How can this happen God???

This past week something very terrible and tragic happened. A young man named Paulo Pappa was killed in a car-accident Tuesday afternoon when his older brother Alex Pappa lost control of his vehicle on the wet back-roads of New Town Road. Paulo was only 14. His older brother, 17 was okay. Physically.

The next morning FCA sponsored and hosted a "memorial" for Paulo. 90% of the student body was in attendance. I spoke, as well as several others who felt led to share. Here is what I shared:

"Before we get started, everyone needs to realize something; there are things going on here that you and I cannot understand. There are things that we are not even consciously aware of. There is a spiritual warfare going on right now in this room and in the lives of some individuals and we need to all be one body right now.

In this moment, we need to be united. We need to be one. I don’t care if your atheist, Buddhist, Baptist or Catholic. I don’t care if you worship ROCKS! That needs to be put aside and we need to be united.

Right now, I’m going to pray. I don’t care about awkwardness, because that doesn’t matter. If you don’t pray then meditate. If you don’t do that, then just stand there quietly. I don’t care what you do but we need to be of ONE mind right now. Put a hand on someone and let’s pray.”

I pray.

“Listen, I am going to say some things that may sound harsh, mean, cruel, ignorant, and insensitive. But trust me; I am not being hard just for the sake of being hard. I am being hard, because I love you all. Sometimes, the truth is the hardest thing of all.

That is what I intend to share here this morning: Truth. And truth, if applied, changes everything. Truth makes a difference. 

Everyone here knows about the accident that happened yesterday afternoon. Paulo Pappa was killed. I'm not so ignorant to stand here and tell you the dumb, stupid, and useless platitudes that many counselors and even preachers may use.

'Oh, well God has got it all in control. It was his time. He is in a better place,' etc etc.

Although those statements may have some truth in them, they hold no significance as of right now. What good am I doing?

For those of you who are sitting there making a list of all the "what if's" and "could have been's," just stop. Here is the truth: Paulo is gone....he is gone...he is not going to come back. We can mourn. Mourning is good. We can remember.

But ultimately, Paulo is out of our hands. We can no longer do any good or bad for him. His brother is still here. His mother and father are still here. They are grieving profusely.

They need our prayers right now. We need to be strong FOR THEM. This isn’t about you. I’m sorry, I know this moment hurts, but you weren’t one of the main factors in the death of your brother. You need to suck in that lip, and be strong, because someone out there is HURTING.

I’m not talking about the hurt you feel when your mom and dad yell at you, or you get in a fight with a friend, or your boyfriend breaks up with you. I am talking about a pain and hurt so real that it takes every ONCE of strength in your mother’s body to even look at you and even when she does, she does it with a wail and tears in her eyes. This is real.

I’m not being mean and hard, just for the sake of being mean and hard. I’m doing it because I love you all. I’m doing it because this is what love does. Like I said earlier, there are things going on right now that we aren’t aware of. This is real.

Listen to me everyone; if you walk out that door right now the same way you walked in, you are doing a disservice to Paulo and his death matters not to you! I’m not saying go and join a church and get baptized. I’m trying to make you realize that life is so fragile! Don’t waste it! And right now friends, some of you are wasting it!

Two words: Spring Break. Some of you put your head down. Why is that?? You are making choices that are, to put it bluntly, stupid! I’m not saying Alex was being stupid and that’s what resulted in the wreck, but this should be a reality check!

There are things that are out of your control that can change your life! There are things that can KILL you, such as a freak accident like yesterday that you have no control over. And some of you are putting yourselves at an even greater risk!

Why? To have fun? Is this that we are doing fun? Is anyone having fun right now? Someone is dead and this is real.

I am not being hard just to sound hard. I love you guys. If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t be up here saying it.”

That’s all I can really remember.

National Day of Prayer

Tommorrow is the National Day of Prayer. For some Americans, this day is no different then the one before, or the one after. For others, its a time to make a statement- Support or oppose.

Our nation was built upon prayer, and divine intervention. If you read ANY history book, they will tell you that we should not have beaten England. The odds were against us. We had less of EVERYTHING. Yet we still beat England at their OWN game! God was constantly at work during the establishment of this nation.

