I believe in God but not in church

Kika and I took the train. We entered the coupe with already two people in it. Nice lady in her 50s and a young enthusiastic man were in the middle of discussion about life, society and faith. So, we joined them. All of us were believers and yet our faith was somehow different. The whole time sentence "I believe in God but not in church" was there with us. We didn't manage to get to some conclusion. 

I have been thinking about it lately. 

What does one actually think/understand  behind the 'church' word?

A group of hypocrites, Sunday worship service, cold building with unfriendly priest, or 1500 different denominations?

Is it even possible to believe in God and ignore the church? Many say that it is a human invention but according to my understanding of Bible, it is God who invented it.

I would expect  that once I believe in Him, it would be easy. But instead of  getting me into the heavenly realms, he set me in the group of people who drive me nuts. On Sunday I go to church together with other cca 200 people. I wouldn't probably choose 2/3 of them to be my friends /simply I prefer different types of people/ and yet I call them "brothers and sisters".

God has a good sense of humor! Church as a body. Christ is its head and we are the parts. It means if I am a leg, I won't ever be able of the smash hit. I need an arm for that. This is just a picture of how we need each other. 

Spirituality today is quite desired but only as a very personal and highly private matter.
Me being accountable to someone else? Why? Especially when they are not better than me!

Oh yeah!

They are not. And that's the thing! We are like a bunch of broken human stories that can somehow make something beautiful and eternal  - but only if we sumbit/humble ourselves and allow the Head to lead us. The Head is the Savior of the whole body. It is all about HIM.

For me the church is like a support group...just like when you go to AA meeting. It helps you in your daily struggle with you addiction. You are surrounded by people who simply know. I also have people in my life who know my battles and vice versa. We bless and pray for each other. In this way we express that we care about the other person and we wish him/her the best. We walk the same path.

I am not denying. There are horrible things going on. And I'm not necessarily talking about pedophilia. It's enough when one part of the body starts pursuing its own agenda. When someone's position is more important than wellbeing of the whole body / in other words when a leg thinks is the head/.
If we feel terrible about it ... what about God then?

Do I feel disappointed? Often! But how many times have I disappointed others?
Do I feel sick and tired? Sometimes. Does it mean that I should  heave anchor? I don't think so.
If you are a team worker, you know that unity is crucial. To keep the unity means to fight for it /make every effort/ but this fight is worth it.

I cannot help myself but I see God's wisdom in this church thingy. The church is not perfect /well, I'm its member!/ and yet it is perfect! It keeps me down to earth and at the same time offers the perspective of eternity.

And in the end I'm not sure if all of this is about "the church" or rather about the fact if I
- admit existence of  the One who has created it
- acknowledge my pride /because I think I would manage it much better and  I do not need God with his church/

When you can't find words you simply take pictures

            

 

   
 

     

 

/ one week / 7 busy days /

Friday - Sunday: School of Leaders - teaching, fellowship, handing in their final paper
Sunday - Tuesday: EXIT tour in Liptovsky Hradok - schools, students, lectures, music, new friendships, the Gospel, sport, discussions
Tuesday afternoon: 3 1/2 hours spend in the car and a concert rehearsal in Bratislava
Wednesday- Thursday: concerts, coooperation of 2 Fusion choirs, fun, camp promo, community, more even more music, birthday celebration, thankfulness, conversations

various events

different people

and yet something common

"Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest."

..........................

harvest is ready

are you ready to reap it?

I see fire...

"zima zima - teplo teplo"

"cold cold - hot hot"

Our annual conference. This theme was about to explore our hearts if they are on fire for God! How to find it? How to keep it? How to share it? These were the objectives, and yet we knew that it is not us who can produce this fire in the hearts of participants. Only God could do it! 

And He did it! When you click on our TCK website /blog, you'll find out more about how it happend. Reading answers to the question "If our desire was to let the Christ shine on us, did it happened during the conference? When? How?"...is super encouraging!

And did God shine on me? When? How?

Preparation of seminar on prayer, seeking His face and choosing songs for the worship time....the whole process of KPM preparation was a huge blessing! And then, serving together with Miriam, Amy, Abby, Mark, Peter, Gavin and leading others into the presence of the Lord...what an honour!

"You have filled my heart with GREATER JOY than when their grain and new wine abound." 

Psalm4:8

That's how I felt. My heart filled with greater joy. I was reminded of the verse from 1 Chronicles 16:27 

"Splendour and majesty are before him; strenght and JOY in his dwelling/place/presence."

Since my Sunday school years I know that Jesus is the answer for everything. We tend to make jokes about it, but it really works, because He is enough, He really is THE ANSWER! "He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the first-born from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fulness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross." Colossians 1:17-20

I truly believe that we live in days of revival. I want to see it! I want to pray for it! Join me! What a privilege to be part of it, to see things that others were just dreaming about. 

I see fire...

.encouraged

.our desire is to inspire and train youth leaders and help them raise up the next generation of Christ-followers in the local church.

