Please...Let Kids Be Kids!

Allow me to preface what you’re about to read by acknowledging there are most certainly exceptions to what I’m about to say. However, most of the time, and in most situations, this is relevant and true. Let’s proceed.

Kids need to run. They need to get dirty, fall down, get cut and bruised, and cry a little. And figure out that life kicks your butt sometimes. We get up and get over it.

Kids need to fight and get mad and learn to forgive and get past it. They need to learn to be stronger and tougher and bigger than anyone else’s words. So they don’t become bitter adults.

Kids — many if not most of them — are weird and awkward. Acne and puberty and hormones and immaturity are a strong enough cocktail to inebriate even the toughest adolescent.

Kids need to laugh with their friends and at themselves. They need to laugh so hard that it makes them sick. They need to have memories of laughing and not even be able to remember what they were laughing at or about.

Kids needs to be flexible and resilient. But you only become flexible by being bent. You only gain resilience through adversity.

Kids used to know and do and be and experience these things.

Something has changed. The question is: WHAT?

Your kid — just about every kid, for that matter — under the age of 13 (or maybe 15 or even 17 or 18) is still as pliable as a ball of Silly Putty. Mentally, physically, emotionally, they are like lumps of wet clay on a potters wheel. Every day, being influenced and impressed and molded into the person God created them to be. If we’ll allow it.

If you understand, accept, and believe that, then please consider this:

Just because a little boy wants to play with a doll or watch Snow White doesn’t mean he needs or wants to be a girl.

Just because a little girl hates dresses and wants to wrestle and have short hair doesn’t mean she wants or needs to be a boy.

Just because your daughter can’t stay focused or pay attention in her kindergarten class doesn’t mean she has ADHD.

Just because a child shows signs of lacking social skills or displaying extreme intelligence or obsessing over certain things doesn’t mean they’re on the spectrum.

Just because your eight-year-old son can hit a baseball really good doesn’t mean he’s the next Freddie Freeman or Derek Jeter. Or that he might not eventually grow to also like basketball or chess. Or wind up hating baseball.

What's the point? What am I trying to get across here?

We have become so quick to label, diagnose, and pigeon-hole our kids today, that by the time they reach the age of 10, many of them are confined to an imaginary box of predetermined limitations, alterations, and choices that no child is prepared for or ready to face or to make for himself.

It’s OK to let your kid be awkward for a while. I know you want to fix everything for them — I completely understand — but those trials and tribulations and hurts are actually going to grow them and shape them into the human God intended. If you’ll allow it.

I know you’ve probably heard the story about the girl who saw the butterfly struggling to get out of the cocoon. In her eyes, the butterfly was suffering. So she decided to help it. She just made a little cut in the cocoon so the butterfly could get out easier, not understanding that the struggle to get out of the cocoon is actually what strengthens the butterfly’s wings so that he can endure flying on his own.

The struggle is where the strength comes from.

But no one wants to let kids struggle anymore.

If you don't let them go through struggles, you're preparing them to crumble.

If you won't allow them to hurt, they'll never figure out how to heal.

And if you make all their choices for them, they won't become them. They'll become another you. 

The fact of the matter is, most 6-year olds who play travel baseball or take gymnastics 5 days a week or practice piano 4 hours a day or say they want to be a different gender are not doing or saying or being who they want to be. They're doing, saying, and being who you want them to be.

I know many people will consider that an unpopular opinion. It's not. It's actually an unpopular fact.

Please don't make the mistake of robbing your child of being a child.

Please don't attempt to live out your unfulfilled dreams or propagate your worldview through your child.

Please don't diagnose them with a disorder before you're willing to see if what you're actually witnessing are the effects of their face in a screen, their mind paralyzed by electronic addiction, or even their emotional intelligence and social skills stymied by living vicariously online more than being forced into healthy interaction with other human beings.

Please don't try to fix every problem or rescue them from every struggle. The struggle is where the strength comes from. Don't rip them out of the cocoon before they're ready. They won't be able to endure the turbulence.

Please teach them, love them, nurture them, disciple them, train them, and prepare them to step out into this world. But while you're doing it...please, let kids be kids!

"Train up a child in the way he should go. In the end, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

Something has changed. The question is: WHAT?

Someone needs to change. The question is: WHO?

The Theological Snobbery of Reformed Gnosticism

I’m learning and discovering that, if you are walking with and growing in Christ, about every 8 to 10 years you will humbly (and often painfully) look back and discover your arrogance and pride. You start looking in the rear view mirror a bit more often.