"Well Brendon, how can you say that when there is seperation of church and state?"

Very easily, because what people don't quite understand, is that they are taking the "seperation of church and state" cliche out of context.

Think about it this way: Why did everyone move to the America's? Gold is a good answer. New life is a good answer. How about to escape religious persecution? They were being attacked by their former government, so in order to stop that from happening in the America's, they made the "seperation of church and state." They weren't seperating the church from the state, they were seperating the state from the church! They didn't want the church to be controled by the state! It should be obvious that our Founding Fathers wanted to have church involved in state affairs, just by looking at a coin! Or how about the Declaration of Independence?

I can't stand the ignorance of people who want to push God out of the picture! For what reason? To make a statement. Talk about religious persecution....

So whether or not you agree with the church, it is the right, given to us by the state AND by God, to worship and praise him. Don't hound on those who do it. Don't hound on those who do.

Sit back, buckle up, NOW SHUT UP! (God's words to the scoffing Christian)

So many times, things will happen in life, whether they are good or bad, and we say:

"Well I could have done this," or "They did that," or "We didn't do this."

God is up there like, "What are you talking about? I've got it all under control!" So often Christians become scoffers of the things of God. We like to tell God how WE want things done, and if something supernatural that we cannot explain happens, we try to place it on human actions, EVEN THOUGH WE CAN'T EXPLAIN IT!

Why can we not just take God for who he is? Which is God. He is a sovereign God.
 
"The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

I need something else...

It's like I'm tired of life. Lord, I'm wrong, why can't I get right? Lord, it's dark and I can't get light!

Why it can't be light? It's so heavy! Why my sin won't let me see the end?

Come get me.

Please get me.

My thoughts, my mind, my ways, all evil! I'm supposed to be your people! I'm supposed to see your sequel!

I said I'll never leave you, but I'm so left! I ain't right! Lord, I'm sleeping with death. Man, I'm cheating with death!

Am I deaf? Because it's like I can't hear you. I question my salvation, because it's like I don't fear you. I'm on a selfish island I am nowhere near you. God, I really need you even though I don't appear to.

I'm drinking out a broken cistern that could never hold water and I'm gunna get burned. Though I try I never satisfy or quench this yearn. I hear you calling, but it's like a fight for me to just turn! Lord, I deserve to burn!

Help me Lord before there's no time left. I ain't living I'm just breathing to death. Your ways are perfect and they lead me to rest. Mine are evil and they lead me to death.

I’m feeling schizophrenic. Maybe I'm not saved because I have to get high, just to block out all the pain. I’ve seen death, I’ve seen hurt, I’ve seen a whole lot of things. But instead of running from it, I'm running away from change!

It's like I'm outside in the ice cold weather. The rains coming down and I keep getting wetter. I know I'm getting sick and I could die any second, but still I refuse to let your truth make me better.

I'd rather eat flies and maggots instead of bread. And it's killing me slow but I can't get it through my head! You were stabbed, you were murdered, and for me is why you bled! But I spit on your bloody face as if I never cared!

Lord, how dare I compare my pain? Your father turned his back, and you were left to hang!

I don't know why you did it, that I can't explain! How can you love this sinner whose desecrated your name?

Lord, I deserve the flames!

Help me Lord before there's no time left. I ain't living I'm just breathing to death. Your ways are perfect and they lead me to rest. Mine are evil and they lead me to death.

I know that I'm a liar. I know I do dirt. I know that I am nothing, but you can give me worth.

I don't know if I know you…But still I know I should. I know the days are evil and only you are good.

I've to the conclusion: I would like to change, because all the world’s money and fame cannot sustain.

I know that I should turn, but that's the hardest thing! Because do I really feel that having Jesus is a gain?

The world is so tempting…Satan is a beast! He hypnotizes my eyes to say the least!

But Jesus be my treasure, to know you is to live. And I am here dying trying everything there is.

All I need here is you! Help me turn away from sin. Give me grace to turn away and the fear not to give in.

I know that I'm not perfect, but if I could rest in Him…I know I don't deserve it, but I'll take your hand…Lord, let me take your hand!

Help me Lord before there's no time left. I ain't living I'm just breathing to death. Your ways are perfect and they lead me to rest. Mine are evil and they lead me to death.

