a gap

Last posting was Christmas. Oops!

I am finding a lot of hope in some young "elders" of the faith. They are not necessarily within the organized church and yet they are focused on the spirit of God. They are allowing their lives to be changed and to be led by the One they are meeting for the first time and coming to know more deeply all at the same time. Makes no sense does it. But as I read Paul's epistles, it makes "perfect" sense.

We have treated church or religion as something that prepares us for a certain time in the future, then we have it all set right and "arrived" at the time and spot, we just keep doing it the way we learned it. But God particularly in Jesus Christ continually seeks repentance and change. God wants life change, not right thinking. And life change means letting go of judging others and allowing us to be judged by God.

(One of the confusing things in the modern church, though, is understanding what is "judging" and what is "accountablity within the body." Paul sets a high bar for those who are in the Body. There is accountability among the brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet, we are not given the prerogative to judge either in or outside of the body. That is to say whether someone's life is worthy or not to be within God's empire/realm/kingdom or what we call "heaven." )