refreshed

I hate that feeling where you wait and wait, but end up receiving nothing.

Today in church, there was an altar call. I think half the church were at the altar. It was packed. I was one of  the few late ones that went up. And so I was there at the side, waiting. Waiting for God to touch me. Waiting for something, anything.

I stood there for a long time. Then, finally, the pastor laid her hands on me. She spoke in tongues. And moved on. I'm like "What? That's it?!"

I was confused, and mad, to be honest.

Later that evening, I realized. What was I actually expecting?

What are you expecting? For God to shake the world and bring change? He could, but then that would defeat our purpose here.

"The problem with people these days, is that they expect change to happen in big events. But no! It all starts in our private time with God."

I'm slowly rediscovering the beauty of God.

~

Where your glory is I wanna be
Where your beauty is I wanna see
Where your scars are born I'll lay a kiss
'Cause it's your presence, Lord, that I miss

who we are is not enough

"What makes a Church "Spirit Filled," is the actions of the people in it, not the name on it, or the doctrine it says it believes. There is a difference between being spirited, and spiritual. Lets walk out what we say we believe." - Pastor Sergio

Actions.

Are we, as the Church, doing enough? We are called to go forth, and make disciples of all nations. To be salt and light to all the earth. To reach out to the lost, to love the broken.

But have we been doing so?

Yes we have. But only to a certain extent.
We are willing to move in our comfort zones. And that's it.

We're supposed to be bold and daring.
Jesus did things that weren't acceptable to the 'leaders' then. He was branded scandalous. For being morally 'wrong'.

This is the end times. We, as the Church, will be condemned. Scratch that, we should be condemned.

Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there's no getting around it.
-2 Timothy 3:12 (Message Bible)

But now, we are conforming to the ways of the world. We bend rules because we want to reach out others. No doubt, we must have the hunger for souls. But we cannot defy God's commandments.

Found this quote about the Church:
They are only social clubs and everything is all about comfort. Bring us in and make us feel good about our selves but don't you DARE address my pet sin and make me feel guilty!

We need to act. Act upon our own personal struggles. Leaders need to stop sitting on their bums and start doing something. I need to stop sitting on my bum..

Change starts from within.

~

We must go, live to feed the hungryStand beside the broken, we must goStepping forward, keep us from just singingMove us into action, we must go

Tim Hughes - God of Justice

Ezekiel 34

2 ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

Stumbled upon this today. Long verse, but well worth a read.

Shows how important leaders are to the young.

One of my leaders said that the Youth isn't meant to be always handled by the leaders. She said that some of the older youths should take charge.
But are we even ready? Hmm...

~

I've been thinkin maybe I've been partly cloudy, maybe I'm the chance of rain
Maybe I'm overcast, and maybe all my lucks washed down the drain

Switchfoot - The Stars