Church Groups, BBQ & The Charcoal

Once, I was kinda skeptical about church groups. I used to think that all people in church groups were nothing but a bunch of hypocrites, who seem to be 'holy-moly' on Sundays and yet portray 'oh-so-un-Christ-like' images on the rest of the week. I dislike hypocrites. Yet actually, it came to my dismay that one day I discovered myself being one. I did not realize that I've turned myself into 'angel-full-of-smiles' on Sundays and back into my (perhaps!) bitchy self on the other days (except when I'm around church) Haha ...

Well, such thing didn't go on for long before I started to dislike myself. Then I stopped going to regular group meetings. I stopped hanging-out with my church mates. And so, I made a clear distance between myself and my church groups. So distance away 'till I eventually stopped going to church for nearly half a year.

It was very devastating moments to me. I used to believe that as long as I have faith in God, as long as I keep my personal prayer time, as long as I believe in God, it would be more than enough. I won't need any church groups or anything else, since I have God right here in my heart . Too bad, things didn't work that way. I was wrong. It was only by God's love and mercy that one day He called me back home again into His Church.

And only later on, I also learnt that I viewed all other people as hypocrites simply because I was a real hypocrite myself! It was a very surprising fact that I found kinda hard to believe at that time. But well, I had to admit that it might be absolutely true. The way I view other might just simply reflect my own thinking and unconscious mind.

Anyway, trust me, keeping ourselves in a distance away from church won't do us any good, eventually! =)
I do feel that Church is Our Heavenly Father's home, where we should belong to, instead of any other places ... =)

The lesson that made me realize the importance of church groups came from a simple illustration of BBQ Charcoal.
Yes, CHARCOAL!
*In the meantime, let's take a break a while and think 'bout BBQ Beef wif Teriyaki Sauces. BBQ Chicken Wings. Satay. Otah. Grilled Sausages. Fluffly Marshmallow.*

Okie. Let's continue our story ...

One fine day, during BBQ party a friend of mine were asking me, "Do you see that burning charcoal?" I nooded ignorantly, as I was kinda busy entertaining the grilled sausages. Then, he took one piece of charcoal from the pile and put it away. Not long after, the flame began to fade before it completely disappear. He smiled and said again, "See this piece?". "Uhm ... Why?", I replied nonchalantly as it seemed not so interesting to me. He paused a while 'till I became kinda curious, before he finally explained.

"What happened to that piece of charcoal is what might easily happen to us if we separate ourselves from our church groups. Our spiritual flame 'n enthusiasm might easily fade away or even disappear. Even thou we are still the same charcoal (the same believer) but we might be left with no flame of God's love, no enthusiasm in ministry, no radiance of joy. And that's a very sad thing. Church groups are important for our spiritual growth, as we could encourage and support one another to keep our spirit burning from within. "

And so, from that moment on, I will always remember about that piece of charcoal.
That's all for my first post! =)

Note: The church (small caps) I was referring to in above story is not Catholic Church.