I am still attempting to salvage and recover much of the damage caused by the legalism that drove my beliefs and (moreover) my teaching early on in my days of ministry. For many of us who grew up in the evangelical church of the 80s and 90s, there was a very hard foundation of fundamentalism laid underneath us. What you believed did not matter nearly as much as what you wore, what you drank (or that you didn’t drink), what you watched or listen to, or who you ran with. To put it another way: your faith was much less important than your fruit. But now, in keeping with the common and consistent cultural pattern of 20 to 30 years cycles, I am now seeing a swing of the pendulum to the opposite side. Allow me to explain.

Over the last five years or so, we have seen a drastic shift in our culture toward the tendency to write people off. We’ve even named the tendency.  It’s labeled Cancel Culture. It thinks like this:

If someone disagrees with me or believes something different than I do on any level, my ears are now closed to their voice. If we don’t agree about everything, then we can’t agree about anything.

That’s essentially the mindset. How I see this impacting and influencing many Christians and the church is most visible in the younger generation — the “twenty-something’s”. There is now a mindset or worldview that says: I’m not really concerned with how you act, what you drink or eat, what you wear, or who you run with. I only care about what you say you believe. I’m not concerned with your fruit, just your faith. And if I don’t agree with you on every level, then my ears are closed. Our conversation is over. You’ve lost any opportunity or ability to sharpen me; you can only distract or dull my faith. Cancel Culture has made its way into the church.

If you believe something different about baptism, then we’re not going to break bread.

If your interpretation of spiritual gifts is different than mine, then I’m not interested in the bond of the Spirit.

There is an arrogance of belief that I’ve apparently figured out some things — I’ve gained a knowledge — that you’ve either missed, ignored or rejected. It’s a modern-day, Reformed version of Gnosticism. As another pastor put it in a conversation the other day: it feels like “theological snobbery.”

Do you grasp the impossibility of true and deeper knowledge of God leading to prideful disdain for others?

I am praying for the Lord to ignite a supernatural fire of repentance that burns this spirit to the ground.

Are you open to this?

If you’re 25-ish, you know everything.

Not really, but you feel like you do. You think you do. I sure did. And you wonder how so many others around you  are so ignorant. How do they even manage to even tie their shoes? And then…you get a little older.

If you’re 35-ish, you start realizing you don’t know everything. You even start to wonder if you were possibly wrong about 1 or 2 things. (Only 1 or 2, though.) You begin entertaining the idea that you could still learn a thing or two. And then…you get a little older. And a little wiser.

If you’re 45-ish, you now very likely — through the sorrow and suffering life brings — have been crushed by the Lord into a fine powder, taken into his hands, spit upon, and begun to be molded and shaped into an unrecognizable shadow of yourself. You know you don’t know everything. In fact, there is way more you still have to learn than you have to lecture.

YOU still have more to learn than you have to lecture.

Young friend: the world is not as black and white as you see it right now. I promise.

Let me be clear: There are eternal truths that do not change. The Word of God stands. The Lord does not waver or falter. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, died for our sin, rose again and defeated death, and is coming again to make all things new. His Spirit has come to live within us and affirm that we belong to him. Some things do not change.

I’m not saying that what you believe about baptism, the rapture, the Lord’s Supper, spiritual gifts, deacons, tithing, or any other theological tenet necessarily needs to change. But what must change is your tendency to write everyone off that doesn’t think or believe what you believe. What must change - what must grow in each of us - is our propensity to listen before we lecture.

”For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.“ ‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭3‬

”But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.“ James‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬-‭7‬

”Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus...“ Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬-‭5‬

Intimidation vs. Inspiration

Leaders, teachers, bosses, coaches, managers:

What’s your goal with those you’re leading?

Do your methods of influence reflect that goal?

What do you really want for and from those you are leading?

Intimidation and punishment will usually only modify behavior. At best.

Discipline and inspiration change us internally - stir our minds and hearts.

Stir someone's heart - change someone's mind - and their behavior will change as well.

Do you simply want behavior to change? Or the person to be transformed?

Intimidation is almost always a symptom or sign of fear and insecurity.

Yelling at an employee for making a mistake may modify their behavior and give an outlet for expressing your anger, but it most certainly won't inspire them to grow or be stretched. It will do the opposite. They will cower and shrink back.

Screaming at an athlete and punishing them for striking out or throwing an interception or missing a free throw doesn't teach them, encourage them, or inspire them. It just causes them to fear the next time they strike out, throw an interception, or miss a free throw. That kind of fear doesn't motivate us; it paralyzes us.

I asked the question: What do you really want for and from those you are leading?

Maybe the first question should be:

Do I want anything for the person? 

Or do I just want something from them?

