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God is doing some incredible things in the life of our church. I am amazed at how He continues week after week to bring people who are far from Him to our fellowship. People who have a growing relationship with the Father are investing in the lives of people who do not have a relationship with God. Many of these people are finding new life in Christ and a radical new perspective on how to live life the way it was meant to be lived.

Our biggest challenge today is to figure out how to effectively connect them into our community of followers so they can continue to grow and develop as disciples. This is an on going task that seems to never end. In fact, it will never end as long as we are reaching people. I am thankful for the people in our church who see the need to connect people into a relationship with other growing believers. I believe it is only when mature followers allow their lives to rub against the lives of those who are new in the faith, that the young begin to develop in maturity. This is not always easy or pretty. It is vitally important though as people who are far from God follow the Spirit’s drawing in their lives.

God, please continue to draw us into a growing and loving relationship with You and with others who are seeking to follow closely to you.

Wow! It has been forever since I last posted. I returned from S. Asia and have been digging out and trying to get back on track. There have been many who have asked when are you going to start posting again. I am glad that you have asked. Well, here it goes.

This past weekend we began a new teaching series at our church around the Da Vinci Code stuff. We are not teaching the book, we are teaching the Bible, but we are trying to help people understand the fallacies of the story by pointing them to what the Bible teaches. On Wednesday evenings I am teaching how to actually study the Bible. My hope is that people will begin to study the Bible and learn to discern truth from junk (another word for heresy).

On Wed. evening after giving some basic questions that people could ask of the text they are studying I had a young lady approach me to ask a question. She has not been a part of our fellowship for very long, only a few weeks. She is not a follower of Christ yet, but the Lord is definitely drawing her to Himself. She explained to me that she had trouble knowing how to even use a Bible. I had given an assignment that involved Acts 1:8. She had written down Acts chapter one verse eight. I helped her to understand what the characters in Acts 1:8 meant. It was an aha moment for her. I asked her if she owned a bible. She told me that she had recently purchased a NV something Study Bible. I asked her if she meant an NIV Study Bible, she said yes. She told me she had a real struggle finding the passages in the Bible. I showed her the Table of Contents, she told me that she was embarrassed to use it in church. I responded that it why it is there and not to worry about needing it. She has a second grader and they are trying to read a children’s Bible story book together and the stories are all new to her. I just tried to encourage her that I was so excited and proud that she was there. We are getting some of our ladies around her to help her grow and walk through the struggles she is having.

I am so thankful for the people that the Lord is bringing to our fellowship. I am also very humbled that He is entrusting them to us to lead, nurture and disciple. God is definitely using this body to reach our region of the state. My prayer is that we will continue to welcome those who are far from Him so that they can one day be very close to Him.

God, keep us welcoming, humble and attentive to teaching your Word and discipling those you bring here.