Last night I had the privilege to share my testimony to a church I have been attending since my arrival in Canada. It was a time for my wife & I to introduce ourselves to the church and share some of our past. I shared my struggle through life and my experience of accepting Jesus. Then I shared some experiences in my Christian walk and those comments seemed to encourage and uplift them the most.
Letting the members know that a church split, back biting, and false fronts are not just common to them, but to all believers. It is a long, difficult journey we are on and time is better spent building each other up and working together. We all have the same force working against us, so we need to save our energy to fight it together.
It reminds me of a cartoon described to me by Pastor Leo. The cartoon shows the planet earth with a large fence dividing the earth into two halves. On one side is "the world" and on the other side are "the Christians". The "world" side is picking up rocks and throwing them over the fence at the believers. The Christians then pick up the rocks and throw them at each other. That's how it really is even though we try our hardest to work together.
Remember, the church is always destroyed from the inside. Read and study Jude for a closer look at the warnings given to us over 1900 years ago.
Stay strong, stay on your toes, keep reading your Bible everyday and keep praying.
Grace & Peace,
Pete