Wanting something from someone produces laziness. Laziness breeds coersion.

Wanting something for someone produces leadership. Leadership offers inspiration!

Want to inspire someone? Teach them.

Want to motivate someone? Encourage them.

Want to lead someone? Show them how it's done and stand behind them. 

He Freed Me From All My Fears

I was reading Psalm 34 today and something struck me. David wrote this Psalm during the time that he pretended to be crazy so that Abimelech would consider him harmless and send him away. David, the anointed King of the Most High God, was very much alone. He probably felt overwhelming loneliness, abandonment, isolation, betrayal, and now his reputation and pride were seriously in question. As he reflected on this time of great uncertainty, he wrote these words:

"I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together."

You could paraphrase David as saying: "People think I'm crazy. Many of my own people have turned their backs on me. I'm in a strange land among my enemies. Everything I know that is comfortable and familiar are a distant memory. But you know what? God is good! He is always good! And nothing will stop me from proclaiming his goodness. He has rescued me once again."

How seldom do I have that kind of perspective?

While these first 3 verses spoke loudly to me today, it was the next verse - verse 4 - that spoke deeply.

David now says:

"I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears."

From all my fears! All of them.

FEAR. What is it?

A feeling of dread?

A deceiving emotion?

The realization that what I've been worshiping (other than God) has finally failed me?

Yes. All of the above. 

That's one kind of fear. That's the fear that the Lord delivered David from.

You know how he delivered him from that fear? With another kind of fear.

Back to Psalm 34. Look at verses 7-10:

"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."

David feared. Feared for his life. Feared for his reputation. Feared the disapproval of man.

David was freed from that fear when he remembered:

"The Lord is good. The Lord delivers. The Lord redeems. The Lord provides."

"The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous. The Lord is near the brokenhearted."

David's son, Solomon, would go on to say: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." He was right. 

And the fear of the Lord defeats the fear of man.

The fear of the Lord finds joy and hope, even while the emotion of fear is raging.

Reverence for the Lord crushes fear.

Perfect love drives out all fear.

Whatever you’re facing, know that “the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him. And he delivers them!”

If you want to taste and see the goodness of God…take refuge in him. Seek him. Those who seek him lack no good thing.

Because he is good! He is always good! 

The Pronouns of Depravity

Enoch Burke, a teacher at Wilson's Hospital School (part of the Church of Ireland's private school system) has been arrested. Burke was told by the principal that he should no longer refer to one of his students with masculine pronouns, but with feminine ones. He refused. Because of his refusal, an Irish court banned him from the premises of the school. When he showed up the next day to teach his class, he was arrested. He is now in jail - and will remain there over Christmas - unless he chooses to recant.

Allow me to state this in plain English: A teacher is in jail because he refused to call a boy by a girls pronoun. He refused to call a he, "she".

I know we shouldn't be surprised. We were warned it was coming. But I guess much like the Messiah was foretold - when Christ finally came many did not realize that he was the one prophesied - we read the warning but didn't realize the depth or the magnitude of what it would look like. Who could have or would have dreamed up or imagined this level of shear lunacy?

Let's remember the warning Paul gave us in Romans 1:18-27. Please take a moment to read his words:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

There are not many things God has made more obvious in all of Creation than his intent and design between man and woman. The anatomy, physiology, biology, and even chemistry fit together like a 2-piece puzzle for a toddler to put together. "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27) This is the debate we've been having for the last several decades, permeating the culture and attempting to invade the church. Is homosexuality a sin? But over the last decade, that question, controversy, and debate almost seem like child's play. We've now entered an era of children - not adults, but children - making the decision to change their sex. To be clear, Paul told us that many would "by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." He said they would "exchange the truth for a lie." I guess I naively thought it would be over deceptive, unclear things. I assumed this water would be really muddy, not crystal clear. 

I was wrong.

Many believe this issue begins with our feelings. There are boys who feel like girls and girls who feel like boys. Nevermind that many of them feel this way because their progressive parents have supplanted the idea in their head, or worse yet, literally dressed them up as the opposite sex. Children who are not old enough to drive, vote, drink alcohol, pick up their own prescription, or even hit puberty are now being given the right - many times forced into the decision - to change their sex. Kids are allowed to determine what and how a teacher can refer to them. Yes, this is complete lunacy. It would be outright laughable if it wasn't so completely detestable. And yet, here we are. Right where Paul said we would be. 

Please consider this: The issue does not begin with your feelings. It begins with whether or not you believe God's Word to be the TRUTH. 

