Real Community.

There's a lot of talk of community these days, especially in the church.  And I think everyone loves the idea of community, but a lot of us either shrink back from it or don't completely get it.


Human beings are frustrating; I don't want to "do life" with them.

They're secretly judging me, anyway.  

Who knows what they're really thinking of me??

My church (or my school, or my homeschool group, or my workplace) is filled with some people that I can't stand; I don't want to get involved and in close quarters with them.

I'm an introvert; I don't want to be in community.


Ouch.  Have you ever found yourself feeling this way?


Community is something I've struggled with for a while.  I honestly dreaded getting up and going to church on Sunday morning, because once I got there, I felt out of place, irritated, and self-conscious.  In other places, I felt awkward.  And everywhere, I was frustrated and somewhat intimidated by people, and I shrank from being with them.  I started realizing that it was more than personality types, introversion and extroversion; it was me being critical, a bit cynical, and unwilling to love and be patient.  And as I looked back at Jesus, our prime example, I realized that community was something He did very well.  Jesus spent time with all kinds of people, from the Pharisees, to the prostitutes and tax collectors, to the average in-between people.  He didn't divide up His time, making sure not to mix the different kinds of people He spent time with.  No, He brought them all together and taught and loved them together.  He encouraged them to love one another.  He was never secretly judgmental.  He didn't scorn people when they failed.  And He called us, His church, to nurture that same kind of loving community in every area of our own lives, particularly seeking Him with other believers (but loving our enemies and those who persecute us, too).

I have friends that talk about Jesus' kind of community a lot.  And I've always loved the idea of it--it's
inspiring, and beautiful, and something I desire--but for so long I just couldn't seem to replicate it or carry it into my own life.  My constant excuse was, there aren't any people around here that love God enough for me to be in that kind of community with.  Everyone here is judgmental.  I always feel so awkward with all the people here.  All these people are so annoying and fake.  


But how prideful and unlike Jesus is that?  Because no, darkness has no fellowship with light (2 Corinthians 6:14), but yes, we are the salt and light of the world, followers of the greater light, Jesus, who spent His time with the sick, because they were the ones that needed a doctor.

But He didn't just leave the goody-two-shoes Pharisees in the dust of His sandals, either.  He taught and loved and spoke with them just the same.  Two completely different kinds of people, the lost sinner and the hypocritical religious leader, and Jesus pulled them together in His company with love and wisdom and truth.  Whether they stayed was their business, but His arms were always open.  This is what true community looks like.  Jesus didn't pick who He wanted to love and be in community with.  He didn't step back to ask if they were worthy or not.  Because actually, honestly, none of us were.  But He chose to do it anyway.  To put it as I've heard it said lately: unconditional love is completely irrational.  But aren't we glad that Jesus was irrational?  And I would also add that unconditional love is completely inconvenient....but inconvenience is something Jesus was willing to take on in loving us.


Somehow, though, I think the idea of community has been skewed a wee bit at times.  Because sometimes, community becomes about our friends, and especially as young people, it starts to become about how many friends we have, and who those friends are, and what kind of group that puts us in, and if we spend all our time doing fun things with our friends, and if it makes us look like we have the funnest, most friend-filled life ever to those on the outside.  It becomes about appearances and how many friends we have in our little communities, and who those friends are, and how much time we spend with our friends, because that is what society judges us by.  I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.  It's the people who will literally tell you that they have this many friends or that many friends, and then they have these people who are their best friends, and they do all these fun things together, and they go and shout it out on all of social media--and it can all leave those outside that circle of friends feeling excluded and less than.  It can leave you wondering if you actually are worth anything, or if your life is fun enough, or good enough, if you don't have lots of friends to go out and do stuff with.

