remember this

the great commission

Jesus said

Psalm 116:2

blessings everywhere

Humberto got back from Lima Peru yesterday and today he shared pictures and stories from his Church building trip. While he was talking I was most struck by how he is blessing us by his experience of sharing Christ with people from another country.

He spoke of how poor they were and yet he talked of how a school principal came up to him and asked them to come speak at her school. We can't do that here.

We saw pictures of them setting up and having a worship service in the street and we normally can't do that here.

There was a picture of a street and at the top of the street was the name JESUS painted on the side of the building. I'm not so sure we can do that here . . .

He told us of how he talked with them about how they may be poor but they may have more than the people who have full wallets and stomachs because they have open ears and hearts so they can hear the Lord.

So much is running around in my mind that I just wanted to start writing it down but another thought that kept coming into my mind is that while we couldn't all go to Lima that we have a huge mission field right here with people who think that they are good - but they don't know the gospel at all.

At the start of this post I kept repeating, "we can't do that here", but this is a lie. We CAN do this here and we must do this here.

Please take a peak at this short clip: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=366846306795155 and you'll see what Jesus says about all of this.

How exciting that one of our own was launched into another country to spread the gospel :)

absent from the body present with the Lord!

All,

Just wanted to let everyone know that Cody passed away yesterday evening.  He was in no pain and went to sleep and never woke up.  He is now in God’s care enjoying what we one day aspire to.  The family is soliciting all of our prayers as they go through this difficult time.  “To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord”.  Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-21.

Love you all,

Cody McCoy

Cody

Last week we were all asked to pray for Cody. His family wanted us to ask God to heal him.

Today we got a message from the family saying that while Cody was expected to leave this earth last week, that last night he was at church during their Hallelujah night and he even dressed up! The family thanked us for our prayers. Please continue your prayers for Cody and his family. It is so exciting to see God working through this 16 year and touching all of us.

Hello my name is church

Stumbled across this article that I thought those of us in the church would be interested in:

Hello my name is church,

I'm sure you've heard a lot about me. I have no shortage of critics. Perhaps you have heard that I am...

Boring
Shallow
Cheap
A waste of time

You've heard that I am full of:

Hypocrites
Clowns
Greedy people
The self-righteous

Maybe you have visited me before and discovered:

Horrible music
Passionless singing
Dry preaching
Rude congregants

Maybe you needed me and I was:

Too busy
Too "righteous"
Too broke
Too blind

Maybe you joined me and found I was:

Distant
Demanding
Dull
Preoccupied

Maybe you tried to serve in me but were caught off guard by:

Business meetings
Committees
Teams
Bureaucracy

Maybe you left and were surprised that nobody:

Called
Cared
Noticed
Invited you back

Perhaps your experience has driven you to:

Speak negatively of me
Swear to never come back to me
Proclaim that no one needs me
Believe you're better off without me

If this is true, I have something to say to you:

I'm sorry
I was wrong
I blew it
I made a huge mistake

But remember, I never said my name was:

Perfect
Flawless
Complete
Arrived

My name is church. I welcome the:

Hypocrite
Dry
Self-righteous
Shallow

I welcome the

Sincere
Passionate
Forgiving
Selfless

I cannot shut my doors to the people who make you:

Angry
Uncomfortable
Impatient
Self-conscious

But I would remind you that we couldn't always worship in the same room. In the Old Testament there was a division between the:

Gentile
Jew
Man
Woman

In order for us to all worship in the same room Christ was:

Shamed
Beaten
Killed
Resurrected

Which is far worse than being:

Bored
Uncomfortable
Embarrassed
Ignored

So why not come back to church and let all of these messed up people:

Challenge you
Sharpen you
Strengthen you
Humble you

I can't promise you that the people will be great. This is church. It's not:

Heaven
Paradise
Beulah Land
The Celestial city

Come back.

God wants you here.
The body needs you here.
The world needs your witness here.
You belong here.

Hello, my name is church.

I miss you.
I love you.
I'm sorry.
Can't wait to see you.

Follow The Unappreciated Pastor on Facebook: www.facebook.com/unappreciated.pastor

I found the article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-unappreciated-pastor/hello-my-name-is-church_b_4124322.html