Until this last week the news had been bad; All across the nation news stories and tv specials have been telling the tales of woe, but until this last week it didn't hit home....until the death of the waffle, the Golden Waffle that is. The best ham and cheese omelette, the finest pile (literally) of hash browns and consistency...for over 11 years a consistently good breakfast meal on the occassion that I could get by and partake. Now the ecomony and the force of change has ended that era (or decade) Oh well....my best to you, Kathy, Lisa and Armando...do well wherever you end up. Noting the personal connection of being priviledged enough to officiate the wedding of Lisa & Brian will remain a highlight of the Golden Waffle era...but we must move on!
Speaking of moving on....
Again it was noted last night, following the Bible Study time, that the connection is just not being made. Lori thinks that in part it may be that when I teach it is in a manner or format that is too "high" (as in higher level) than the folks can absorb or understand. I don't think that it has anything to do with my skill or teaching style, but rather I see a resistance or reluctance of the folks to be taught. Sure at some level they like to hear or read the stories and they don't mind answering a few questions, but beyond that there is great resistance to digging much deeper and searching for wisdom and knowledge of the truth. And herein lies the rub! Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit spoke this about believers and their pursuit of Christ...."that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge". In Christ are hidden ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; not just some or a few, but ALL. To seek Christ is to seek wisdom and knowledge. To seek wisdom and knowledge without Christ is a fool's occupation. The resistance noted last night may have centered around how they comprehended what they read, in the translation they read it in but at the heart of the matter was the willingness to be taught. And the willingness to be taught comes from understanding that the pursuit of Christ is key, for from that pursuit (& finding) comes the knowledge and wisdom of God...Hmm...seems simple to me, but then again I am usually to blame for all dilemmas, both real and imagined! :-)
Speaking of imagined....
Not sure how to place this thought....Okay, it's a pretty simple idea, but it gets complicated rather fast, but here it is. In the middle of a rather straightforward study that brought us thru to the kings of Israel and Judah, people started showing up and getting saved. It became apparent that many of these had NO idea, (none, zip, nada) of Who Christ is, What He did for them and how to even find something in the Bible. I made a transition to "Discipleship 101: Discovering Jesus"....walking with Him as He calls the disciples, joining with them as they learn from Him and experiencing the challenges of giving all to follow the Savior and keep up with all He is revealing to them.....and here is where the "am I imagining this" comes in....at that moment in time (period of weeks), the greatest resistence ever experienced began. Folks just went wacko...Oh yes, we've always had the "I got to get up and clean up now" problem and the "I'd rather talk to my neighbor" problem, but this was over the top. About time that the former pastor recognizes that something powerful is going on and verbalizes it....all....uh, hmm.....okay, "hell" breaks loose. I say this because it really, really seems like this resistance is from the influence of the enemy. And so we sit today, almost all who came in those days have left, some who were babes at the time have fallen away, the church is divided and the future looks awful grim.....is it real or is it imagined?? To many of the folks, particularly those who have left, it was just ME getting into their business, where I had no right to be and the others see it as just a missunderstanding between us folks. Can't buy that!
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