But I feel like real community is less about friends and more about family.  Not literal family, really.  But it's more like family.  Because anybody--you, me, the kid who doesn't have any friends--can go out and be a fake version of themselves for a little while and gain "friends."  People are willing to accept you if you act the way you want them to.  But family is something different.  It's unconditional.  It's strong and deeply-rooted.  Our family members can absolutely drive us up the wall and we can be at each others' throats, but we never really stop loving each other.  Friendships break down sometimes.  Friends can give up on each other--and I guess family can, too, but there's such a stronger bond there.  The Trinity is even described in a familial way--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  We are called children of God.  We are co-heirs (essentially, brothers and sisters) with Jesus.  That's a very strong picture of God's love for us, and how He wants our community with others to be.  He loves us with the ferocity and faithfulness that a father has for his children.  I'm not a parent yet, and I know I really don't have an inkling of what the strength of a parent's love really is....but I can imagine.  I can listen and observe parents around me, my parents especially, and I can get an idea.  That kind of love is something, for sure, and yet it's only a reflection of how perfect the Father's love is for us.  I mean, He literally IS love.  He's our Heavenly Father, we're His children.  All of us.

"So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

-Galatians 3:26-29

And in a close family, you can be yourself without fear or pretense.  When you're at home with them, you can simply be your absolute self, relaxed, knowing that you're loved and accepted as you are, with no walls or guards put up, no pretending.  This is the kind of community our Father intended for us.  There's no fear of secret judgment or what those around you are really thinking.  No one is talking about someone behind their back, scorning or ridiculing them.

"A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends."

-Proverbs 16:28

You can speak freely, honestly.  It may be painful sometimes, and yes, you may be scared to bring faults, shortcomings, and hurts out into the light at times, but you know that to keep that close family, you have to be vulnerable and open with each other.  You're not perfect and you don't expect others to be, but you do your best, and you try to have patience with them when they fall.  Where one of you drops the ball, the others pick up the slack.  It's beautiful.

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results."

-James 5:16

And even as I type this, I feel like such a hypocrite, because I fail at this daily.  Sometimes I avoid people and I try to keep certain people out and I don't serve or love well at all.  But I'm trying.  I'm trying so hard.  I've seen a lot of fakeness in my life, and I'm tired of it.  I've seen a lot of people talking behind other people's back, and I don't want to replicate that pattern.  I want to be real.  I want to be genuine.  I want to be honest.  And I have to say, I haven't been a part of very many circles or communities where that's a consistent reality.  And this has been on my mind for a while now, just tumbling around.  This past Friday, I got to be a part of something a little like that.  It was kind of like God was poking me and going, "There's some experience to back up that idea of what a real community looks like that's been brewing in your head, Joy."  I was at a swing dance and the power went out--no lights, no AC, no music.  Cell phone lights went on and a couple of people began to sing the lyrics to an old swing song as others backed them up with vocal saxophones and basses and everyone clapped the beat.  Some people left, but most stayed, and we gathered into a circle and kept singing and clapping and dancing while everything was bathed in those white cell phone lights, looking like a scene out of a black and white movie.

 And the beauty of it all was that everyone was together--old, young, black, white, new and familiar with the dance, from all areas, seasons, and walks of life--sharing the joy of the music and the dance, and everyone was singing.  You didn't feel as if you were a bother.  There was no competition.  No one felt like they were secretly being made fun of if they weren't the best at singing, or if they lost the beat, or if they messed up in some way.  Where one person dropped the ball on the lyrics of a song, others would pick it up and carry it through until everyone could join in again.  Some people picked up papers and began to fan others around them, something that I now realize was a beautiful picture of serving others.  It was something so small and spontaneous, but as I pondered on it all later, I realized that that's just what real community looks like.


It looks like family.

"Being a family means you are part of something wonderful.  It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life.  No matter what."

-Lisa Weedn

---It looks like not having to put up walls, be fake, or pretend like everything is okay.

---It looks like not having to compete, because everyone knows that they're accepted just as they are, with all their quirks and oddities--and that ultimately, we're accepted by God, the only one that matters.  We're working from acceptance and not for it.  That's a freeing knowledge in itself, because when we're not in a place where we have to try to assure ourselves of our own worth and acceptance, we're able to affirm others and love them selflessly.

---It looks like being honest and real with each other, in all aspects of life.

