Providence Church Blog A gospel-centered church in Austin, Tx

Archive for the ‘living for others’ Category

community

Community: Just a Matter of Personal Choice?

Community. As Christians, we all want it. Unfortunately, we often want it primarily for what we will get out of it, not for what we might have to put into it. Because of this, it is easy to have a consumeristic approach to community. We want to tailor-make our community in much the same way we would custom order an automobile (“I want the pearl white exterior, tan leather interior, and navigation system, but no sunroof.”) This approach makes sense to us, because we get to choose everything else in our lives (from the songs we download to the type of milk in our latte). So why shouldn’t we be able to choose our community in such a way that it maximizes our own growth and best fits our own preferences, schedule, and comfort?

Read more...
more_corn

Generous God

Younger siblings usually go through a phase when they feel like they have to protect their world from the older siblings. My youngest used to worry about a food shortage. Whenever his older brother would start to scoop corn onto his plate, he would start yelling, “He’s taking all the corn! He’s taking all the corn!” I would have to calm him down and assure him that there would be enough corn to go around. I would explain, “Hey, buddy, even if we run out of corn, there is a grocery store around the corner. Daddy has access to more corn.” He would store up food in his cheeks like a squirrel. We would find food in his room. It took a while for him to trust that I would take care of him, and not let his brother have all the corn.

Read more...