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January 26, 2009
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
Welcome One Another, by Phil Ware
At eight o'clock on that Sunday morning, I was sitting at a picnic
table off an alley in Bangkok, Thailand. I was waiting for them to
bring me breakfast that they were preparing in a couple of woks on open
flames. I was sitting with my friend Robert catching up on things since
I hadn't seen him for several months.
Our breakfast was chicken and hot peppers, served over stir-fried rice
and eggs, and washed down with two bottles of orange crush. Yowzer! It
was the breakfast I needed to wake me up and get me going after very
little sleep in three days of travel from Texas to Thailand and
ministry all day Saturday with Thai students. I would not have wanted
to miss any of the Sunday experience that was about to unfold.
During the worship gathering, they introduced their guests. This took a
long time in a gathering of three hundred or so. Our group of 13 were
amazed that there were people from 13 different countries visiting that
assembly on that day. Quite an international moment for just a "normal"
summer Sunday. The presence of the Lord felt quite real and the book of
Acts was no longer theory, but experience, as we sang two songs
together with each language group singing the song in their own
language. What a glorious anticipation of heaven's worship (Revelation
7:9-12)!
Maybe most surprising of all, we felt at home with these people. They
welcomed us warmly. Many tried to speak English with us. We went to
lunch with a big group at a nearby restaurant and shared the collision
of cultures and languages with laughter and joy. After lunch, we played
basketball and kicked around soccer ball. The connection to each other
through Jesus and the Holy Spirit helped us experience the truth of
Jesus' Great Commission and the Father's desire to bring all his
children together in Jesus.
The apostle Paul said it this way:
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same
attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that
with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ
accepted you, in order to bring praise to God (Romans 15:5-7).
Accepting one another -- "welcome one another" as other translations
read -- is at the heart of who we are as a people. Jesus has brought us
in and made us family out his generous love and grace (Romans 5:6-11).
Now we are asked to do the same with others. What a glorious blessing
to have experienced this principle and to feel the reality of Jesus'
promise to be present when his followers are together (Matthew 18:20).
Shortly before we left late that afternoon to board the train from
Bangkok to Chiang Mai, I slipped into the sanctuary to watch several
Thai people being baptized into Christ. I knew that this would cost
some of them their relationship with their families and others might
possibly lose their jobs. I couldn't understand what was being said
until one of my new Thai friends slid in beside me and translated. To
this day, I can still remember a young man taking off an amulet that he
had bought for a large sum of money. This charm was purchased to "make
merit" and to give him good karma. He laid the good luck charm on the
side of the baptistery and said, "I paid a lot of money for this and I
trusted that it would bring me good luck. I renounce that old life now
and trust in Jesus." He was baptized into Christ. He was now my brother
and I felt a deep connection to him. And suddenly, I knew what the
apostle Paul said so many years before was true:
You were all baptized into Christ, and so you were all clothed with
Christ. This means that you are all children of God through faith
in Christ Jesus. In Christ, there is no difference between Jew and
Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same
in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28 NCV).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
What keeps us from having "the same mind" and being of "one heart" and
glorifying God together with "one voice" (Romans 15:5-11)?
I felt a deep connection to him!
Paul describes how we were welcomed by Christ (Romans 5:5-11). What
does that mean for the ways we are to welcome others (Romans 15:5-11)?
Paul speaks strongly to his Christian friends in Philippi about "the
same mind" and points us to having the "mind of Christ" (Philippians
2:1-11). This passage goes with others mentioned above (Romans 15:5-11
& Galatians 3:26-28) and will help you answer the personal questions
below:
What do you need to do to more deeply value and welcome brothers and
sisters in Christ who are different from you?
What keeps you from reaching and welcoming others into the body of
believers?
What barriers do we often let get in our way that keep us from more
openly welcoming those who are different from us?
I'd love to hear your insight and answers and hope you will leave a
response on my blog:
http://www.thephilfiles.com/2009/01/25/welcome
---------
(c) 2009 Phil Ware <phil@heartlight.org>. All rights reserved.
RELATED LINKS:
* Hope and Joy
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200504/20050416_hopejoy.html
* Cones of Light in the Darkness
http://www.heartlight.org/two_minute/2m_990915_light.html
* Becoming Childlike
http://www.heartlight.org/feature/feature_021997_childlike.html
* Southern Hills Church of Christ
http://www.southernhillschurch.org
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200901/20090126_welcome.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
JUST LIKE JESUS: LEARNING TO HAVE A HEART LIKE HIS, by Max Lucado
In his best-selling book Just Like Jesus, Max Lucado explains that God
loves you just the way you are ... but He refuses to leave you that
way.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?260
Find more great books, CDs and videos at the Heartlight store! With
each purchase you make, you're helping to support Heartlight's
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