She's Gonna Blow!

Warning: I'm venting here!

Ok, I've been surfing blogs and reading posts and comments, and I just gotta get something off of my chest. Actually, it's two things:

1) Church family--we have GOT to realize how we impact people for the Kingdom and within the Kingdom;

2) You cannot be a fully empowered believer without a church family.

Now, I know someone out there in bloggy-land is going to get in an uproar about this, but too bad!

People are hurting. People are struggling. People are lonely. And woe to us as a church body if we don't realize this and reach out in GENUINE LOVE!! I talk with people every day about how they've been wounded by a church....our little church seems to be a safe haven for those who've been hurt, and praise God for that!

But it saddens my heart that the ones who are meant to bring hope and healing to this world all too often injure their very own. No matter what we do, whether it be teaching and instruction, rejoicing and celebration, or rebuke and correction...if it isn't done in love, it is SIN.

We should be so drenched in the love of Christ that it literally DRIPS off of us. That no one who comes in contact with us could ever doubt God's love. In order to do this we MUST be spirit-filled. We must walk in His truth. And we must set aside our own agendas, wants and desires.

I am so incredibly blessed to be a member of a church who does this on a continual basis.

Let me give you some examples of what a church should be:

A little girl in our local community recently passed away from cancer, and our church reached out to them with cards, flowers, food, and several missed Sunday School to go and show support to the family at her memorial service. One of our members saw the litle girl's mom at a grocery store, went up and took her in her arms and they just sobbed together. This family is not a part of our congregation...but it doesn't matter....they are family to us.

A couple in our church has a son living in So. California. He came and visited with us for several months while he attended school. We loved him so much we wanted to keep him! But he had to go home to his wife and begin his career in firefighting. Not long ago we received word that he had a tumor on his spine. We had members praying and calling for updates round the clock. When the news came in that it was cancer, and they found another tumor, the prayers just went up even faster. Dad was at church Sunday and had a praise report that just blessed my socks off, and I was so honored to be his sister-in-Christ, supporting and loving this family.

When my mom passed away unexpectedly in August of last year, I couldn't even begin to tell people how they could help me in my grief. The ladies of my church started bringing food, helped at the memorial service, and would have even come to do my laundry, freeing me to help settle my mom's estate with no cares at all. At the memorial service, they got to meet my brother for the first time, the one they've been lifting up in prayer for months now (he is dying of a blood disorder)...you would have thought they knew him from way back, the way they hugged his neck.

To see how they honored my husband at his recent ordination, go here

I realize that not all churches reach out as they should. I realize that often times it is our church family that hurts us so deeply. And I realize that we have an independent streak a mile wide, telling us we can worship God anywhere, any way we choose.

But I'll say this, and then I'll slink off into that good night: I would not have wanted to go through anything I've been through without my church family.

If you don't have a church that feels like family...it's time to find one. The days are evil...temptations abound...our kids are falling prey to the enemy...our marriages are under attack....it's time to circle the wagons, protect our own, and let the world hear us loud and clear:

"WE LOVE JESUS, WE LOVE EACH OTHER, AND WE WANT TO LOVE YOU!"

Church, it's time to make the newest among us feel like they've been with us for years. It's time to make sure everyone has a place in our midst and a part they can contribute. It's time to kill the belief that the church can't get along with herself, so how can she help the world. It's time to be the church of Jesus Christ, filled with love, compassion, and standing rock solid on the Word of God.

I apologize for speaking so forcefully, but I believe so much in fellowship and community, and it just breaks my heart when we hurt one another and don't fulfill God's purpose for the church.

Please, be blessed, and reach out to someone in your church today...maybe it's someone on the fringe, afraid to get involved. Ask God for eyes to see and ears to hear...and then do it.

Deena