.by Rev. Bob Johnson
In our world, there are many who believe the church is dead. Some people even believe it should have been buried long ago. When and if the church, whatever the denomination, is uninteresting and seeks only to "sell" a concept of God, perhaps those who lobby for its death are correct. To be sure, the church is not a perfect instrument, primarily because it is made up of imperfect people. You are not God, neither am I. Whenever and by whatever name you, as a Christian, refer to yourself, please understand that we, you and me, are struggling to know the why of life; the why of existence. I believe that question arises out of the soil of the soul.
Strange as it may seem, the Bible always begins with the person, not the circumstances of structure. If you claim to be Christian, please understand that Jesus did not, and probably never will, turn to the influential people of the day. He stays with the poor, the blind, the lame, and the possessed, those without social influence. In the "mind of Jesus" every person stands before God directly, is of value to God, and is called by name to be God's own.
All of us are the soil into which many seeds have potential to grow. How well we tend the garden of our inner "kingdom" will determine our growth in the love of God. Of course that same soil of "soul" can be planted with seeds of our selfish needs, and of course, expulsion of the "good" seed or at least its crowding out, will likely follow. Whether you call it "expulsion" or "choking", weeds of selfishness grow like the worst weeds in our flower or vegetable gardens. The soil of our souls needs constant tending. In a word, constant knowledge of how much the soil needs to be cultivated is a continuing need, if one is to grow in God's love. I ask you, as I must ask myself, what is the condition of your soul?
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