Not sure why

So there are many times where I hear people say that they don't agree with Palm Valley's "style" of teaching. I reflect over the messages in main service and youth... even in kids. They are usually simple messages, diving into God's Word and focusing on application to those listening. They aren't wordy or really complex, they aren't foreign in "churchy language" or filled with "candy coated" messages either. We strive to tell others about Christ, who He is, what He did for us, what the Bible is and how to apply the Bible to our lives.

I started thinking about how Jesus taught the people of His time and I somewhat laugh because He taught in stories that were so simple that sometimes people couldn't get them even then. He taught in parables, giving people application to their current lives and showing them how to live their lives for God. He then later would go to His Disciples and explain deeper into what He meant in His Parables. It makes me chuckle to think that people criticize that way of teaching when that is how Christ Himself did it. We have small groups each week that allow time for diving deeper into God's Word and questions about weekend messages.

How awesome is it to have a church (there are many others like Palm Valley as well) where you can leave a service and remember and APPLY what you learned???? What good is it to go to church, be perplexed by the message, hear some really "profound" thoughts and not have a clue what to do with what you heard? There are parts of the Bible that I don't understand (and I've taken many Bible classes with some of the smartest Bible theologians) and they don't even understand everything God wrote (well I guess that's because God did not intend us to know it all) and sometimes I forget about the simple messages I hear or read.

I went to a conference called the Creative Church Conference and the speaker was spot on about so many things. One thing that stuck that he said was "too often people feel like they aren't getting 'fed' in church because they want others to feed them everything rather than digging into stuff theirselves. too often people say that the messages aren't 'deep' enough and to that I say to them "'until you have mastered Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself"' I think you shouldnt be too worried about 'deep' messages"

It's sooooo true. We forget that we struggle with the greatest too commandments in most cases. I am encouraged and challenged to see each simple things that God is doing through church, my everyday life, other people and many other things around me and to continue to ponder all the mysteries about God but settle in the ABSOLUTES of who God says He is.

:) I'm trying to find stability amidst this stressful time in life and... SHOCK... God is the only stable thing in my life.. forever.. always.