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Hebrews 10:23-25

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

In reading and studying the book of Hebrews I came along this verse today. It stirred up in me a concern that I've had for Christians and also something I struggled with as a younger Christian. I remember questioning the system (the church and it's authorities) all the time believing that what I was doing was biblical. I remember reading a book by Frank Viola called "Pagan Christianity," I read it before it had a cool cover and was co-authored with George Barna, and it made me begin to question every single thing that would happen on a Sunday morning service. I even remember getting in a heated discussion over which way the chairs in our church faced: "why do I have to sit in a chair that is faced towards one guy who is telling me what to do? I can do this church thing on my own, the bible says so!" As I've come to find out, the church is a beautiful thing and Jesus thinks that way too. I've come to learn that slander on the Church (I will post on this soon) is like punching my sister in the face and although it would be funny (this is a joke) it would not beneficial to either me nor my sister or our family. In my last post I talked about the importance of discipleship and community, I would like to continue in the discussion of meeting together with other believers.

To those who believe they don't need anybody:

Let me ask you this question: How are you going to stir up anybody to good works if you're never around them? (look at Hebrews 10:24)

Or How are you going to encourage followers of Jesus if you never see them? (look Hebrews 10:25)

In my last post I went over Hebrews 3:12 in which the verse says "take care..... that you are not led away from the living God" and then the next verse in 13 says to "exhort.....everyday;" Exhort (to call to one's side) be in community.

In this post Hebrews 10:23 says to "hold fast to the hope of our confession without wavering" then it goes on to challenge believers to be in community and to be "stirring and encouraging" each other towards life!

In both of these verses the way to keep from wavering and falling away from God is to truly be in community in which the "Church" is helping you and loving you. A great tool against the enemy is community!

If you are a Christian and are wondering why your connection to God has weakened or why it has been dulled in your life then I would first ask you this: Who is your community and how are they helping you?

It may be that you need to find a new community or need to put yourself out there and find a group of people within your church. The most life giving people are people who have had life poured into them. Peace.

The importance of discipleship

In contemplating the importance of discipleship and what it means to truly lead / disciple someone I found Hebrews 3:12-13 to be quite helpful.

Hebrews 3:12 -13 "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day as long as it is called 'today' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."

"Exhort" in this context is used as (Gk. parakaleo), which means "to call to one's side." We are to constantly be in community with each other, helping each other through struggles and encouraging each other as long as it is called "today." The bible then goes on to stress the importance of this discipleship and community by stating that it keeps us from becoming hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

If we truly want to grow and see people around us grow then we must begin to see the importance of daily discipleship. Constantly we find Paul asking the Christian communities to imitate him in his life and example. Every person who follows the Lord should find either someone or several people to connect with and either mentor or be mentored by them in order to aid in sustaining a healthy walk with the Lord.

Peace.