* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mary found her life falling into a routine once more, and it wasn't an unpleasant one. Most of her flights continued to be on the Puerto Rico route with Rachel, and their similar schedules meant that they spent quite a bit of their time together.
Although they spent a lot of time together at work and at home there wasn't much private time for just talking. They scheduled their volunteer time in the kitchen together. Mary learned to cook. Her mother had always treated the kitchen as her private domain. It wasn't nearly as hard as Mary had been led to believe. She was surprised, with hindsight, at how far a mere handful of spaghetti seemed to go when her mother cooked it. The quantities of food they had to prepare for even a 'small' lunch were enormous.
It was simple food, though. Mary was in charge of cooking the white rice or pasta that formed the basis of most lunches and suppers. She also prepared the no-name drink crystals that were the beverage of choice at the co-op. Rachel took care of preparing vegetables they'd harvested from the garden. "You wouldn't believe all the freezing and canning we had to do this autumn."
Rachel, being more senior than Mary, was often out late volunteering in the church itself. Mary, not always able to get straight to sleep, sometimes saw her crossing the parking lot once she was done.
Mary helped work on the new greenhouse in addition to her volunteer work in the kitchen. The church community was trying to become self-sufficient and a third greenhouse would help quite a bit with that.
Besides their volunteer work they were also kept busy with study groups every evening they were in town.
Most of these were bible studies involved a combination of lectures and activities. Mary's ability to memorize scripture earned her praised from Peter who acted as group leader.
Once a week they had something everyone called a "confession session" when they were speaking of it informally. Officially it was a "period of reflection" because it was based on a discussion of the short-comings they'd written about and reflected on each day in their journals. Confession session was more descriptive, though.
Sometimes Mary found herself questioning all the restrictions that came with living in the compound and she found these confession sessions were the most intrusive of them all. Every time she felt this way, there was a certain amount of guilt attached. After all, didn't the bible warn against having a sinful nature? Merely obeying the law was insufficient. One had to live in the spirit of the law so that one's thoughts as well as actions were in keeping with God's way. (Romans 7:5-7) Controlling those thoughts was a constant struggle, but not one she was required to undertake alone. That was the real value of the 'confession sessions'.
Pastor David put it well: "As children of the new promise it's important that you let your lives be an open book to other followers. God warns us against the pride of assuming we know better than he. As new followers you must avoid the conceit that might cause you to question the true way. A true disciple has the humility to obey his discipler even if he doesn't comprehend the reason for his task. (Philippians 2:3) As Luke 6:40 tells us, you cannot be like your teacher until you are fully trained. God has brought you here to learn, and to learn you must have a willing, open soul. To distrust your discipler is to distrust God."
We all know the saying that confession is good for the soul. To deny this is to deny our limitations. We must recognise fallibility in ourselves as well as others. Paul tells us that we can be forgiven if we confess. We must not deny this forgiveness to ourselves. And we must not deny this forgiveness to others. You are not helping others by keeping their sins a secret anymore than you would be helping yourself. Real love for fellow believers requires that you watch out for one another - be your brother's keeper. If you see another believer fall short, it's important to tell me or your discipler so they can receive help.
Remember, God loves the humble heart. You are children of the new promise and to be worthy of that promise you must be humble enough to recognize your lack of knowledge."
Mary found her life falling into a routine once more, and it wasn't an unpleasant one. Most of her flights continued to be on the Puerto Rico route with Rachel, and their similar schedules meant that they spent quite a bit of their time together.
Although they spent a lot of time together at work and at home there wasn't much private time for just talking. They scheduled their volunteer time in the kitchen together. Mary learned to cook. Her mother had always treated the kitchen as her private domain. It wasn't nearly as hard as Mary had been led to believe. She was surprised, with hindsight, at how far a mere handful of spaghetti seemed to go when her mother cooked it. The quantities of food they had to prepare for even a 'small' lunch were enormous.
It was simple food, though. Mary was in charge of cooking the white rice or pasta that formed the basis of most lunches and suppers. She also prepared the no-name drink crystals that were the beverage of choice at the co-op. Rachel took care of preparing vegetables they'd harvested from the garden. "You wouldn't believe all the freezing and canning we had to do this autumn."
Rachel, being more senior than Mary, was often out late volunteering in the church itself. Mary, not always able to get straight to sleep, sometimes saw her crossing the parking lot once she was done.
Mary helped work on the new greenhouse in addition to her volunteer work in the kitchen. The church community was trying to become self-sufficient and a third greenhouse would help quite a bit with that.
Besides their volunteer work they were also kept busy with study groups every evening they were in town.
Most of these were bible studies involved a combination of lectures and activities. Mary's ability to memorize scripture earned her praised from Peter who acted as group leader.
Once a week they had something everyone called a "confession session" when they were speaking of it informally. Officially it was a "period of reflection" because it was based on a discussion of the short-comings they'd written about and reflected on each day in their journals. Confession session was more descriptive, though.
Sometimes Mary found herself questioning all the restrictions that came with living in the compound and she found these confession sessions were the most intrusive of them all. Every time she felt this way, there was a certain amount of guilt attached. After all, didn't the bible warn against having a sinful nature? Merely obeying the law was insufficient. One had to live in the spirit of the law so that one's thoughts as well as actions were in keeping with God's way. (Romans 7:5-7) Controlling those thoughts was a constant struggle, but not one she was required to undertake alone. That was the real value of the 'confession sessions'.
Pastor David put it well: "As children of the new promise it's important that you let your lives be an open book to other followers. God warns us against the pride of assuming we know better than he. As new followers you must avoid the conceit that might cause you to question the true way. A true disciple has the humility to obey his discipler even if he doesn't comprehend the reason for his task. (Philippians 2:3) As Luke 6:40 tells us, you cannot be like your teacher until you are fully trained. God has brought you here to learn, and to learn you must have a willing, open soul. To distrust your discipler is to distrust God."
We all know the saying that confession is good for the soul. To deny this is to deny our limitations. We must recognise fallibility in ourselves as well as others. Paul tells us that we can be forgiven if we confess. We must not deny this forgiveness to ourselves. And we must not deny this forgiveness to others. You are not helping others by keeping their sins a secret anymore than you would be helping yourself. Real love for fellow believers requires that you watch out for one another - be your brother's keeper. If you see another believer fall short, it's important to tell me or your discipler so they can receive help.
Remember, God loves the humble heart. You are children of the new promise and to be worthy of that promise you must be humble enough to recognize your lack of knowledge."