The Madness to Win (NOT MY OWN WORK; Courtesy of Steven James)

The Madness to Win



(Photo courtesy of Salvatore Vuono)



March Madness made me think a little about my own history with B-ball.

And how it ended up shaping my view of competition.

When I was in high school I was addicted to the game. I practiced three-four hours every day of the summer, sometimes shooting 2000 or more shots in a day. If I missed a day I’d practice six hours-eight hours the next. Nearly every night during those four years I slept with my basketball so that I’d be holding it eight hours a day more than my competitors.  (I should mention that I was never a great player, but our team did manage to win two state championships.)

When I got to college I asked a girl I really liked out on a date. After our meal, I wanted to impress her (hey, I’m a guy!) so I told her all about high school basketball, how hard I’d worked, how much I’d improved, and finally she said, “Steve, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“What was your god in high school?”

The question floored me and was one of the biggest kicks-in-the-butt that led me to eventually become a Christian.

And that’s where the trouble began, because I liked to win and I was willing to work harder than anyone else to do it. But I also realized how easily  basketball could become my god. 

Then, when I really began to study the teachings of Jesus and the authors of the New Testament, I realized that humility mattered more to God than victory. One day it  struck me that all competition has, at its core, self-promotion. After all, the only way for me to win is for you to lose. That means I am honored and you are not.

I was forced to ask myself, “How can I love, serve and honor someone (above myself), while I’m wholeheartedly trying to defeat him?”

Chrysostom, one of the early Church Fathers, said that the cause of all evils was ambition. The New Testament reiterates this idea:

 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,” (Philippians 2:3).

Think about it this way. A person from the other team misses the shot that could win the game for him, and my team and my fans cheer. That other player already feels bad, how is cheering over his  failure a way of serving him or valuing him above myself?

Yes, I still play hoops, still love the game, but that question always sticks in my mind. And sorting out where the quest for excellence ends and selfish ambition begins is still just as hard for me as ever.

Courtesy of Steven James

 http://stvjames.blogspot.com/2011/03/madness-to-win.html

Finding God's Will for you

                                                

So many people (just know when I say people, I'm talking about Christians), get so caught up in asking God what he wants for their life, and what they need to do, and what is he saying to him, that they completely miss what God wants for us.

Sometimes I wonder what God does when people are just crying and are like "God, oh please God what do I do?? Please oh please oh please! What do I do God??" And God is just like, "I've already told you. I HAVE ALREADY TOLD YOU!"

If we really want to know what God has for us, we need to first have a relationship with him. Let me illustrate this:

Let's say I'm coming home, and I'm picking up some McDonald's for my (let's say I'm married) wife. I don't need to call her up and say, "Dear Laura, Thank you for this day. Thank you for family and friends. And Laura? I need you're help...because I'm at McDonald's and I don't know what you want if you want a Mcdouble or a McChicken or a Value meal or an iced tea or a Milkshake or what you want Laura! I'm so lost...Please direct me in what you want to me bring home for you from McDonald's. In your name, Goodbye."

Isn't that how some of our prayers look like? If I am in a intimate relationship with my wife, I DON'T NEED TO ASK HER WHAT SHE WANTS BECAUSE I ALREADY KNOW! I KNOW MY WIFE!

We should know God that way. Now, no one can fully grasp or understand God, but we need to be intimately reading his word, and praying, and consistently doing these things.

But don't get me wrong. God does say cast your cares upon him. If you were to go to your wife with 12 roses and say to her, "Baby, I love you. I don't wanna be with anyone else right now. I don't wanna watch any Miami Heat. It's just you and me tonight." Do you think your wife is going to take the flowers and throw them back in your face and spit on you? Realistically? No she isn't. She is going to except you.

The same goes for God.

If you are delighting in him, RIGHTEOUSLY, delighting in him, do you think he will deny you? No he won't.

Satan is at work...

If I was the devil….Tell you what I’d do:

I would try to DECEIVE you, and get you into ERROR. I would get you off base.

 And if you still stay true, I would try to DISQUALIFY you. I would get you IMMORAL. I would get you where no one would believe what came out of your mouth. I would make you a tabloid! Where nobody believed you.

