Fellowship

Christians need fellowship. In fact, all people need fellowship, but Christians need Christian fellowship. It's an essential part of the healthy Christian Life diet. Don't forsake it. Don't fail to do it, and don't fail to do it for others.

Ephesians 5:21

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

1 Corinthians 16:15-18

You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. I urge you, brothers, to submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in the work, and labors at it. I was glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have supplied what was lacking from you. For they refreshed my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition.

We seem to get a lot of feedback condemning the Church or condemning the people that go to church, or condemning the reasons people go to church, or just condemning people because "those people" [blah, blah, blah].

Well, I'm tired of it! Listen up, people! "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." If you've got a problem with that.... you've got a problem

Disagreeing with someone you love over something that's important to you is the hardest thing. It's often the thing that causes friction in families and churches. If we, as Christians, can learn how to disagree in love, we can learn from those disagreements. We need to learn that there's a big, important difference between 'unity' and 'uniformity.' We are called to unity -- not uniformity. That means we are going to disagree, and that's a good thing!

Send us feedback at feedback@opendiscipleship.org

It stinks to be wrong. We were planning on publishing our Christmas edition this week, but we felt like it was more important to correct our errors from last week. (We'll publish the Christmas edition next Tuesday, instead. Maybe the lingering effects of Christmas will help you enjoy it.)