what a night...i remember now why i originally put the phrase "the heart aches and joys of youth ministry" on here.
where to begin...
i'm really thankful and encouraged by home much you all have stepped up to the challenge of welcoming people...its amazing to see you all ministering to one another in some way. for example at dinner tonite i was feeling pretty weary...actually, i think i've been feeling weary for a while, anyways, i noticed that emily was siting by herself, looking lonely and bored...i knew i should have done something...said something...but felt like i had nothing left to give. I am so glad that Laurie also noticed here and brought her over to the desert table and sat down to talk with her afterwards.
i think i was a little diappointed that i didn't get to talk to the newcomers Leo and Florence...they took off early.
then there was the incident in the bathroom...i know Josh mentioned it in his blog...for the record, i don't think its right either.
HOWEVER, i really feel that we need to extend grace and love to non-Christians...if Mike, Anne, and Jeff read this one day, i really hope that you've seen love in our actions and this one incident won't taint your view on what Christ is about. (sidenote: i think all you Kyrios people have done an awesome job at talking to them and trying to make them feel welcome) i had the chance to talk to the parties involved and hopefully there is an understanding and won't be any yelling anymore
what happened tonite made me think about a lot of things...how some people reacted to this situation also made me think too. for the first time in about twelve years, i actually thought about leaving TCCC...no, i'm not leaving, but i really, really considered it.
WARNING: clem's preachy thoughts ahead....you may be OFFENDED...if so, GOOD!
- the "church" is JUST A BUILDING! it is not some sacred holy place cause we call it a "church". it's sacred when we meet together (there or whereever) as fellow believers and worship God together, when we build each other up, when the Spirit comes upon us and makes what we have special. sometimes i wish we met on fridays in a little dirty shack or something.
-why are we so quick to judge others? heck, i know i do it at times. i feel like we are so busy trying to maintain our church "culture" that we've loss sight of what it means to follow Christ. all we wanna do is judge others and make them conform to our culture as opposed to have them come to Christ and let Christ do the judging and molding. i saw this tonite in some peoples reaction to the incident and it made me feel sick. i don't wanna be a part of that. (sidenote: i feel so strongly about this cause i was a nonchristian teen who experienced the love and grace of christian teens at TC when i really deserved a chewing out by the worlds standards)
i think i'm done venting... i really hope you guys can hold firm to the example of Christ...read that bible...come to worship on sundays...go to sunday school..meet with god daily...don't follw my example, cause i'm a poor, miserable fool in comparison to the Lord of Lords, King of Kings.
thanks for the card and gift all...it was a real blessing and encouragement to me and the rest of the counselors...it was a nice pick-me-up for a messed up night.
p.s. reading all of your comments made me cry...thank you all so much for the kind words. lots of love to you all!
where to begin...
i'm really thankful and encouraged by home much you all have stepped up to the challenge of welcoming people...its amazing to see you all ministering to one another in some way. for example at dinner tonite i was feeling pretty weary...actually, i think i've been feeling weary for a while, anyways, i noticed that emily was siting by herself, looking lonely and bored...i knew i should have done something...said something...but felt like i had nothing left to give. I am so glad that Laurie also noticed here and brought her over to the desert table and sat down to talk with her afterwards.
i think i was a little diappointed that i didn't get to talk to the newcomers Leo and Florence...they took off early.
then there was the incident in the bathroom...i know Josh mentioned it in his blog...for the record, i don't think its right either.
HOWEVER, i really feel that we need to extend grace and love to non-Christians...if Mike, Anne, and Jeff read this one day, i really hope that you've seen love in our actions and this one incident won't taint your view on what Christ is about. (sidenote: i think all you Kyrios people have done an awesome job at talking to them and trying to make them feel welcome) i had the chance to talk to the parties involved and hopefully there is an understanding and won't be any yelling anymore
what happened tonite made me think about a lot of things...how some people reacted to this situation also made me think too. for the first time in about twelve years, i actually thought about leaving TCCC...no, i'm not leaving, but i really, really considered it.
WARNING: clem's preachy thoughts ahead....you may be OFFENDED...if so, GOOD!
- the "church" is JUST A BUILDING! it is not some sacred holy place cause we call it a "church". it's sacred when we meet together (there or whereever) as fellow believers and worship God together, when we build each other up, when the Spirit comes upon us and makes what we have special. sometimes i wish we met on fridays in a little dirty shack or something.
-why are we so quick to judge others? heck, i know i do it at times. i feel like we are so busy trying to maintain our church "culture" that we've loss sight of what it means to follow Christ. all we wanna do is judge others and make them conform to our culture as opposed to have them come to Christ and let Christ do the judging and molding. i saw this tonite in some peoples reaction to the incident and it made me feel sick. i don't wanna be a part of that. (sidenote: i feel so strongly about this cause i was a nonchristian teen who experienced the love and grace of christian teens at TC when i really deserved a chewing out by the worlds standards)
i think i'm done venting... i really hope you guys can hold firm to the example of Christ...read that bible...come to worship on sundays...go to sunday school..meet with god daily...don't follw my example, cause i'm a poor, miserable fool in comparison to the Lord of Lords, King of Kings.
thanks for the card and gift all...it was a real blessing and encouragement to me and the rest of the counselors...it was a nice pick-me-up for a messed up night.
p.s. reading all of your comments made me cry...thank you all so much for the kind words. lots of love to you all!
