Some of you have emailed me with questions about fellowship...I started at thread at PP about it, and I'm still thinking about your questions.
I don't think the fellowship issue is necessarily one of marrieds/singles. Or that I felt left out due to being single. That isn't the issue any more than a MWK might feel uncomfortable in a church populated primarily by singles. It's more the idea that we all need fellowship with people who are like we are. That meaning, it wasn't me wishing I was married or somehow harder to be single. It was simply me wishing for more singles to be around who have the same life experiences I am going through.
Colossians 2:9 -- For in Him the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily, and you have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
Paul is never one to mince words but this one had me a bit confused. So I'm picking it apart.
From verse 8 we see that the first "Him" refers to Christ, so: For in Christ the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily, and you have been filled by Christ.
So far, so good. The entire fullness of God lives bodily in Christ. We have been filled by Christ. So we have been filled with the entire fullness of God.
Now "...who is the head over every ruler and authority." Why would Paul include this? This verse falls in the middle of Paul refuting the heresy at Colossae, which was 'philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition and the elemental forces of this world rather than Christ.'
Is this to say that Christ is the authority over every human tradition? No, because Paul didn't say that. He said 'over every ruler and authority.' I think it's simply asserting the supremacy of Christ, and why we ought to listen to Him rather than listening to those who would deceive us.
But I am not sure.
I went to the "new church" bible study last night, a somewhat disappointing discussion of Revelation 21 that did not even bother to mention that "I will be their God and they will be my people" is the direct fulfillment of the New Covenant restated in Jeremiah 31. Or is it 32. It was presented as a discussion of how to study the bible but really covered more about using your imagination to grab onto the imagery John discusses. I don't get it. Why was it a study?
I realize not everyone studies the bible as I do, but what was anyone supposed to take away from a study like that?
I realize that I learned the most studying on my own and running after the truth. I quit doing that because my church was so darn good at doing it for me. God seems to have taken that element out to encourage me to study on my own.
That's all I can think of for right now.
I don't think the fellowship issue is necessarily one of marrieds/singles. Or that I felt left out due to being single. That isn't the issue any more than a MWK might feel uncomfortable in a church populated primarily by singles. It's more the idea that we all need fellowship with people who are like we are. That meaning, it wasn't me wishing I was married or somehow harder to be single. It was simply me wishing for more singles to be around who have the same life experiences I am going through.
Colossians 2:9 -- For in Him the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily, and you have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
Paul is never one to mince words but this one had me a bit confused. So I'm picking it apart.
From verse 8 we see that the first "Him" refers to Christ, so: For in Christ the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily, and you have been filled by Christ.
So far, so good. The entire fullness of God lives bodily in Christ. We have been filled by Christ. So we have been filled with the entire fullness of God.
Now "...who is the head over every ruler and authority." Why would Paul include this? This verse falls in the middle of Paul refuting the heresy at Colossae, which was 'philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition and the elemental forces of this world rather than Christ.'
Is this to say that Christ is the authority over every human tradition? No, because Paul didn't say that. He said 'over every ruler and authority.' I think it's simply asserting the supremacy of Christ, and why we ought to listen to Him rather than listening to those who would deceive us.
But I am not sure.
I went to the "new church" bible study last night, a somewhat disappointing discussion of Revelation 21 that did not even bother to mention that "I will be their God and they will be my people" is the direct fulfillment of the New Covenant restated in Jeremiah 31. Or is it 32. It was presented as a discussion of how to study the bible but really covered more about using your imagination to grab onto the imagery John discusses. I don't get it. Why was it a study?
I realize not everyone studies the bible as I do, but what was anyone supposed to take away from a study like that?
I realize that I learned the most studying on my own and running after the truth. I quit doing that because my church was so darn good at doing it for me. God seems to have taken that element out to encourage me to study on my own.
That's all I can think of for right now.
posted by Jen at 10:05 AM
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