Roasted honey red stretch

Sunday, January 11, 2009

The Sword of the Spirit

Here is a link to the online magazine for the group that i am affiliated with. The Worldwide Sword of the Spirit, is a group of Charismatic Communities around the world. We have communities in the U.S. Mexico, Canada, Honduras, Nicaragua, Brazil, Costa Rica, Lebanon, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Belgium, Russia, Germany and the Philippines and New Zealand, that I know of, and many more that I am not familiar with.

Many of the groups are all Catholic or all Greek Orthodox, There are Protestant Fellowships, and a number of Ecumenical groups, including my own group, several in war torn Beirut, Lebanon and in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where they are a witness to the love of God bringing Catholics and Protestants into embracing fellowship with each other.

My community has several hundred families that are in covenant fellowship with each other. We meet to worship together, and have small cell groups, called households, that minister to our needs as they come up in life. We do not live together or share all things in common. But it is very common for us to share our resources as the Spirit leads us.

In my life as a divorcee, with 2 children, that i brought up alone(they are 18 and 21 now), I have been the recipient of the generosity of the brothers and sisters in Christ far more than i have been able to give.

Just recently i had the heat go out in my home and the sewer line backed up on the same day. One family felt lead to arrange for the sewer man to come out and paid him in my cold house. Then another family decided that they would pay for the furnace man. Both repairs cost around 300 dollars! So my tragedy turned into an example of God's love for me and my daughter!

I have had countless loans of cars and other items to fill our needs. Repairs paid for and money given to us. Meals made for us and things donated to us. There was a time in the past 10 years when i had a pretty good career going and i was a contributor financially to my parish and my Community. But i always needed help with child care and rides for the kids. The people of God are a great blessing! Whether you are giving or receiving. And I am here to tell you it is a lot more fun to give than receive!

http://www.swordofthespirit.net/bulwark/jan09index.htm

1 comment:

jeleasure said...

Sparks,
In my most recent post, I spoke of the obligation to Love One Another. This is Christian to Christian or otherwise. God calls us to this obligation and there will be a judgement on those who turn their heads in such a calling to help some who are or have been in the situations you have found yourself in.
Thanks for being willing to share your volnerabilities. They are the test where people discover God working in their lives, for both the giver and gifted.
Jim


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