In addition to ringing handbells and being a mentor, I have volunteered days when my church was responsible for people at a Habitat house and a local soup kitchen. I also participate in the adult group for 20ish to 35/40-ish year olds. I honestly do not know exactly what I believe or feel, but this church has definitely provided opportunities to explore that and also get involved in the whole community.
I have found many parts of church that speak to me and have yet to actually sit down and share them. I am putting in more effort to read the scripture every week, and a couple of weeks ago was one of those 'Aha!' moments.
So from my Good News Bible that I got in third grade, I bring you parts of James.
3.13 Is there anyone among you who is wise and understanding? He is to prove it by his good life, by his good deeds performed with humility and wisdom. But if in your heart you are jealous, bitter, and selfish, don't sin against the truth by boasting of your wisdom. Such wisdom does not come down from heaven; it belongs to the world, it is unspiritual and demonic. Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is also disorder and every kind of evil.Aha! If you're selfish and boastful, it is not good. It was like reassurance that giving as much as I can does make a difference. That may seem silly to think otherwise, but how often do good people get told they are doing the right thing?
4.1 Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you. You want things, but you cannot have them, so you are ready to kill; you strongly desire things, but you cannot get them, so you quarrel and fight.Aha! The fighting mentioned reminded me of war. On a smaller scale, bickering and arguing. So I guess the question is, when do you try to "stick to your guns" and when do try to let those strong desires go?
5 comments:
3:13 My mother, when she was alive, went to a church. It was an Old Time Baptist church and they start going and shouting and jumping around and all that good stuff. Then the preacher started yelling "Who here is going to heaven!!" and everyone start jumping and waving except my mom. When asked why she replied, "I hope I'm going to heaven.". I always felt it arrogant for someone to declare they are going to heaven... the best you can do is live right and hope you are good enough.
I LOVE that first verse. I think I should frame it and give it as a gift at Christmas time. Maybe to multiple people? :-)
Ron, sometimes I think the biggest bad rap religions get is about their blatant hypocrisy.
Aim, Hah - hadn't thought about how that might be relevant to others in your life!
I tried commenting, but I don't think I did all of the steps correctly. Thus, I'll re-type what I'd written:
I'm glad you took the time to type out the verses and share a bit of your faith journey here. It is interesting to hear about the ways you've connected at your church. And those verses from James are really good ones. I'm not sure how to answer your question about quarrels, but they seem to be talking about quarrels that result from desires for pleasure. So, this may be talking about a certain kind or category of quarrel from just day to day stuff. I'm not entirely sure, but those are my current thoughts! ;-)
Danielle, I did spend some time trying to figure out what type of quarrel it was talking about. Reminds me of a string on FB with some atheists I had recently...
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