Oh, the joy of community

So there's been some cool new developments in my life. Through my friend and coworker Sally I came to meet a new friend named David. Everyone had always said how we were so weirdly alike, and so we met up one night and hung out. It was awesome. I had such a good time, and it felt like the beginning of a fun new friendship. He invited me to come with him last night to a 20-somethings small group bible study. I decided it would be a good opportunity to meet some ladies (oh, and learn about Jesus) lol jk. Haha, I really had been praying about and DESPERATELY needing to establish a new community in my life. Since graduating college and leaving my tight-knit community of friends in InterVaristy Christian Fellowship, I had been missing out on that sense of accountability, encouragement, fun, and laughter. Plus I just really felt alone. I'm kind of lame and a loner contrary to popular belief that I'm cool. lol. I mean, I am cool. But that's for another post at another time... wow, can you tell I'm spacey this morning; I got a whole 4 hours of sleep last night.

Anyway, focusing now.... um, so I managed to find my way to his house where they were having the small group, despite mapquest lying to me. And long story short, it was an AWESOME night! It was so great to hang out with other Christian 20-somethings. I needed to be around others who are in the same season of life as me. I needed that life affirmation and reciprocity. I love the word "reciprocity"; it's fun to say. Go ahead, say it.... see, wasn't that fun?! Okay, focusing again.... And this was SO cool -the guy who led the bible study.....WE WENT TO THE SAME MENS GYMNASTICS ACADEMY BACK IN HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I walked in and was like, "man, you look so familiar, have we met?" And then it clicked. It was SO random! Like, SO random! I hadn't seen him since 2004! I felt like God had led me to that group that night. And the bible study was really good, and convicting. It was on coveting. Very timely for my life I soon realized. I got a lot out of it.

After it was over I stayed and watched American Idol with David. We had so much fun critiquing the contestants and cheering on our favorites. (and seeing the Glee promos that aired during the commercial breaks! :) And laughing at how David and I really are twins, to the point that we were saying the same things at the same time. lol Oh, and I did share with him my distaste (okay, utter hatred) for cheese. And I'm sure he now thinks I'm a total creeper. lol

So in summary, I got a taste of the joy of community again. And how sweet it was. :) Thank you Lord for new friends and the joy of community.

Thoughts from Revelation 2:

So here are some of my thoughts from yesterday's church service. The sermon was on Revelation 2 and the spirit of Jezebel. A lot of talk has been given to this "Jezebel" --who she was and how she and her followers inhibited the health of the early Church. Here's what it comes down to: "I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants..." [Revelation 2:19-20]

This was my revelation: God knew the deeds, the good works of the early Church; He knew that they loved God, yet they were compromising. They were settling for spiritual mediocrity. They had idols. They had sin. And they were okay with it. They thought because they loved God and did have good deeds that that somehow canceled out the sin in their life that they were tolerating. And that's when I put down my donut, coffee, and popped my head up from my almost-nodding out slumber. THAT IS ME. I love God and have good works and intentions, but I'm tolerating sin. Accepting its place in my life. And I can't be that person. I won't. I desire to be so much more, to not be a statistic Christian -you know, one of those statistics in those Christian magazines that says "so-and-so percent of Christians say it's okay to... *fill in the blank*."

It's time to take a stand for righteousness. To say NO MORE. And although releasing the control that "tolerating spirit" has on you is hard -and often times just SUCKS- it is what we are called to do. THAT is taking up your cross. Crosses are supposed to be heavy and hard and give you splinters. Who lied to us 20-somethings in the American Church and said that our cross would be light, fluffy, and marshmallowy? And when did we start believing them? It's time we take back truth. I for one am. You in?