to why this happened and is this way and now have a right to complain and grumble? Or is there some perspective, some purpose that we could not fortell or even see the possibility of unless we see this situation through?

God says in 2 Cor. 1:3-4, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforst us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."  Also look at Romans 8:28, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."  And Isaiah 64:8 states, "But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." 

So I ask again who am I, who are you to complain and grumble to this God about His plan and works?  Are we not just the recipients of grace and mercy?  Are we not just clay in the potters hands?  Are we not chosen by Him, to do His good works?  Were we not wretched sinners, destined for hell, and with no hope of getting to Heaven?  Dare we think that now, saved by grace, we have a right to determine our lives, to say what is good and acceptable for ourselves?  Is not He still in control and still pouring out His grace and mercy upon us? 

I leave you with these two passages from Jeremiah...9:23-24 and 29:11. "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth." "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Until Next Time, comments, thoughts, concerns, prayer requests are all welcome!!

So again its been about a week, maybe alittle more since my last blog so here goes.  Alot of my thoughts this week have been consumed by and wrapped up in the idea of community, specifically Christian community.  I have had multiple conversations, readings, and even listened to one sermon on the subject.  But out of most of those conversations and readings I come to the conclusion that the Church and Christians are doing an awful job of creating and staying in community with each other, and I believe this is one major problem or flaw of the Church today.  It seems to me that community is a given and enjoyable thing all throughout Scripture. 

As I thought through and searched the Scriptures community is something that just seemed to jump out.  I mean in the OT no matter where people were they seemed to always be in a community.  Look at Adam and Eve, communing with God opening and face to face in the Garden (Gen. 2-3).  Then move ahead alittle bit and we see Noah in community with his family (Gen. 6).  Of course there is the Israelites on their journey out of Egypt and throughout the wilderness in community the entire time as they go.  Then I thought about David and how he had community with his family, friends, and those he was king over (1 and 2 Sam.).  Then, we look at the book of Job and see even when he was down and out and being ridiculed by his friends, he was still in community, although not the best one to be in. 

But then I thought of Christ's example.  What did Christ do at the start of his earthly ministry?  Began to gather around himself and community of sorts known as the disciples.  As He continued to walk the earth our Savior was always seen teaching, among, and with other believers constantly.  Then I thought of another hero of the faith and the man responsible for composing a large percentage of the New Testament.  Paul also was in constant community and companionship with other believers.  He had Peter, John Mark, Timothy, Philemon, Luke, and many others, who were in constant community.  But the final nail in the coffin for me was when I began to think about and look at the early church.

What about the early church?  Acts 2:44, 45; Acts 4:32, 34–37; Acts 5:1–10 all show how these believers and the beginnings of the church were in constant community and gives a further understanding of community.  These believers had "all things in common..." and "one heart and soul".  These believers had all things in common!  WOW!! All things? Really? What about the church today? Are we striving for one heart and soul?  Are we sharing in all things?  Why not? What is stopping us?

I think the Word shows us compelingly that community is a big part of the Christian life and our spiritual lives and growth.  The Christian community or body of Christ acting as it should is what God has established to grow us, challenge us, stretch us, and keep us striving to be like Christ.  The body of Christ acting in true community, having all things in common and one heart and soul, cannot be replaced by any other organism or program.  It is the God given paradigm for the working of God in the world today.  But what does or should it look like?  Believers sharing openly real life struggles and problems, without the fear of judgment or snide remarks.  Encouraging each other in our struggles, joys, tough times and good times (2 Cor. 3:3-4).  Does this describe the Church today? Does it describe my or your local church?  Why not? What are we doing to encourage true community?  Are we adding to community or pushing/pulling away from it? 

Community is what sustains our hope. (1 Thess. 4)