What Church Should Be

I hear all the time "I don't like those religious people"
well, neither do I. However I don't make the mistake of associating true followers of Christ with "religious" folk.
Religious folk go to every service offered at their "church", write out the offering check, and have a Holier than thou approach to everything. They are the Pharisee's that Jesus told that they should have love without neglecting what they were already doing. They were doing things right, just without love, just as "Religious" Folk tend to do many things right, just without the love and grace of God.
Church is a building, their little club.

However,
The Church is the followers of Jesus.
We (Christians) are the Church, the Body of Christ, his Bride.

Church should be our family, Jesus himself said so "Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark:  3 34-35

This past year I witness my home church ravished by 2 bad choices. The first was the result of my church going "Religious" and being selfish. The second wasn't an obvious bad choice at first, but I believe God was using this second bad choice to teach a lesson. Lo and behold, my home church is now a family again. I see this on the rare occasion that I make it back home for a visit.
I've also been blessed to witness this community and family that is the Body of Christ at Ceta Canyon.
First I saw it in the interaction between the counselor/volunteers, if any issue came up, there was immediately a circle of volunteers to pray for them. It was incredibly powerful to see so many people in my age range just loving and praying for people they've known all of a few hours.
Secondly, I saw it in my senior high small group (SG1 Holla!)
This group banded together and became a family faster than I've seen anyone do. The amount of love and understanding I saw in the group can only be greater if its by God's own Love. I'm so proud and awed by the devotion my small group has to one another.

That's what the Church is supposed to look like.

Father's Day

Daddy, the words of love spoken to the father from his children.

Its been a long time since Daddy was what I called my father. Dad just always seemed to fit him better. I on occasion heard other girls call their father Daddy frequently even after leaving the toddler ages. I guess I always felt that it made me extra girly to say "mommy" and "daddy" instead of the mature sounding "Mom" and "Dad". But I never felt like calling them Mother and Father, that sounded too impersonal.

However, I recently have on occasion used Daddy while talking to my Dad. I don't know why, because I've never been prone to adding that extra DY. I can only guess its my way of saying that just because I've flown the coop, doesn't mean I'm no longer his little girl. I no longer feel that I have to prove that I'm independent and tough.

As for Father's Day, I love having a day to go a little extra on the honoring and showing some extra love.
Dad is a little more difficult than Mom when it comes to love languages though. Though neither of my parents are materialistic, I can always think of a neat little gift to give her to show her I care. I love giving gifts, but the giving or recieving of gifts is not my Dad's love language.

The best gift I can give him for Father's day, Birthday, and Christmas, is excelling in life, living the lessons he taught. "Be aware of your enviroment" and "I can do whatever I set my mind to", and my personal favorite "You can talk a squirrel out of his nuts' not that I do talk to squirrels. From what I know of my dad, if I succeed in life, then its the best gift I could give.

~~~~~~

Now I shall mention and honor some of the other men in my life. These guys would be there for me just as soon as my own Dad. My Daddy holds a special #1 place in my Earthly Father slot, but I love these guys very much as well.
Stan Carter
James Hinton
Papa
James Merrit
David Gerhardt
Bob Banks
Dan Swanson
Kenny Smith
Brother John
Walt Eads

I love my Men, Happy Fathers Day to them and all other fathers out there, each of these has shown me reflections of my Heavenly Father. By showing me the love of an earthly father, I can better understand my Abba Father and the sacrifices he's made, as well as the unconditional love.
Thank you Abba for my Dad and my Men.