I was talking with my grandson Charlie, while he was digging up the beach with a little toy. He's a bright kid.
I said, "I'm really looking forward to the next few months. Everyone at GCC is grouping-up so we can help each other take steps toward Christ."
He laid his tiny shovel on the sand and said, "Great idea Papa. It's biblical, theologically orthodox and well within a mainstream ecclesiology of the historical Church."
I said, "Yeah."
He said, "Describe your syllabus. Will there be opportunity to engage practical applications of the studied theories? Is this to be a practicum or merely an intellectual, academic exercise?"
I said, "Check this Charlie. We're launching groups with some of Rick Warren's materials. He's the guy that wrote The Purpose Driven Life. So we'll be learning 'how to live,' not simply, 'how to think.'"
Charlie said, "I bought The Purpose Driven Life when it first came out. Got it; read it; did it. Rick planted Saddleback Church when he was only 26 years old, and his congregation didn't have their own permanent building until they had more than 10,000 people."
I said, "Oh."
He said, "That man has some serious credibility Papa. You should think about leading everyone at GCC to group-up and use Rick's new TRANSFORMED book as a daily devotional and study guide. People could meet together, encourage each other and take some real steps toward Christ together."
I said, "OK. Thanks Charlie. Anything else?"
He said, "Too many people are looking for one big step that will transform the rest of their lives. The truth of the matter is that lives are more often improved when people turn a good direction and start taking steps. Even if the steps seem small, when folks take enough steps in the right direction, their lives are changed. It's true. When people accept GOD's help, and group-up with friends to help each other follow Jesus and do the next right thing, they are transformed!"
Charlie went on-and-on, saying things about the true essence of the Church that I didn't really understand.
My grandson sat in the sand and talked about, "... whether the Church is, at its core, a community ... suggesting an ecclesiology that opens itself to ecumenism, and whether the interpersonal aspects of the Church are always manifest as the Body of Christ subsisting in a visible society, or whether that thesis is flawed, and the ultimate reality of the Church can be a community of Christ's followers in true fellowship, whether visible or not."
Cute kid.
Charlie eventually finished his monologue, reached down, grabbed a handful of sand and put it in his mouth so I pulled out my iPhone and went to gccwired.com. I wanted to get my own TRANSFORMED book and group-up with some friends to see if GOD might have a breakthrough planned for me.
Romans 12:2 - Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
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