Radiant Church Enotes

Weekly Devotional

For all you fellow Facebookers out there, I have two words for you: Farm Town! Many of you are already nodding and smiling because you understand what that means, but I'm sure there are some who don't have any idea what that is. Let me explain…

There is a little application on Facebook (the hugely popular social networking site) called "Farm Town". You basically get your own little farm to run – you have to plant crops, harvest crops, get neighbors, help with their farms, hire people to work on your farm, etc. Pretty silly right?

Well it's incredible how fast it has caught on. People from all over the world have signed on to become devoted digital farmers, slowly building their online empire of corn, wheat, rice, and pumpkins. I myself was pretty skeptical of this nonsensical avenue of wasted time – until this past week.

Yes, I too have succumbed to the powerful draw of that little green patch of Internet grass I affectionately call – "Trippple Dub-Ya Acres" (yes it is mis-spelled, sorry mom). Sure there are a few naysayers who scoff at my migration, but for the most part I have been greeted with the open arms of almost ALL my friends and family who were already plowing away on their own farms.

In Farm Town, your main goal is to progress through various levels of "farmage". The higher the level you reach, the more options get opened up to you. But what really stood out to me was how the progression took place. One of the biggest ways that you advance through the levels is by visiting other people's farms and helping them out. There is in fact an overwhelming sense of community in this crazy little program. People all over the world are trading horses, cows and pigs…working on complete stranger's farms and helping with their gardening.

It was right in the middle of watering my neighbor's roses that it hit me. Farm Town wouldn't work without a community of people working together to help each other out. Kind of like the church! The Bible is very clear that we need each other to be able to properly function as the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12 talks about this. It says that we are all apart of one body and, just like our own bodies; there are many different parts; all interdependent on one another.

I believe that more than any other situation or experience we go through in life…God uses PEOPLE to challenge us, to help us grow and to provide support and encouragement. It's through a community of imperfect people like ourselves that we're provided the opportunities to practice the fruits of the spirit – love, patience, kindness, self-control, etc.

Bottom line, I don't believe that we can truly become the man or woman of God that He intends for us to be without the encouragement, and sometimes the challenge of other people in our lives. We need those times when we swing by each other's "farms" and throw a little water on the roses.

Join us this weekend as Pastor Lee digs much deeper into this subject!  Also, Saturday night we have an incredible 4th of July celebration planned with free food, waterslides for the kids and another Wii give-a-way at the 4:30 p.m. service.  See you there!

Evan Fernald
Music Director

Feature Photo

Last week Radiant Kidz Zone invited a real Cowboy and his sidekick to entertain the children as part of RKZ's 2009 Summer Program!  Get more information about Radiant Church's Christian Preschool & Childcare right now!

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