The Moderator's Column
Hey there District Family!
One of my favorite Contemporary Christian Music groups is “Building 429”. For those of you who don’t listen to Contemporary Christian/Christian Rock, the group gets its name straight from scripture. Ephesians 4:29 tells us this: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth’s, but only what is helpful for “Building Others up” according to their needs, that it might benefit those who listen.”
This sounds simple enough, but way too often we treat one another within our District and Church families like that crazy uncle we hope doesn’t show up and ruin our Christmas celebration! It’s alright to call him names because he’s not “like us”, and therefore he is fair game for our crude and condescending remarks. I am looking at this passage to see where Jesus gives us that “out” so that we can be free to bad mouth weird Uncle Fred, but I’m just not finding it! Instead, it calls upon us to “build one another up”, no matter how much Aunt Millie gets under our skin!
For those of you who follow me on Facebook, some 5 or 6 years ago, I almost tossed Facebook into the trash can because of the many hurtful things I read. However, God intervened and challenged me to write something of a positive nature each day, something that might build others up and to put into practice Ephesians 4:29. As the New Year is upon us, may you consider how you might practice this passage in your life, how you might treat those in your own families, your church family, and your District family! Along the way I’ll bet you will begin to encounter your own life being built up by others.
Love ya’ll,
Moderator Rick Koch
One of my favorite Contemporary Christian Music groups is “Building 429”. For those of you who don’t listen to Contemporary Christian/Christian Rock, the group gets its name straight from scripture. Ephesians 4:29 tells us this: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth’s, but only what is helpful for “Building Others up” according to their needs, that it might benefit those who listen.”
This sounds simple enough, but way too often we treat one another within our District and Church families like that crazy uncle we hope doesn’t show up and ruin our Christmas celebration! It’s alright to call him names because he’s not “like us”, and therefore he is fair game for our crude and condescending remarks. I am looking at this passage to see where Jesus gives us that “out” so that we can be free to bad mouth weird Uncle Fred, but I’m just not finding it! Instead, it calls upon us to “build one another up”, no matter how much Aunt Millie gets under our skin!
For those of you who follow me on Facebook, some 5 or 6 years ago, I almost tossed Facebook into the trash can because of the many hurtful things I read. However, God intervened and challenged me to write something of a positive nature each day, something that might build others up and to put into practice Ephesians 4:29. As the New Year is upon us, may you consider how you might practice this passage in your life, how you might treat those in your own families, your church family, and your District family! Along the way I’ll bet you will begin to encounter your own life being built up by others.
Love ya’ll,
Moderator Rick Koch
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