Standing Together or Falling Apart?

We saw a good street sign today, and I couldn't resist stopping for a group picture:

From July 28, 2011

Yep, we're doing what the sign says. I guess I could've picked a better angle for the picture.

It was fitting to see this sign along the route today, because for the past month, I've been falling apart. Not that there haven't been bright moments, but in general, I've been lonely, depressed, angry, avoiding community, and experiencing something of

Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;

he breaks out against all sound judgment. (Proverbs 18:1)

and needing to hear this warning:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10)

In Greek, that's all one sentence (actually the latter half of one that starts in v. 19), the import of which is to suggest that "neglecting to meet together" is but a symptom of not "holding fast the confession of our hope" and not "considering one another unto the provoking of love and good works" (v. 25 literal). Thus the strong warning that follows

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

There are no explicit New Testament commands telling believers to gather together; it's everywhere assumed they will and do, but when some are drifting in the habit of neglecting fellowship, it's addressed in the strongest terms. It demonstrates an abandonment of hope in the gospel (and attendant apathy for the people of God), for which the alternative expectation is fiery judgment. "Falling apart" is no overstatement.

This makes me all the more thankful for two new forms of fellowship I enjoyed today. The first was meeting to speak and listen to the Word with John Croom and Randy Deas (they're in the middle of the picture below), and the second was meeting with some beautiful people who are part of Remedy Church in the evening for Bible study, prayer, and accountability. It's amazing how powerful God is to speak through such simple and seemingly mundane means.

In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)

From July 28, 2011