I would remove your CONFIDENCE, where you were AFRAID to speak, because your life was such a shambles.

 I would get you into SIN.

 I would prowl like a roaring lion, to DEVOUR you morally.

And if I couldn’t do that, I would try to make you SUCCESSFUL, and I would DISTRACT you if I couldn’t DISQUALIFY you.

I would get you BUSY.

I would get you so DISTRACTED and DIS-ATTRACTED from the gospel, that no longer would your prayers be about holiness and souls. They would only be about the bottom line in YOUR BUSINESS.

 I would get you MATERIALISTIC; and no longer concerned about the SPIRITUAL nature of life.

If I couldn’t do that, I would DIVIDE you.

If I couldn’t divide you, I’ve almost lost you…You know what I’d do then?

I would DISCOURAGE you. Then if I couldn’t discourage you, I’d try DEATH. 

I would KILL you.

I would KILL you.  

I would try my best to KILL you.

That’s what I would do to take you out…

"The Greatest Trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist."

~Baudelaire~

Predestination vs. Free-will of man

There is much debate on whether God gave man free will, or has already decided what he has decided.

If we look at the bible, as a whole and not just one portion, it reveals that we really don't have free will. It is a touchy subject, so hopefully I can do a good job of explaining it.

Adam and Eve were the only human beings with the gift of free will. After the fall, we inherited sin and can no longer do any good. Romans 3:10 says this: As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one."

This tells us that we can't do any good. We have a sinful nature and, outside of Christ, we only have the will to do evil.

Saying that we have free will and there is no predestination/predetermination is like saying God isn't in control: We control our destiny. That is blasphemy!

God has complete control and already knows what is going to happen! He MAKES THINGS HAPPEN!

Step back for a minute....

This is a lame attempt to write a poem expressing some of my thought about the way Christians sometimes act:

Step back for a minute man
Check yourself
Be 4 yo RECK
Yo self

We ain't here
Tryin to play the Game
We here Tryna LIVE
Fo da KING

All Ya'll postin' HATE mail
to all the NON
CHRISTIANS
Are acting
Like a couterfeit

Jesus Calls us to be Holy
Just like Him.
Check out the Second Book
Of Corinthians
Chapter 13
Go down to verse five
Then verse 6
Is my attempt to rhyme
killin' ya'll yet?

Let me be real for a minute
I refuse to be fake
If Jesus really died
to satisfy
His Father
'Cus His Father got a
Problem with us

We all born in sin
But Jesus said
"You must be
Born agian."

This entails that
We are a new Creature
Which brings us
Back to the question
If Jesus really died
To satisfy
The Wrath of God
Why we wanna
Rob
Kill
Steal
Lie

Why can't we
Just DIE
And then
Be Alive
In Christ

He gave us life
Just like Him
So we can
Live eternally
with Him

But lemme ask ya'll
If we step back for minute
man
And examine ourselves

Is my life
any different
Then their life?

Jesus Please
Help me
To be Real
For You
Daily
Break me
Down
Then Build Me
Up to be
Who you
Want me
To be

You need to Lose Everything

Jesus is the ultimate. Jesus is the only thing that will satisfy. The pleasures and joys of this world are fleeting (just ask the Alabama Football team: their rival, Auburn won the national title the year after they did). The cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of wealth choke us to death in our spiritual walk.

And we let it. We let it....

I feel like I say the same thing in every post but this is what the Spirit is instructing me to do. I can't call myself a man of God if I am only concerned with what man wants me to do:

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were trying to please man, I would not be a servant of God."
                                  ~Galatians 1:10~

We are so obsessed and concerned with the things of this world! Don't get me wrong though, it is OKAY to have things. But we miss the bigger picture. In Philippians 3:8, Paul says:

"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ."

Some words we can replace with surpassing:

• outstanding
• superior
• exceptionally greater
• better
• exceeding
• beating
• bettering

Listen, Paul counts EVERYTHING, money, cars, computers, family, friends, fame, clothes, good looks, and toys, AS LOSS!

These things ARE WORTHLESS....in comparison with the knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ.