---It looks not like a little huddle of friends with inside jokes and exclusivity, but rather like a big family with arms open wide to readily welcome others into the love.

---It looks like there being no fear that we'll lose our friends over something we do or say, or who we really are, because like Jesus' love, family is unconditional.  That's how community is supposed to be.

Most of all, it looks like clothing ourselves with "tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."  (Colossians 3:v.12)  It looks like making allowance for each others' faults, and forgiving anyone who offends us, and most of all, it looks like putting on love over all those things, because love binds us all together in perfect harmony (v. 13-14).  It looks like loving and serving the same way Jesus did.  Stop for a moment with me and think about what that looks like in your own life.  We usually don't have to work at showing tenderhearted mercy for those awesome people in our lives that make us happy--no, it's the ones that drive us crazy and hurt us and misunderstand us and get under our skin.  And sadly enough, those people are so often those right under our noses.  You know the ones I'm talking about.  Living this kind of life requires a total revamping of our minds and the way we think, react, and treat others, because loving like Jesus means not competing with others, not having secret motives, not trying to get ahead--even with those that have ulterior motives against us and whom we know to be attention-seekers, hypocrites, and manipulative.  Jesus washed Judas' feet.  It means putting others' needs and wants before our own, and putting our own desires and comforts last.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to our own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider eqality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death--even death on a cross!"

-Philippians 2:3-8

It means being compassionate, sharing in both the sufferings and the joys of others.  

Compassion, n.

A suffering with another.

It means being sincere and having empathy; genuinely caring about what's going on in others' life (because that is the manifestation of "not looking to our own interests, but to the interests of others).  Practically, it means making that phone call or sending that text to check on what's going in that person's life.  It means taking the time to step out and invite someone into the circle.  It means stopping and thinking about what's going on in their life and what effect that might be having on them--and how you can love them right in the middle of that.  It means taking an interest in every single part of someone's life, because that's one of the most encouraging things you can do.  It plainly says, "I love you.  I care about you.  You're worth it."


"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."
-Galatians 6:2


This is what real community truly looks like.  And yes, it takes a renewing of our minds to think and live life like this.  It takes work and it takes practice and it takes a whole lot of spending time with God and soaking in His truth, but it's beautiful when it takes action in our lives and in the lives of those we touch.  I guess this is my hope for my life; that I'd stop putting up walls and pretending; that I'd stop competing with others; that I'd stop making secret snap judgments in my mind; that I'd stop being exclusive and start reaching out and welcoming people, all kinds of people, with the Jesus kind of love that is both unconditional and always serving.  And I hope we'll all do it together.  Because that's what real community is--inspired by Jesus--and when that becomes a reality, God starts doing awesome things in and through us.  That's what I want in my life.


"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other.  Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."
-John 13:35

Faithful Fridays ~ What Exactly Is Church?

Hello, everyone!  :)  I'd like to ask you guys to be praying for my aunt again--she went back into the hospital a little over a week ago, and she's had two seizures.  They're unsure what to do for her.  She was doing really well and then something just happened and she was back to not doing so well again.  We'd really appreciate your prayers!  :)






Faithful Fridays is a weekly linky party hosted on my blog. I made it so that Christians could have one special day out of the week (Friday) to share something from their walk with Jesus on their blog. If you'd like to participate, write your post, grab the button from the Faithful Fridays page on my blog (so that it will link back here), and come link up at the bottom of this post! :)
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I think the concept of church has changed a lot in our minds from the way it originally was supposed to be.  Church often becomes a place, rather than a people, as Jesus treated it.  It sometimes seem to become something we do to keep our good Christian status and image rather than a place where we build each other up and do life together, following Jesus.  

I've had a lot of misconceptions about church but I've realized in the past year or so that church isn't always the people in your church.  It isn't an activity.  It's a people.  

The church is described as the bride of Christ--He takes joy in us, and loves us.  Husbands are told to love their wives as Christ loved the church.

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."
-Ephesians 5:25-27

Christ didn't lay Himself down in love for a building, or an activity, or an idea.  He loved a people.  A people who believed what He said, took Him at His word, and laid down everything to spend their whole lives following Him.


