Getting rid of the old man can be hard. It is something that is a daily struggle in our lives. This doesn't mean that we should kick senior citizens out of church! However, when we become a Christian we are told to get rid of the old man! His ways are not God's ways. The old man is our old self, our old way of living. It takes a total mind-set change. We were going in one direction, now we are going in another. It is a difficult change at best. The old man creeps back in whenever he gets the chance, so watch out! With God's help we can keep the old man out and live the way Christ calls us to live.

Brickianity

How often is our Christianity like a brick wall? Each part is set in place and we think we have it all figured out. But lets but honest, we don't! In a brick wall everything is firm and in place, if a part of it moves or changes shape the whole thing falls apart. Is that really how Christianity is? Don't we learn new things all the time about God? If we could completely figure God out, would He even be God?

Right now I'm reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell and he poses that question. He compares Christianity to more of a trampoline with supporting doctrines (or springs). We don't have to, in fact we will never have it all figured out so why are we so headstrong and exclusive of others? Not to say that we embrace every teaching, but that we are open to discussion. Here is a quote from the book that I really like: "Have you ever seen someone pull a photo out of their wallet and argue about the supremacy of this particular loved one? Of course not. They show you the picture and give you the opportunity to see what they see."

That is what we are supposed to do as Christians, invite others to see Christ! The invitation to jump is for everyone. And you can jump with all your fears and doubts, and all the things you haven't figured out. "The invitation to jump is an invitation to follow Jesus with all of our doubts and questions right there with us."

Enjoy the Journey

The goings on...

It has been so long since I used this thing I actually forgot that I had it for awhile. Abi and I now live in Clearwater, Fl, and we love it! It has been an amazing journey since December: Graduating, getting married, getting a job, getting a house, and getting settled in a new place. God has been incredible throughout the whole thing, continuous blessings. We are still close to both sets of parents (but not too close) ;) and we are working with a great group of people here at First Christian Clearwater. We couldn't ask for more.