But Paul doesn't stop there. He even ADMITS his struggle to let go of those things. He says he has SUFFERED the loss of all things. But he goes EVEN FURTHER: in order that I may GAIN Christ.

But when God blesses us with things, we are to SHOW the world that money, cars, computers, family, friends, fame, clothes, good looks, and toys, are given to us so that we can show the world that money isn't our treasure....CHRIST is.

Is this true in our lives?

Don't Waste Your Life

Lecrae- Go Hard feat. Tedashi

DiscipleNow: Be Holy and Intimate

Wow.

It's amazing.

It's amazing how God orchestrates our lives. Not only that, but replaces the desires of the flesh with desires of his Spirit.

This past weekend I attended Disciple Now with the FBCW youth. Brad Fogarty was the teaching Pastor. The weekend, starting Friday night at 6:00pm and ending 12:00pm Sunday morning, involved fellowship, a service project at the JAARS Center, and most importantly food!

That was not a joke. For many, including myself, we were starving for the Spirit of God to give us living bread and the living water.

Our main focus for the entire weekend was Holiness. I highly misinterperted this topic. Maybe you may have had some of the same thoughts.

You see, it is a LIE from the devil, that if we have been born again, not of water but of the blood of Jesus, that we are still INCAPAPLE of having VICTORY over sin everyday.

It is a LIE from the devil, when we think that we are DISQUALIFIED to inherit the things that God has ALREADY promised us, and ALREADY given us.

It is a LIE from the devil, when we try to fight facts with truth:

The facts are:

1. We are sinners
2. Sin seperates us from a Holy God
3. The penalty for sin is death
4. We can't fill the requirement

The truth is:

1. God still loves us
2. He sent his perfect son to die for us
3. His perfect sacrifice defeated death
4. Jesus filled that requirement
5. He came to give us life and life more abundantly

Truth is reality. We always ask God, "Please God, would you just hear me and meet me here and come get me and come into my world!?" And God must be like, "Really? Are you serious? Don't you realize I ALREADY CAME! Your reality has been conquered! In fact, I came to YOUR reality so that I could give you LIFE, and LIFE like MINE, and  a way to come to MY reality NOW DO IT!"

Truth is reality. They are interchangable. GOD'S reality is the TRUTH. So what does this mean? That means that if God's reality is the truth, and there is no other truth than God's truth, than any other reality we live in, a.k.a the reality of the flesh, we are living a lie.

When man sinned, we lost our ability to be Holy and walk with God, a.k.a. the Spirit. When Christ conquered death, and gave us the ability to recieve his Spirit, our identity is now the same as Christ's identity.

If fact, Christ tells us we will have POWER, and the power that the Holy Spirit will give us will be even GREATER than that of Christ's. (John 14:12)

"Brendon. You can't be saying we are GREATER than Jesus," you may be saying or thinking right now.

But you are missing it! That's not what I am saying! I am saying you are SO MUCH MORE than what the DEVIL tries to tell us!

Christ tells us, in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal, and kill and destroy. I came that you may have life and have it abundantly."

He gives us the power...Life doesn't start in heaven. Heaven is the after-party. Life starts when we start LIVING for Jesus the way that He originally CALLED US TO LIVE!

Jesus calls us to be Holy and walk in the Spirit. In the next blog or two, we will take a deeper look at how we can do this.

Christian's Must Suffer

Take up your Cross

A boy in the Middle East named Andrew Miman, was shot 5 times in the chest by Muslims and left bleeding on a sidewalk. He was shot simply because he didn't want to die, but he was unwilling to deny Jesus as Lord.

He gave his life for Christ.

And we talk about being Radical Christians because we wear a tee-shirt??? Or we go to a conference. Let's talk about HOLINESS!  How about GODLINESS??

You want to know what a move of God is? If everyone reading this, and I writing this, if we FELL ON OUR FACES AND WEPT, because we watch the things that God HATES! We wear the things that God HATES! Because we ACT like the WORLD, LOOK like the WORLD, SMELL like the WORLD!

Even though we acknowledge and claim that the Scriptures are the WORD of God, basically all we get is illustrations and stories.  But what would happen if we let God MOVE us, and we would TURN AWAY from our fleshly desires and turn away from the things of this world and turn to God?

