Tag: Community

Morning Musing: Romans 12:15

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“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I heard a commentary the other day reflecting on the number of adults who are going to summer camp. They aren’t going to summer camp as chaperons for their children’s summer camp. They are going to their own summer camp. Adults – and especially women – in their 20s and early 30s are increasingly looking for week long summer camps they can attend like perhaps they did when they were kids. And while they are doing it for reasons of nostalgia, they are doing it even more for reasons of loneliness. They don’t have many – or any – friends in real life, and they are so online that they struggle making them. So they go to camp in hopes of building the kind of life-giving relationships they are hungering for. What they really need, though, is not a summer camp experience; they need the church. They need the church where they can find real community and build genuine relationships; where they will find people who will follow Paul’s next command here with them. As we continue our walk through some of the basics of kingdom ethics, let’s talk about the power of real community.

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Digging in Deeper: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

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“Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm? And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Comic books have always been about more than the tales and exploits of super-powered heroes and villains. They have always served as vehicles for exploring and addressing deeper topics and themes. The X-Men comics, for example, have been about tolerance for those who are different. Superhero movies do the same thing. Wandavision (and Dr. Strange 2, which was just a continuation of the Wandavision story) was a study in grief. Captain America 4 was about seeking justice for the oppressed. Iron Man 3 was about dealing with anxiety. The Infinity Saga was about the infinite value of every single life. Marvel’s second-most-recent release follows this same pattern. It’s a story about heroes and villains, yes, but it’s about a whole lot more than that. I finally got to watch Thunderbolts* this week, let’s talk about why it’s so very good.

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Morning Musing: Romans 1:11-12

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“For I want very much to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Cultural Christianity was a real thing in this country for much of the 20th century and into the 21st. If you wanted to be someone, you had to be an active member of a church. Preferably a Mainline Denominational church, and the closer it was located to the center of town, the better. Gradually, though, the active member part was dropped in favor of merely an association with a church. Today, even that is mostly gone. The church really isn’t seen as a necessity anymore culturally, and that cultural trend is bleeding into the church itself. So, why does the church matter? Let’s talk about that as we continue Paul’s greeting to the Roman believers today.

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Morning Musing: Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

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“Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I’m certain I have talked before about the movie Into the Wild starring Emile Hirsch. It’s the true story of a young man who graduated college with the world at his fingertips. He came from a wealthy family, he was a great student, he was a gifted athlete, he could have done just about whatever his heart desired. As it turns out, and much to the chagrin of his parents, what his heart desired was to rid himself of all of his possessions and to then make his way to Alaskan wilderness where he would live off the land in peace and harmony with nature. Along the way, he made a number of different relationships that could have been life changing both for him and the folks on the other side of them, but each time he walked away from them in order to pursue his Alaskan vision. Well, lately I have been watching a lot of the series, Life Below Zero with my bride. It follows the lives of a handful of people living mostly off-the-grid and mostly lonely lives in the Alaskan wilderness. As with Into the Wild before it, Life Below Zero has not been for me an inspirational or idealized look at the spirit of adventure and a noble desire to leave as small a footprint on this world as possible. Instead, it has been a powerful reminder to me of just how important community really is.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 25:10-22

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“They are to make an ark of acacia wood, forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. . .Set the mercy seat on top of the ark and put the tablets of the testimony that I will give you into the ark. I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony; I will speak with you from there about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Over the never several posts we are going to be taking a look at the various parts and pieces of the tabernacle. I’ve long since prepared you for the fact that this section doesn’t make for the most compelling reading. And, I’m not going to include every single verse here for you to read, but rather will hit some highlights with the regular link for you to go and read the rest for yourself. Even if you don’t do that, though, don’t skip out on these posts. The apostle Paul said that every word of the Scriptures are useful for shaping us more into the kinds of people God made us to be. “Every word” includes the parts we’d rather skip because they aren’t very exciting. Stay with me in this next part of the story as we explore the wonders of the Gospel in the instructions for how Israel was to build their original place of worship.

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