The (Unofficial) Fellowship Bible Blog

IGNITE: A Wonderful Night of Worship

I just wanted to take a quick moment to thank everyone involved last night with IGNITE.  It was done absolutely wonderfully and I was touched more than I can express.  Devin and Danielle did a spectacular job leading worship and I truly felt that God was speaking through them.  The entire band was perfect as well and moved me with every song they played.  It has been a long time since I've felt the presence of the Holy Spirit so strongly amongst a group of believers, but I think everyone who showed up last night would agree that the Spirit filled the room.  And all this, from what I understand, pulled off without it's lack of obstacles as one band member was already in the hospital and a singer on her way to hospital literally minutes before the event started.  For those of you who weren't able to make it I just pray that we're able to have more nights like this in the very near future and that more will be able to enjoy what was truly a wonderful night of worship!

College Christian

It has been a busy summer for me.  Over the last four months I've experienced the utter enjoyment of watching my first child being born, the relative stress of changing positions at my job, and the mix of anxiousness and jubilation from completing two master's degrees.  The completion of my education has brought forward some questions to mind in regards to what have I really learned.  Being an engineer, people often ask me what I learn in school and whether or not I actually use any of it in my current occupation.  The truth of the matter is that from a text book standpoint I honestly don't use much; however, a big part of college isn't what you read in the textbooks.  What I do use on a daily basis, both at work and also in life being a husband and now father, is problem solving, critical thinking, and research.  I never took a specific class on any of these topics, but they were necessary to succeed when completing my degrees.

In my first, and only so far, entry to this blog I talked about Kindergarten Christians.  In the entry I talked about how wonderful it is to have a childlike faith in Christ and believe whole heartedly that he DID die for my sins and he DOES love me regardless of my shortfalls.  However, I go on to discuss the dangers of being a Kindergarten Christian and blindly believing what people tell you about God and your relationship with him.  So what can we do about this?  We need to be a College Christian.  In higher education and as everyone becomes an adult and enters the real world they're taught to think critically about their view points and decisions.  We no longer blindly take a person's word as truth but instead take the time to research the major choices in our lives.  Not one of us would go out and buy a new car or change jobs based solely on the word of one person, but too often we do exactly that when it comes to our eternal life. 

1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 says, " Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good."  I believe that God wants us to understand our beliefs.  It's ok to question your religion and doubt the basis of what you've been raised to understand.  If we truly base or belief structure on emotion filled decisions we leave ourselves vulnerable to the first well-spoken person to come by with a plausible alternative explanation on why things are the way they are.  Moreover, when we attempt to save people based on a spiritual high feeling rather than a deep understanding of what Christ has really done for us and why that's truly significant we are, in essence, pushing our spiritual Kindergartners out into the real world expecting them to be able to fend for themselves.  Instead, we should be encouraging both new followers and people who have yet to make that life changing decision to critically think about what Christianity really is.  Why do we believe what we do and why should anybody really give any more value to our belief system over the thousands of others that people all around the world whole-heartedly follow.  I honestly feel that with deep contemplation the answers to these questions are out there and I've found that they all point to Jesus as our savior, but don't take my word for it. 

IGNITE: A Night of Passionate Worship

Refuel Ministry presents IGNITE on October 17, 2009.  We will be dedicating one night to unifying the body of Christ through worship.  This will be a night for the Holy Sprit to move and change the people of Fellowship in a new way.  This will be a night to break down walls that are keeping us from worshiping freely and truly experiencing what it's like to offer ourselves to God in worship. 

"We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light"  (1 Peter 2:9) 

Therefore we must worship as a chosen people belonging to God.  We must worship together and in spirit and truth.  This is the purpose of IGNITE.  UNITY.  HOPE.  FREEDOM.  TRUTH.  This will be a night of authentic worship. 

Saturday, October 17, 7-8:30 p.m. 

Childcare Provided