I love my church

My wife and I took a month off from our church this summer to refresh and reconnect as a family. In the process, one thing that we realized was that we really, really love our church. The four other churches that we visited were all great and we enjoyed our time at each in different ways. But I love the vulnerability and openness that the people at The River bring when they come to church each week.

For example, just yesterday we had someone come up to the front during our open mic sharing time to tell the church that she had decided to check into a year long treatment program (a different person than my last post by the way...). She talked about how her life has fallen apart during the last month while her boyfriend had been in jail. She talked about the help that she needed and hoped to find at Teen Challenge. I asked a few people to come forward to pray and about 25 people came to the front and surrounded her and prayed for her. It was a beautiful time where Jesus was so present, embracing and loving this young woman as she makes this difficult decision to change her life.

It's often very draining to spend time with the people that are considered outcasts by our society. It's time consuming and there are just as many failures as successes. But the good times are so good. These are the times when I remember why I do what I do.