Christian Fellowship

Adam called me up one night to go chill at Bucks. So we went and hung out. He told me about his day. I told him about mine. He told me his plans for the future. I told him about some funny convos I've had recently. We talked about Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - I was on page six ... he hadn't started yet. We talked about girls (in his case ... Jessica *grin*). We then talked about sharing the gospel. Over the course of the night three brothers in the faith joined our table. Our conversation changed directions a bit but every so often we came back to discussions about the Lord or His Word.

On another night, Mark and I met at the new Bucks at Southern and McClintock. We shared what each one was studying in the Word. As has become a habit of ours, we expressed thanksgiving to God who was able to restore our friendship after facing destructive teaching. We had a lot of laughs and reminisced about some of our good times playing Halo and discussing theology at Stapley Bucks. We both look forward to many more fruitful discussions in the future, Lord willing.

Following the AM sermon, I joined Simon and Mike's theological discussion. Both of them have had the opportunity to respond to Jehovah's Witness emails, in light of of a recent blog article posted by James. I was encouraged by their desire to faithfully defend and proclaim the gospel of God with great care. JW's do not often write emails to AOMin, but when they do they can require much time and prepation (and surely a great deal of patience) to respond effectively. Mike and I then migrated over to Rich. They began to reminisce about their days at a former church. Amidst the humorous stories was their steadfast desire to honor God's truth.

Sunday afternoon, I had lunch with Eli and Heather, Kayce, Steve, and another couple from EVBC. We talked about the morning sermons at our churches. We shared about each other's week. The food was great (Olive Garden - tho not as a good as the Mac Shack). I went home stuffed ... and encouraged.

These are four examples in the past week where God has blessed me by the fellowship of His saints. I marvel at the wonderful design of the Church. God encouraged me through believers at other churches, and especially by those at my own fellowship. I'm reminded of a passage Elder James showed me years back: "21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen" (Ephesians 3:21). Is not God glorified in His church through all generations? His elect people are scattered throughout this world - in every tongue, tribe and nation. We ought to express thanksgiving for the priviledge of being part of the Church! It is often said that there is no such thing as the 'lone ranger' Christian. But what a true statement! Christians are not meant to be on their own.Christians need the Church. We need to hear the Word of God preached. We need to pray and sing together. We need to love and fellowship with one another. Anywho, I wanted to share these thoughts with you as we go about our busy week.

w00tage,
Rusty