Small Group 7/31

Here are some more pictures from Turkey. I hope that I have will have more soon.
I have decided that I want to blog about all of our small group meetings. A lot has changed since I got back from Istanbul, small group being one of those things. I hold everything that we talk about during these times very dear to my heart and I would hate for the discussions we have to be lost somewhere in time. This will also give everyone in the group a chance to see what my thoughts are and it will give them a chance to respond if they would like.
Last night we began group speaking about Dr. Nancy Heche’s message at Sandal’s on Sunday. I enjoyed Dr. Heche’s message on homosexuality and I felt that it would be a good topic to talk about. It wasn’t the first time we talked about this issue as a group but one thing that surprised me was the fact that a few individuals don’t personally know any homosexuals. I do, of course, so it was interesting to see that dynamic. The discussion led to other issues that Christians often have a hard time dealing with such as drug addictions, crime, abortion and somehow we got on the issue of the death penalty. I have a particularly controversial view on the death penalty for a Christian so that was also a fun topic.
I was glad to see that everyone had a view on something that we talked about last night. It is very hard to get that every meeting. I want so badly for small group to be a time of discussion and sharing rather than me or Chelsea teaching, which we are not capable of at all. I have also found that people might not want to share their opinion because of their fear of rejection or others getting defensive. It has happened before in the group and I hope that we learn to accept others opinions and also learn to sometimes agree to disagree. Everyone has a valid opinion and there is no reason they should have to wait to share it.
In the end, it is important to remember as followers of Christ that we are not perfect. I am reminded of that every day. Often times, I am the most critical of those who struggle with the same things as I do. It may have something to do with my inability to deal with my problems, however, if anything, I have to be more understanding to those people. I think we are even called to more than just being understanding with others struggles. Perhaps we are called to interact and even sometimes hang out with these people. Hey, Jesus did it all the time with the tax collectors and the prostitutes. And it doesn’t mean that we are going out of our way to hang out with a heathen, we are all sinful and capable of horrible things, and we should view ourselves that way a little more often.