Unsettled Christianity

Wow – it’s already into August. Is it me, or is this year flying by?

It was cloudy here this morning, after raining all night long. We went to our park anyway, to visit with our ‘congregation’, you know, ducks, a goose that has been exclude from the others due to what looks like a hurt wing, a few squirrels (not us), and a chipmunk (although he failed to show this morning).

We read from Matthew this morning, discussing faith as a little child and removing ourselves from situations which would cause us to sin. (You know, the whole cut your foot off if it leads you to sin).

One thing that jumped out at me was this:

“What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting. (Mat 18:7 NLT)

You know you’ve had a bad day with the meekest Man on earth, He Who would lay down His own life for the most wretched of sinners, calls you sorrowful. Can you imagine what sorrow would await those that teach a false doctrine, on purpose, or who harm children causing them to forsake God?

We fed the ducks again, and they are getting a bit tamer. We had our breakfast, listened to some country gospel – including Jerry Lee Lewis – and headed home. We went to a rally of sorts, headed to the mall, and now sit at home, relaxing.

Our purpose of doing a family devotional every Sunday – rain or shine – is because we do not want to get out of the habit of the ‘church thing’ while we are waiting for God to direct us. We have no trouble doing this, and look forward to it. But it does get a bit lonesome, just the 4.5 of us, and the ducks. Even the chipmunk started fellowshipping on the other side of the pond this morning. When he shows up again, I might have to preach about that!

Seriously, though, we desire nothing else but to serve God, and to have God in our family. We do this because we can fall into the habit of not fellowshipping. What do you do when you are unable to fellowship with others?

I hope all is well with each of you out there this fine Sunday – remember, no matter what, we are on the right side of the dirt, still with a chance to change our direction.

Post By Joel (9,267 Posts)

Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).

Website: → Unsettled Christianity

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