We have this American SPIN on CHRISTIANITY. AMERICANIZED Christianity tells us to get a job, get lots of financial security, a nice house, a beautiful wife, and have a family....

We don't believe that Christ can call us to sell everything we own and give it to the poor.

We don't believe Christ has called us to give a DYING world a SAVING GOSPEL.

We don't believe this.

We put our own little spin on Christianity and make it so it is convenient and useful to us.

Jesus never said it was convenient. He never even talks about convenience. In fact He says in Luke 9:23:

 "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

If you want to follow Jesus, he says to DENY YOURSELF, and pick up your cross DAILY! Not just when it is convenient for you! In the same passage he goes on to say,

²⁴For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ²⁵ For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

What would it really profit you to gain the whole world? You die and the things of this world are useless.

"The Prosperity Gospel will not make ANYBODY praise Jesus, it will make people praise PROSPERITY! Of course we will take a Jesus who will give us a car! Who wouldn't want a Jesus who will give us good health, a car, money, a fine marrige? I'll take your Jesus if the PAYOFF is right!

"It's not the way we are going to win our campus' or workplaces'. Dressing the coolest...driving the coolest...typing on the coolest...It's not going to get any praise."

He calls us another way...He calls us to take up our cross.

From John Piper "Christians Must Suffer"

Radical Suffering

Under biblical doctrine, suffering is an essential part of Christian discipleship, but especially for those called to be church leaders. Jesus said, in John 4:34, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work. If we are doing God's will, we are happy and fulfilled. But for Jesus (as well as born-again Christians) doing God's will INCLUDES the Cross.

In an letter from Sri Lankan pastor and evangelist Ajith Fernano, we come across an interesting truth:

"Young Christian workers who come back to Sri Lanka after studying in the West struggle with this (suffering). They are highly qualified, but our poor nation cannot afford to give them the recognition they think their qualifications deserve. They cannot use their gifts to the fullest because we cannot afford pure specialists.

"They struggle with frustration. Some end up leaving the country after a few years. Some start their own organizations so as to fulfill their "vision." Others become consultants, giving expert training and advice in their specialized field (apologetics, theology etc.). Others pay the price of identifying with our people and ultimately have a deep impact on the nation.

"I try to tell these students that their frustration could be the means to developing penetrating insight. I explain that people like John Calvin and Martin Luther (made the Protestant church possible) had a dizzying variety of responsibilities (Calvin a catholic priest before reform, Luther a monk), so that they could only use their gifts in the fog of fatigue. Yet the fruits of their labors as leaders and writers still bless the church today."

Okay, so if you read through all that, great, if you didn't, that's fine too because we are going to talk about it. Here's the issue:

Christian leaders/workers get all their degrees and training, but when it gets hard, they sometimes flake out and no fruit results in it. If John Calvin and Martin Luther didn't suffer, the Protestant church (baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Calvinist etc.) would most likely not exist.

In the new testament, the apostle Paul emphasizes the need to "endure frustration patiently as we live in a fallen world awaiting the redemption." Paul said that we groan because of this frustration (Romans 8:18-27). I believe we fail to include this frustration in our understanding of pastoral fulfillment.

A church that has a wrong understanding of fulfillment for its workers will become infected. This may be one reason why the church contains so much shallowness. We have measured the success by the standards of the world and fail to challenge the world with the RADICALLY different BIBLICAL way towards fulfillment.

With all the new gadgets out to make life easier and more convenient, and the focus on efficiency and measurable results has really made frustration for this generation even harder to endure. Now, things once considered luxuries, became not only a need or necessity, but became rights! In today's society, even the Christian idea of commitment has been negated.

We call our churches and Christian organizations "families," but families are very inefficient organizations. In a healthy family, everyone stops when a member has big needs. We are often not willing to extend this commitment to our Christian "family."

The BIBLICAL model of community life is Jesus' command to love one another as he loved us-that is, for members to die for other members (John 15:12-13).

When God calls us to serve him, He calls us to come and DIE for the people we serve. We don't discard people when they have problems. We serve them and help them come out of their problems. We don't tell people to find another place of service when they REBEL against us. We labor with them until we either come to agreement or agree to disagree.

At least, that's what we should do.