enlightening

The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.

Ephesians 1:23

the church doesn't conform to the world. the church is the center of everything. Jesus is the center of everything. the Word is Truth. we know this to be true. in other words, the world complements the Bible and everything that it says is true, not the other way around. we shouldn't approach the Bible trying to make sense of it with a worldly point of view. we shouldn't approach it thinking because science, history, and philosophy backs this up, i believe. we believe because God is Truth and everything that He says is Truth. i don't know if that's easy to understand but i understand. =]

i am so encouraged at this moment in time. i am so excited for what has in store for this youth group. so many things were brought up last night that i would have never seen if people let out their opinions. i know there are some difficult things to overcome but they must be done. we have to break down and trash anything that isn't what God wants us to be. we're aiming at gossip, judging, pride, inaction, and loss of focus. we see what needs to be done and now we're taking the steps to get there. i don't know where God's taking us next but i am itching to get started. i know we can't expect anything, but just imagine what can happen when just a couple of us get together and establish that we want to get this started. it starts with us as individuals and spreads like wildfire. if there is a revolution in our hearts, there can be a revolution that expands from that. if we hold onto the revolution of love and compassion, we can do great things. and if we rely on God, we can do anything. things are in motion. we have ideas but more than that, we have a faith in God that He will provide and do great things through us. i believe that all these things have happened for a reason and we've been learning to this day. whether by trial and error or just being thrust into things that we never expected to be involved, God has shown us how to lead. i know we still have a lot to learn but right now, i feel like God's equipped all of us with what it takes to make a group of people into a church of God.