Do we view our faith through the eyes of our mind, or our heart?

I think I have learned a secret, a secret so profound it has been oft overlooked in dealing with faith. But not just any ole faith the faith of the church. You see I am finding large numbers of people who are interested in spiritual things. People who are looking for angels, demons, ghost... looking to astrological signs, fortune tellers, palm readers, or churches. Yes I lumped the churches into the "trial" areas of peoples search for the supernatural. Hence the reason shows like "Ghost Wisperer" or Touched By an Angel, movies like the craft and covenant have a large following. People desperatly want something to believe in, and some will believe in anything in the hopes of finding the supernatural, the spiritual.

Paul encountered this in a huge proportion in Ephesus, where he stayed for over two years. Ephesus was the hub of magical and supernatural power seekers of all of Asia Minor. People were hungry then and they are hungry now. I find it interesting that Paul prayed for the people of Ephesus "that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened" (opened) because it is there that real spirituality is found.

Today we as church leaders have focused on the going: go to this church cause it has the real presence of God, go to this church to find your destiny, go to this church to find your home. But the whole Bible has little to say about the going, yet the people of the Bible placed so much emphasis on it, and the people of today are spending so much time on it that tey (both the old and the now) have missed the journey. I believe that is why Jesus spent so much time outside the "place" and inside the "lives" of those He touched. people who are spiritually hungry are not looking for a place, they are looking for a person and the vehicle that God chose to share His love and power was not a place (though it was called the church) it was people. People living together in faith is where true spirituallity is found, not in a building. now I am not against gathering in a building provided that gathering does not become the focus, the faith journey found in the community of people living life as a family is the focus, and should be the focus now and in the future!

I have heard so many sermons on the errors of those found in the Bible (sins if you will) and about how they were put in the Bible for us to learn from so we wouldnt make the same mistakes. I wonder if the Inspired God put those people in there to tell us something else. I believe He was telling us He loves us and He loves people who are not perfect. people who make mistakes, people who sin. thats what community is all about, "normal" people becoming Gods people, and showing other "normal" people how they can become Gods people too.

Find the spiritual outside the walls of a building, find it in community, find it in "THE Church"