Paul would write letters to God's church in Corinth, or the church in Ephesus, or in Philippi--and when we think in terms of today's churches, it's easy to envision that as a place where people met.  But it wasn't.  It was a group of people.  Paul wrote to "all God's holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons."  (Philippians 1:1).  He wrote to "God's holy people in Ephesus, the faithful to Christ Jesus."  (Ephesians 1:1).  It was a group of people that were pursuing Jesus with all that was in them, their whole lives.  They were a collective community of Jesus-followers, trying to do life God's way, together. 


I think a lot of us have lost that.  We come to church, we say hi, we sing songs, we sit in our seats and listen to the pastor, we say bye, and we leave and continue on with our lives for the week.  That's not how it's supposed to be.  Church is supposed to be a people that are in love with Jesus, totally and completely immersed in Him, faithful to Him, pursuing Him, together--sharing the joy found in the love of God, sharing our struggles and leaning on each other for support in the middle of them, teaching each other, helping each other, building each other up.  That's what Paul emphasized in the church over and over and over again.  And I get that that's hard.  I'm an introvert.  Believe me, I know.  :)  It can be hard to really get in there and get along with everyone, to really open yourself up and share things and be honest and open and vulnerable.  And I think sometimes we get a little bit of a guilt trip put on ourselves when we don't do things with the church we're a part of.  But one thing I've learned a lot lately is that church isn't always found in the people in your church.  Do you know what I mean?  If the church is the body of believers in Christ, then my best friends that live across the country, the ones that I have a Bible study with over FaceTime?  They are my church, too.  When I'm discussing stuff in my own faith and walk with Jesus with my parents?  That's church.  The friend that lives an hour away, who I only get to see every once in a while?  When we get together and talk about life and Jesus and the problems we face and encourage each other, we're having that community that Jesus called on us to have.


Maybe for you, it's your closest friends that follow Jesus.  Maybe it is your local church.  Maybe it's some other followers of Jesus that you really admire--maybe you read their devotionals, listen to their music, watch their videos.  Maybe it's someone you haven't met in person yet; someone that encourages you and that you encourage back through the wonderful use of technology.  :)  Maybe it's your family, those closest to you--your parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents. 


The church is the body of believers, the faithful followers of Jesus, who stick together and pursue Him together, loving each other, teaching each other, and building each other up in Jesus.  It's lovers of Jesus doing life together, doing everything they do in light of what Jesus said and did for us.  The church is what Jesus laid His life down for.  The church is what God loves and takes joy in. The church is the hands and feet of Jesus, the ones who are to show His love to the rest of the world; live out the love He's shown for us in our own lives.  Is it hard?  Yeah, it can be.  But it's also beautiful.  So go do church--whether it be in the local church building in your area, with your best friends, over email or phone, with family, or whatever.  Get into the Word and chase after Jesus together.  


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God bless you guys and have a great week! Joy :)

VBS fun!

Starting on last Thursday night, we have been having our church VBS, the Pirates Who Don't do Anything. last night was our last night, and I'm very sad! I'm on the worship crew, and I help out in the Yo Ho Ho opening show. I love getting dressed up in my pirate gear and wearing my "Bucko" name tag. Bucko is my pirate name, I'm part of the quadruple B's, Bumpo(Molly Grace), Boho(Taylor), Billy Bob(Sarah), and then me, Bucko. The VBS is truly great, I love watching these kids learn about God.

On Friday night, mom, dad, and Luke came in to watch the opening show! Before we started, I took Luke back to the preschooler's playroom and he LOVED it!! It took me a while to get him to go sit down with mom and dad for the show!

There's always our clue for the day about what we're learning about, a skit from Bones and Bumpo(Bones is played by our friend Ms. Haley), our theme song, our theme verse(Phil. 4:13) , and our worship songs. During the opening show we also have snacks. We have a craft or science experiment that relates to our lesson, and then we head to the Bible Theater for a Bible story with sound effects and everything. That's my favorite part! After that, we go to the Yo Ho Ho Closing Show where we do our scripture verse, a quiz on our lesson, a skit again from Bones and Bumpo, and then our last worship song, "In the Secret". This VBS is so greatt!

