Cornerstone- Growth or Wither?
Recently I had the opportunity to travel to to Europe on business. During the weekend several collegues and I travelled to the countryside and visited beautiful cathedrals built centuries ago. The workmanship was incredible, carvings in stone, stained glass that filled the sanctuary, but as beautiful as these buildings were, I was saddened by the emptiness. Tourists now exceeded the number of parishioners; gone was the spiritual growth and what remained was only a building that was slowly withering.
Europe like America is straying away from our christian beliefs; too many people are making excuses for not going to church, not engaging in christian fellowship or attending a Bible study class. Sadly, the leadership in churches often has not helped matters. Throughout the centuries, church misconduct, greed and politics within the heirarchy of the church resulted in people equating the wrong doings of man as a justification for turning away from God.
Yes, we are the church, we are people with a lot of ills and needs; but those of use who believe know that there is a God, so great, so full of love that through Him, all things are possible.
When we come together to truely worship the Lord, through prayer, song, and serve others; we begin to understand that it isn’t about a fancy building, or a charamastic religiously leader, that matters. No, it is about a relationship with our Lord; a time of sharing our inner thoughts with Him, and through Him we desire to serve, and love others. As a tangible result even the the simplest one room building is transformed into a house of God more beautiful than any cathedral made by man. A house whose growth is measured by the love it gives is build on a solid foundation.
End of Summer
Summer – As kids, remember how we wished summer would hurry up and arrive? There were trips to the beach, the pool, drive to the mountains, bbq’s, and playing outside with our friends. Or perhaps someone new moved to the neighborhood and you made a new friend. Excitement awaited!
This summer make it your mission to enjoy each day. Make today a great day!
Changes
They say change is enivitable. We may not like it, but in this world as certain as death and taxes, change is constantly occurring. From the moment of our inception, we change and not a day goes by that we stay the same.
Our physical body wears down, our thoughts, ideals and behavior may change (either for the better or for the worse), but what doesn’t change is God.
With God there is hope, love, and a promise that we can be with Him forever. God loves all, we are His children, we are brothers and sisters in Christ.
Let us treat each other with dignity and respect, so that we can show the love of Christ through us.
Jesus said, “for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and you did not visit Me. ….Truely I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. These will go away into eternal punishement, but the righteous into eternal life” Matthew 25:42-43; 45-46, NASB.