Yes, I'm talking about the real phrase SFC stands for. Disclaimer though... I'm not really part of SFC but our community doesn't really have much difference from it... just the name. Since birth, I've been part of a charismatic community because my parents forced me. At least, that was when I was younger. Now, I choose to belong.
Many of my friends have asked me why I attend meetings, why I choose to belong, when in fact "community" is just a front for socializing and networking, and God is just a sideline. At some degree, they're right. It's just a venue for meeting people, finding friends, and most of the time lifetime partners (I could go on with all the types of relationships you can form in community but I'll have to stop here because that will need another blog entry, but I really don't want to write about it. ANYWAY...). Yes, we do socialize. And sometimes we get carried away with the socializing (wink wink). But personally, I think serving God with people who share the same beliefs and values as you do is the main point of community.
People always think that those who attend prayer meetings are all holy and blameless and shielded from the world's cruelties and pain. SO TOTALLY WRONG. Look at me! Haha! I still sin. I still think mean things. I still have my b*tch moments. I flare up when I'm angry. My left eyebrow rises involuntarily at the sight and presence of certain people. I get depressed when I get hurt. But the difference now is -- I have friends who help me bounce back. I have older and wiser friends who can minister and disciple because they've been through similar events and God has used them as living examples that His plans always work in the end. I have people praying for me.
We're not perfect. We still go through the good and the bad. But being in community makes the bad bearable (and eventually something good), and the good even more joyous. No community is perfect. It's made up of people, and people falter most of the time. But the purpose of being in community -- to serve God and to evangelize -- makes it worthwhile. The victories outnumber the failures most of the time, too.
ARE YOUR SIBLINGS YOUR FRIENDS?
5 days ago
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