22 Sep, 2011

Sometimes It's Best to Part Ways


Rock legends REM announce split

Members of legendary US rock band REM have announced they are splitting up after 31 years.

"We have decided to call it a day as a band," the band said. "To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening."

The group found fame with a string of albums, notably 90s hits Out of Time and Automatic for the People.

The band's website was briefly unavailable on Wednesday afternoon after the announcement was made.

 

 

(For more on this story visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15012427) 

Acts 15:36-40

New International Version (NIV)

 

Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas
 36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.

What does God's Story scripture teach us about parting ways with old friends?

When we pick up the story at verse 40 Paul and Barnabas are on their way back from being on the road for a few years. They had been spreading the story of Jesus and establishing churches wherever they went. They return "home," rest and as they prepare to set back out they start talking about the assistant they would take to help them. As the scripture says this created some tension, forcing them to part ways. Their parting wasn't a bad thing it allowed the doubling of the mission. The church was able to expand at a faster rate because they knew it was better for them to seperate.

How can we connect today's God's Story scripture to our lives?

This is one of the necessary but hard lessons we have to learn in life...

 

  • Sometimes it is best for everybody if we part ways with some of our friends. We want to fight and believe that things can be different, but we have to accept that it might be best for both if they went their own way.
  • Sometimes people aren't going to agree and that's okay it can lead to more being done for the Kingdom if both people are seeking after Jesus.  

 

How can we connect today's story, God's Story scripture, and our story to others?

 

  •  REM is one of history's most beloved bands. Their end wasn't bad it freed them to chase after other pursuits -  in their case seeking justice and peace. 
  • If we love our friends sometimes we have to look at each other and accept that our disagreement can't be resolved, but can be a launching board for a better world. 
  • As we look at today's scripture sometimes, hard though it is, we have to look at our friends and realize for their sake you just have to end the friendship because it isn't good for either of us. 

 

Permanent Link
Comments

Ornament

The Daily Bide is brought to you by a team of writers from Youth for Christ/USA. The writers all have various years of experience in youth ministry but share a common bond in serving Jesus and discovering what it means to abide deeply everyday and to connect God's Story with those around them. A number of the Daily Bide writers have also written portions of our 3Story® resources. You can check out our resources at the 3Story.org website or connect with our writers at 3story@yfc.net. If you have a question or a story you would like to share, please reference the Daily Bide date in your email.

YFC works with young people on campus and in the community in over one hundred countries around the world so that they might have an opportunity to become a follower of Christ and be a part of a local church.