Last night, I saw something I have not seen in its fullest extent until I was one stage with the worship band wrapping up the final song. I was looking into the same room I see every Thursday night-- a small, but happy welcoming building fit for a calm and relaxed weekly gathering for college kids who just want free food. This time arrived a strong presence of authenticity and humbleness.
I gazed from the stage at a room full of young, searching sinners like me. They were all loving on one another; those who had never met were hugging and saying words of encouragement, I could tell by the looks on their faces; those who were acquainted were holding one another and crying together, sharing eachother's burdens. Others just had their heads bowed and prayed alone.
I'm glad I gave up on religion for this.
It's not about going to church or a prayer you said when you were 8 years old. It's about living your life as a godly light in the darkness, it's about being the person that will sit by the kid who always sits alone, it's about praying for those who are lost in their own filthy sin, it's about forgiving those who don't deserve to be forgiven.
Religious people set bars with their legalism that no one, not even themselves that set them, can reach. Jesus did not come to this world start another religion. He's not a way--He is the way, and anything else followed that's not Jesus is just another meaningless religion.
If you're wanting to be a story-changing soul in this world, culture has to matter. The Message, though, will be relevant to every person, every culture, every sin, and every struggle--it's unchanging, like Jesus.
So be in this world, brothers and sisters, just don't be of it; because other people should matter more to us than our own rights, No one angered Jesus when He was on this earth like the religious did-- it was the outcasts, the hurting, the sinful and wicked who He loved on, spent time with, and showed mercy too.
I'm glad I found a church that's focused on being good to those in the community rather than doing a cheesy routine on Sunday mornings. And ultimately, I'm glad I've found a safe place on Thursday nights to be loved on by real, mistake-making people.
1660 N. Lynn Riggs Blvd Claremore, OK 74017
Come with me next Thursday, friend
I gazed from the stage at a room full of young, searching sinners like me. They were all loving on one another; those who had never met were hugging and saying words of encouragement, I could tell by the looks on their faces; those who were acquainted were holding one another and crying together, sharing eachother's burdens. Others just had their heads bowed and prayed alone.
I'm glad I gave up on religion for this.
It's not about going to church or a prayer you said when you were 8 years old. It's about living your life as a godly light in the darkness, it's about being the person that will sit by the kid who always sits alone, it's about praying for those who are lost in their own filthy sin, it's about forgiving those who don't deserve to be forgiven.
Religious people set bars with their legalism that no one, not even themselves that set them, can reach. Jesus did not come to this world start another religion. He's not a way--He is the way, and anything else followed that's not Jesus is just another meaningless religion.
If you're wanting to be a story-changing soul in this world, culture has to matter. The Message, though, will be relevant to every person, every culture, every sin, and every struggle--it's unchanging, like Jesus.
So be in this world, brothers and sisters, just don't be of it; because other people should matter more to us than our own rights, No one angered Jesus when He was on this earth like the religious did-- it was the outcasts, the hurting, the sinful and wicked who He loved on, spent time with, and showed mercy too.
I'm glad I found a church that's focused on being good to those in the community rather than doing a cheesy routine on Sunday mornings. And ultimately, I'm glad I've found a safe place on Thursday nights to be loved on by real, mistake-making people.
1660 N. Lynn Riggs Blvd Claremore, OK 74017
Come with me next Thursday, friend
