Are we any Different?

One of the things I didn't like about my old church was that it was hard to talk about Christ there.
That sounds a bit odd, doesn't it?
Every week I could go to my youth group and hear some good messages, but after that I would just talk a bit and leave. Then a thought came to me; what is the body here for?
Yes, I go to church to worship God, but we can do that at home all week. So why do you need to gather and worship God? Because God calls us to love and serve the body. And we can't do that if we stay at home all the time.
But whenever I went to my church, even if I did hear a good message, I wouldn't come back filled as I should have been. And one of the reasons why it never really did anything was because I didn't really have any fellowship.
Why is it that when we go to church all we can talk about with people is what movie or book came out that week, or about school, or about what we are doing that week?
I don't go to church to have those conversations, I go to church to get filled up and have fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ.
And I can't have that fellowship if all we do is talk about things that don't even matter in the big picture. Why can't we talk about what matters? Why can't we talk about eternal things?
A lot of times we don't have these conversations with people because we think it will be awkward, and we don't know how to start one of those conversations.
I know that I used to think that way, but now at my new church I have to get out of my comfort zone and start those conversations. The best times I have at church aren't when we play fun games or when I talk about movies and books with my best friend; the best times I have at church are when I get to talk to someone about Jesus Christ, and what God is doing in my life, and in the world.
I want to go to church to get filled up, and sent out again. And I can't get filled up when all we talk about are books.

I guarantee that the majority of people in your youth group aren't even saved.
I don't care how godly they might seem, a godly mask is easy to put on at church. And at my old church especially it was hard to tell who was really saved and who was not. How can you tell?
How should we be able to tell?
We should be able to tell by not only their walk, but their talk too.
The thing was at my church that for small group it was easy to put a face on at small groups, but outside of it, right after it's back to the same--school and life.
Things that don't even matter.
High school is something that only consumes your life for four years, and then college for another four years. That probably won't even be half of your life. Why don't we just spend our time talking about God who, if we are true Christians will always be in our life, always be consuming it?
Why can't God consume our life? Why can't we just talk about God's work in our lives? Why are we so consumed about the world?
There should be a fine line between the believers and the non-believers in our church.
A fine line.
And our love of God shouldn't just flow out of our walk, but also our talk.


Right now some of you are going, "but it's just too hard and awkward if I try and start one."
Of course it is, and that's becuase for this world, talking about God and His Works doesn't flow naturally into our conversations, as it should.
I have to do this at my new church, and once you start doing it, it isn't so hard. It does get easier, and it does fill you up.
I want to spend my time in a church who loves God, and who wants to talk about God, and about eternal things.
I am not saying that in and of themselves, it is wrong to talk about movies and books, but it is so easy to get into a mode that that is all we come and talk about. Can't we just break out of the flow?
Can't we just talk about Jesus Christ for once?


I want to hear what you guys think. Because I know that people have different views on this, so I want to know what you do. Do you just go with the crowd in how you act and what you talk about? Or do you stand against the flow--do you break that flow?


God bless,
   A.W.

Can they tell?

On Thursday nights I always seem to have the most interesting conversations with people. At least that's true for the last two Thursdays.
One of the things I discussed with someone was how Christians should be holy. And about Christians looking just like the Non-Christians. Makes me think, do I look just like the world? Is it evident at work that I'm different? Or am I just like everyone else?
Some people think that to reach unbelievers, you have to be just like them, watch the same things they watch, read the same things they read, laugh at the same things they laugh at.
But that isn't really being a light, that is conforming to the world. And that is exactly what the Bible warns us not to do.
Do we even realize that we are laughing at the very things that God hates? Do we even care about what God thinks of the things we watch and read? Or do we live as an Atheist and think that God doesn't see us at that very moment. Or are we leaving on cheap grace, that it's okay if we sin, because God will forgive us?
Is there something different about us? Not just our talk, but our walk too?

Worldliness, something that every Christian struggles with to an extant.
 The Bible calls us to be set apart. Are we really? What is different in how we walk and talk?
Are we God-centered in our life? Because if we truly are God-centered, then won't in our lives?

What good will we be in the world today if we are just like the world, if we are just like the non-Christians? If we really love the unbelievers here, then we won't be just like them, we won't try and reach them through being worldly. We love them by showing them the truth.
And I will clarify, not "throwing" the truth at them, but showing it to them in love. That is what they need, they need the truth. And if we really love them we won't keep it from them.
But how can we even think of trying to present the truth to them if we are just as worldly as they are? What good will it to be to tell them about Christ's work on the Cross, and say that God changes them, when you aren't changed yourself? What confidence does that unbeliever have that he or she can be changed? If you a professing believer are not changed yourself. A Christian might have all of the right theology and know exactly what to say to a non-Christian, but in the end, does your walk match your talk?
If you aren't fighting against worldliness, and you aren't growing spiritually, what use are you if you're like the world?
Is there even a difference between us and the world? Or are we just like them?

I wish I could have gotten my point across clearer, because I don't think that it did. I pray that this didn't turn out like some rant about nothing. But it is just something I have been thinking about this past week.

God bless,
  A.W.