praising God

The church looses its first love, if it ever had it, by lack of prayer for individuals, and the church local and universal. When hospitality is replaced with trival acts of pretended friendliness. When what someone does is more important that who they are, a beloved child of God. When individuals set up terrritories and refuse to change: music, worship format, choir, church school, study groups, any thing the chruch does. When the church is more interested in paying its bills than ministering, loving, growing in faith, ( not physically alone)and competition among members and churches becomes evident.

If the lampstands are the churches, their light only shines in their surrounding area but with Jesus is the greater light, shining everywhere and the lampstands gather their light from Christ. The church has no light without Christ. Jesus has power whether we grant it or not. By His grace he gives us a choice to walk with Him or not but He still has the power.

Jesus said that he would always be with us. Is this vision of Jesus assurance that He indeed has risen? He is Lord? He is always with us and knows our every movenment? Are we not assured of His comfort when we follow Him but also warned that we will suffer consequences for our sinful actions or inaction? As the resurrected Lord, He speaks to John. Does not Christ also continue to speak to us? Is John belginning his writing in this way as a witness that he was not just dreaming, not drunk, not some crackpot? As he goes on with the message to each church, is it not evidence that John knows things about each church that was revealed to him by God. With the communication of the day, how else would John know these things along with his exil? It had to come from God. Will God not also speak to us when we are worshipping and seeking Him? My courage is not such as the disciples and I fear what my responce might be in I were physically persecuted. I'm such a chicken.

I wonder if we have taken to heart that Christ is a personal God so much that we are afraid to share Christ because it is so personal. Christ is indeed a personal relationship but it is not to be hidden away in a silent cave of our hearts. Persecution in the church exists within our churches in the forms of non acceptance of other cultures, the way individuals dress, occuptaions, worship format, control of territories within the church, positions in the church, decisions outside of appropriate committees, etc.