Here's some pics from Friday night:


Praise and Worship


Bucko.Is.Fearsome!!


Ms. Rebecca, the Praise pirate, and Bucko :)


Pirate gear on and ready to go!


Argh!

Mary Did You Know.....

That your baby boy....is soooo cute? *smile* I was Mary in our church's Christmas program. I didn't talk (it was mostly acting and music), but I sang back up and got to hold Baby Jesus, (( AKA Corbin )) the wholeeee time! He's just a doll! :) He's three months old, and this is me and him.




And Joseph, (( AKA, Chris, most annoying boy on earth )) Didn't get to hold the baby. >:) I'm sorry, Joseph, you're not gentle enough!!! This is me and Joseph.



Just a FYI, I did not like my costume! The dress was okay, but the head piece was hot, and itchy.

Anyway, It was called "Hay"llelujah. Get it, Hay? It's supposed to be the Nativity, but from the animals' point of view. Here's the cast:


Annunciation Angel: Chloie

Mary: MEEEE

Joseph: Chris

Troubadour Angels: Madeline, Molly Grace, Alexandra. (( They sang songs a lot and acompanied Mary and Joseph, kind of like Narrator angels! LOL ))

Blues Donkey: ((sang "He's a Soul Man )) Matthew

Innkeeper: Dakota

Baby Jesus: Corbin!

Cow: Weslea

Rooster: Cole

Mama Chicken: (She and Rooster sang "The Holy Ghost will Take the Chicken Out of You")

Ram: Brandon

Black Horse: Emma

lambs: Miranda and Madison

Sheep: Hannah

Dove: Brianna

Cat: Piper

Duck: Abigail

Bunny: Alexis

Goat: Ben

Bull: Ian

Heavenly Hosts: ((sang "Angels we Have Heard On High")): Melissa, Tiffany, Chloie, Molly Grace, Madeline, and Alexandra.

Rastafarian Horse: (( sang "De Light comes" )): Scott

Hippie Wiseman Camel: Sarah

Rock-n-Roll Camel: Brittany

Soul Singer Camel: Molly Grace

Victory Land Stars: Lauren, Lilly, Ethan, Anna, Aliya, Jacob, Landon, Talon, Anna M. and Mackenzy.

Noah's Ark Baby Chicks(( The little baby nursery, which I help in. )) Josiah, Payton, and Bella.

Costume Mistress: Miss June

Prop Master: Mister Darrin

Music Coordinators: Josh and Scott

Lighting and Sound: Andy and Chat

Administrative: Miss Dolly

Director/coordinator: Miss Lori



Some of the songs:

On the Road to Nazareth, sung by Weslea.

Jeremiah was a Prophet, sung by Sarah the Hippie Camel- (to the tune of Jeremiah was a Bullfrog).

Camel Train to Egypt, sung By Molly Grace, the Soul Singer Camel- (to the tune of Midnight Train to Georgia).

I'm a Believer, sung by Hannah the Sheep- (to the tune of Now I'm a Believer)!

Away in the Manger, sung by the Stars of Victory Land Preschool- same song, of course.

I'm Feeling Good, sung by the Troubadour angels at the opening- sung to the tune of that same song I'm Feeling Good.

Praising in the Streets, sung by The whole cast as the closing song- (To the tune of Dancing in the Streets).


As you can see, a lot of these songs are regular songs, changed to Christian sounding ones! Ms. Lori, the coordinator, was really creative. There were alot more songs. After the angels finished singing "In Excelsis Deo", Mr. Scott, started in singing Deo.... "De Light" (De Light comes and he makes earth his home...). It was funny!


Some more pictures....

Me as Mary...


The set...


Stars and baby chickens... Luke would have been a baby chic if he was already here!


More pics of the cast...





Have a great day, Merry Christmas, God bless, hugs and kisses,

Love, Joy :D