Friend or Fellow?

The word fellow has multiple definitions and is used differently in multiple ways: someone can be a fellow by gender, as a man or boy, as well as a fellow in reference to a co-professional. Let’s just say, that its definition requires context. I want to use the word as it relates to friendship: to describe someone in the same ‘boat’ or life-stage as yourself...a friend that is more than a friend, but someone who is going through what you are going through – and you totally ‘get’ each other.

When we find a friend like this, they become a ‘fellow’, and the time you spend together, becomes fellowship. We use this term often in church circles, and usually to reference a separation from other types of hanging out together. We use it because it works, and it fits. There is a word in the bible for this fellowship: koinonia. Literally translated, it means partnership, for example as in participation – in communion. In other words: In it together. This really fits when we talk about church as the Body of Christ and the struggles we face following Christ on a daily basis.

Being in something together works; it is a relief to know we are not alone, right? It helps us along, keeps us going, and is like a training partner for life – how awesome! When it comes to faith, it is the greatest tool we have, outside of God’s Word, to keep us walking a walk of faith. Why is this? Because it is hard to drift down the wrong road with two sets of eyes on where you are going.

So how does this happen? How do we move from hanging out to having fellowship? It is not a location or proximity thing alone that makes it happen, it doesn’t just happen when two or more same-minded folks get together. There is no formula required outside of this:

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

Fellowship happens when we walk in the light, meaning the light of Christ. Together, “In Him”, moving in the same direction, and it starts with the light you walk in. Christian fellowship, like I said, is not a proximity thing – Christians getting together in a place, it’s a PERSON thing, found in the person of Christ.

When Christ becomes the light we use to move, then when we get together, the light doesn’t change, it just gets brighter. Not just better together, but brighter…

What is your fellow light source?

…just prayin’

in His Grip,

Pastor Pat

ThanksGIVING

Thanksgiving is a time, when we as a nation, stop and express our thankfulness for all that we have. The word 'thanksgiving', the noun meaning giving of thanks, first appears in English, in 1533, in Tyndale's book, 'The Supper of the Lord'. Our English word thanksgiving is derived from thanks and giving…and basically means to give thanks.

Giving thanks and being thankful are two different things, right? We can tell someone we are thankful for him or her; and yet they can still feel un-appreciated. Why is this? I think it is because sometimes we say we are thankful, but fail to show it. After all actions speak louder than words, right?

Look at the dictionary definition of thanksgiving:

thanks·giv·ing

noun

1. The act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, especially to God.

2. An expression of thanks, especially to God.

3. A public celebration in acknowledgment of divine favor or kindness.

4. A day set apart for giving thanks to God.

Do our Thanksgiving celebrations look like events giving thanks to God, or more like parties “of” thankfulness for what we have? Just askin’, but maybe you are wondering what’s the real difference?

The difference is this: one gives thanks acknowledging God as the source of all things, and the other is being thankful for all the things we have…see the difference?

Being thankful is wonderful and polite, but giving thanks takes real effort. There is action involved in giving thanks, more than words.

Psalm 105:1 (NIV)
“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.”

If you are thankful to God this year…show God you recognize Him as the source of everything, and make Him a part of everything you celebrate, and if you need to, you can use words too…

Just prayin’

Pastor Pat

Commitments

How over-committed do you get during the holiday season? Is there some unwritten rule that says we have to do as much as we possibly can during a couple of months of the year? So what’s the deal? You know it all comes down to commitment. Not how many events we can commit to, but how committed we are to what we say we value most.

Everyone for the most part over-commits, especially during the holidays, but whether it is because we feel like we don’t want to miss out on something, or we don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings; we all seem to have a way of struggling to say no. We do this because we have not decided in advance what matters most. In other words, we let the tyranny of the urgent, completely destroy our priorities for what we say is most important.

For example, most Christians who have professed a belief in Jesus Christ, would say that their Savior is their number one priority = God is first in their lives. That is, first until an event that can’t be re-scheduled, comes up at the same time as going to Church or Bible study or prayer time, right? This is not about a guilt-trip for missing these things, but a reality check about what matters most.

How committed are we to something, if it is the first thing we dismiss when there is a calendar conflict. Let’s be honest, most people are conveniently committed to their faith. They express it when and how they can fit it into their calendar, and don’t want to be guilted into feeling bad when they don’t do it.

If we take our commitment to our Savior so lightly, is it a wonder why so many of our most important relationships are lacking depth or sustainability? We need to place a value on out relationships, and our commitments to them, before we need to decide how important they are compared to something else. Honestly, if we don’t, the urgency of fun, exciting, and pleasurable will move us to miss, avoid, and even ignore relationships we say we value most.

When we say we believe something is valuable, we must act on it. We act on it by keeping it in the forefront of our priorities; otherwise, it will be pushed aside and relegated to a place to be returned to at a later date (sometimes never until it is too far gone). So what do we do?

We decide in advance, what matters most: what we will commit to, before we are asked to commit to something. That way we can ensure we don’t over-commit, which isn’t actually really over-committing, is it? Its more like we won’t commit to something we aren’t committed too already.

So what are you going to commit to this Holiday Season? Well…

In His Grip,

Pastor Pat

Amazing Faith

Want to be great at something? I am not talking about just better than everyone else at something, but amazing? I do. But amazing is all in the perspective of the one watching over the one doing, right? Seriously, you and I could be watching the same magician performing the same illusion, and I am totally amazed, while you are not.

We can’t just claim or proclaim amazingness, there needs to be some proof of it. We need to see the video of the amazing athletic feat, or pictures of the amazing fish to confirm it. So then, I guess when it comes to doing something amazing, it is all about whom our audience is, or who is watching, right?

When it comes to audience, I think there is no greater one than Jesus…agreed? And as a side note, there is never really a time when He is not watching. Did you know that there were two times in Scripture when Jesus was amazed?

Look at these passages (added emphasis mine):

Luke 7:9 (NIV)
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel."

Mark 6:6 (NIV)
And he was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

One time Jesus was amazed in a good way, and one time in a bad way. Let’s break this down: having faith was the good way, and not having faith was the bad way. That is too simple, too easy, but completely true.

Seems like faith is what it takes to amaze Jesus. Some might think that Jesus is easily amazed, or living out faith is harder than it looks. I am thinking it is the latter…it’s not as easy as some might think. Faith takes faith, and the only evidence of it, is when it is put into use.

We live lives avoiding trouble and problems at all cost, and spend time, energy, and vast amounts of money to prevent them. I guess if we remove any need for faith, then we will never know. Why not rely a little more on faith. Faith, that if you stick out through the situation you have in a relationship, it might take you to a place you never thought you could get to…

Hey, if I am gonna amaze someone, I want it to be Jesus…so how about you?

…just prayin’

In His Grip,

Pastor Pat