GOD IS IN THE HOUSE!

Life is a journey that sometimes takes us to places that words cannot express. To be a part of God's moving in people's lives is such a privilege, it is hard to even use words to express the privilege we have. It is humbling to see God use us. This morning, only the second time we have worshipped in our new house, God got a hold of a young woman who so desperately needed to find him . . . and find him she did. That very evening she gave a public profession by being baptised with many other incredible stories. There are days I wonder why I do what I do in America - days where I hear nothing but complaining about things that make no eternal difference. THIS WAS NOT ONE OF THOSE DAYS! God is in the house . . . and he is inviting us into his story. May we have enough sense to humble ourselves, bow our knees, and commit to listen and follow what he is doing, mainly because it is so much more exciting and powerful than what we are doing. We really do have a choice . . . we can bless or we can complain and whine about the people and things that do not suit our preferences. God is definitely in the house and may he be our focus and life.

Blessing or Complaining

I have always been amazed at our ability to find the worst in everything and everyone. It seems to be inbred in the way we live. We even complain about the way people complain. I'm curious what it would take to shift over to living out the blessings of God and to bless people that are part of our lives? Can blessing be inbred in us? In our weekly readings (for those not at MBIC, we are reading a chronological Bible together this year) we see the people of Israel being blessed by God and then living life of complaint. They complain about the food, the quality of leadership Moses is providing, they even complain that the Promised land is everything God claimed it would be. Their solution is to 1) Kill anyone that doesn't agree with them; 2) Overthrown the current leadership and find them a leader who will do exactly what they tell him/her to do; and 3) Go back to Egypt because life was so good when Pharaoh enslaved them, raping their daughters and oppressing their sons. Complaining impacts us more than we realize. It affects our vision, our minds - things that we choose to believe or not believe and our emotions. Complaining makes us not very nice to be around (except for other people who want to complain about the same people and situations) Paul claims that we are "blessed with every spiritual blessing . . . " What do you think our culture needs more of - a people of complaint or a people of blessing?