.that's what has been happening this past weekend. over 50 young people around slovakia met in zilina - willing to learn, ready to revaluate and plan and open to share their struggles and dreams.

.it has been a long weekend and this is just a short blog article. i just wanted to let you know that i am super encouraged...
.because of my colleagues who spoke in truth, with authority and from experience
.because of what God is doing in hearts of these people (they seek Him, their calling and fight for their peers at the same time)
.because i can be part of it

One LSD shot, please!

Once upon a time there were three of us.

One student, one teacher and one missionary. First one knew the second one, and the second one knew the third one more than the first one. It was our age that brought us together in the beginning. The similar stage of life with its typical questions and battles. We decided to meet regularly.

Every second week we met in a café just talking and sharing. After two months we needed/wanted more. Our meetings moved to Laura's apartment. We had more privacy and besides talking we started to pray for each other. What a great idea to fight one for the other in all levels of being! It brought us lot of encouragement and joy!

Laura, Susan and Darina (LSD) became friends. 

our only common picture, btw

It is always a miracle when a deep friendship is born. Those moments you chat, laugh at the same jokes, look into one's eyes and just know the answer without saying anything...those moments I call gift. Friend is a family I can choose. Even Solomon said that "a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity".

Laura dreamed a dream for me which became reality.

Susan took my cross when I couldn't carry on.

We've learned to say the ugly truths in a nice way.

I've just realized how never all three of us were ok at the same time. But that makes it special! Because when we were completely down, at least one of us had a good phase, so she could encourage others.

Nowadays each of us lives in a different continent, so it's hard to speak about regular meetings. And yet, I am sure that if I sent a "one LSD shot, please!" message today, they would know what to do.

Girls, thank you!!!

just an ordinary day

 after two crazy months of moving from one place to another and organizing events 

these days seem boring

and yet...

majority of my/our days are 

for example my last two days were filled with 

administration and paperwork

reading books and other materials

meeting people over a cup of coffee

processing and planning 

nothing special, I would say

and I didn't feel fine /don't ask me why ... I don't know/

I was looking for something extraordinary

even through fb

something that would bring more excitement into my life

.........................................

sometimes I tend to look at the ordinary days like an unwanted must

some kind of transitional stage between two extraordinary experiences

but this is where my life happens

it is made out of small decisions I make daily

my character is being built up especially in those moments when nobody's watching

if I want to be entrusted with much, I need to be trusted with little

He is with me in all those moments

therefore

it's ok to have an "ok day" 

i just need to change my mind set

look closer

and capture its beauty

Learning by observing

26 days 

10 departures & landings 

/now i definitely know what aeroasthenia feels like/

13,828 flight miles and more than 1500 car miles

sleeping in 9 beds in 8 states

exhausting, and yet

it was worth it all

. . . . . . . . 

i had my

happy moments

sad moments

embarrassing moments

/especially when you engage yourself in a conversation about totally different subject that you think because you don't understand the word but you keep talking anyway or using an inappropriate word while preaching for youth /

it feels great to spend more than 5 days in one time zone

i am still processing

but i already can share some of my observations

i am super thankful for

these people  /Mike, Jany and Denisa/

I could get to know them and their hearts/passion more. I've realized how much I didn't know about Slovaks and Eastern Slovakia ;-) Thanks Denisa for explaining!

And about America ...

Staying in 9 different households was like a big lesson on hospitality. It was so great to be spoiled by your care and experience your interest in our ministry! 

I just love your services! You enter a store and you feel really welcome there! I've realized it in the  moment I stepped into the Slovak grocery store. A hostile look of a saleslady told me everything. 

Welcome home, Darina! :)

In general you smile much more than us. And that's a good thing. 

It wouldn't hurt us to try to be more positive.

BUT

smile is also a good mask. We smile and pretend that everything is fine, so that others won't ask deeper questions.

Drive-through is a brilliant invention. I've noticed though that this kind of comfort creates more stress than less. Because you are still in a hurry. You are always in motion. "Grab this or get this done as fast as possible..."

About me ...

Fast food and using car all the time made me realize how much I like walking and

enjoying my food by sitting at the table and eating slowly.

5 days in Nashville made it official: I do not like country music. No offence, but jazz is jazz!

I enjoyed meeting and talking to so many new people but after a month I'm ready to feed the introverted part of my personality ;-)

About God ...

He cares. It's me who matters to Him more than the work I do. He provides. 

He wants my prayers. I really believe that there is much more in prayer that we might think.

I'm reading The Circle Maker from Mark Batterson these days and I highly recommend it.

Inspiring!

Few pictures in the end

 Elvis is alive :-)

friends from Arkansas

 in Chattanooga and Denver, school visits, recruitment

   

 South Carolina and girls I've spend weekend with

 at the conference

 presenting Mr. Jon Voight

"line dancing" 

and

my first /and probably last/ NHL game