We're not talking about complex issues of eschatology or the hypostatic union of Christ or the Trinity. We're talking about believing that the Creator of all things knew what he was doing when he made a male a male and a female a female. He did that. His choice. His design. "...male and female he created them." We don't get to VETO the design of the one, true, magnificent Creator. We're not given the option to circumvent our Maker; only submit and surrender.

To repeat myself: The issue does not begin with our feelings.

There are days where and when a woman doesn't feel loved by her husband. She finds herself fighting off feeling like finding someone else to make her feel special. She may even be tempted to cheat - to commit adultery. Does this make her an adulterer? Should she listen to her feelings? 

Someone, somewhere out there today, is going to get angry. Really angry! And he's going to be so angry that he even has a thought of doing something to harm the person who made him angry. He feels like making someone pay for what they've said and done. For a split second...he thinks about murder. Does this make him a murderer? Should he listen to his feelings?

A teacher in Ireland will very likely be sitting in jail this Christmas, away from his family, not because he stole something or wounded someone or committed a crime. No. He's in jail because a boy feels like a girl. And the adults in his life don't love him and/or fear the Creator enough to tell him the truth. Enoch Burke is in jail because he fears and reveres the Creator more than his creation. He's in jail because he said what we all know to be true: a boy is a boy. He is a HE. 

"...male and female he (God) created them."

I pray that you refuse to exchange the truth for a lie. It's only in the TRUTH that we we will actually find the freedom we're so desperately searching for. 

Roe v. Wade: How Should We Respond?

As I'm sure you're aware, last week the Supreme Court of the United States of America overturned Roe v. Wade. In a majority vote, SCOTUS ruled that it is not a constitutional right for a woman to have an abortion. It is now left up to each State to determine and enforce their own abortion laws. This was an incredibly momentous victory on behalf of protecting the unborn and advocating for life. While this ruling is unquestionably something to celebrate, I believe it should lead us - the Church - to prayerfully consider how we are to respond in this moment. 

To put it to a question: What should we do as a result of the overturning of Roe v. Wade?

First off, this is a pivotal moment for the people of God to become the greatest advocates and strongest participants in the foster system. No one should be more present and active in adopting and fostering children than the Church. While we are not all capable or able to adopt or foster a child, we have a wealth of resources and opportunities to come alongside those who can and do. There are countless ways we can support those who are opening up their homes and lives for the sake of the orphan. If we want more and more women to eliminate abortion from the list of options, there has to be a rising tide - maybe a flood is a better description - of Jesus followers who are ready, willing, and able to adopt.

 

Let me say it this way: If you are anti-abortion, then you are pro-adoption.

 

As of 2017 statistics, over 92.33% of the women who had an abortion listed "No reason (elective)" as the determining factor in aborting their baby. In other words, very often it is simply an inconvenience. [Further statistics show that .065% of abortions are from the woman's life being in danger, .288% are because of the woman's physical health being threatened, .666% were from a fetal abnormality, and 6.268% were due to social or economic reasons.] I share this with you for 2 reasons. The first is to expose that over 92% of the time, abortion is a decision of convenience. Or inconvenience, whichever way you choose to look at it. The second reason I share this with you is to assure you that standing in the gap - caring for the orphan - is an inconvenience.

 

This summer we will be affirming 3 new deacons at The Brook. One of those deacons will be Sara Couch, whose husband Matt is already one of our current deacons. Matt and Sara are a vital part of our worship team, and host/lead one of our Missional Communities. As experienced foster parents themselves over the last several years, we have asked Matt and Sara to lead our efforts to effectively serve all of our foster and adoptive families and to help us cultivate new ways of serving the foster and adoptive community in our city. I do not believe these things are all happening simultaneously by accident or coincidence. This is clearly the Lord's timing.

 

As I've touched on what we can and should be doing as the Body of Christ, allow me to close by addressing how we should be responding to this watershed moment in our culture. To put it simply, as Jesus has called us to be salt and light to the world around us, the only way to accomplish this is through understanding our own brokenness and seeing the lost world around us through the loving eyes of the Father. While social media or TV will show you the extremes (there are most certainly people out there who are completely driven by evil and darkness), most women who ever contemplate the horror of abortion are consumed by shame, guilt, embarrassment, loneliness, and fear. Hate and anger will not drive them to the Lord. Only the love of God manifested in and through the people of God will overcome darkness. So, these are not days to boast or gloat, but to walk in humility and grace. May we walk and live as Jesus did.

 

Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery. But he also did not overlook her sin. He told her, "Go and sin no more."

 

Jesus did not condemn the Samaritan woman at the well. But he also did not pretend that her empty pursuit for hope and peace would eventually pay off. He showed her and told her where to find living water!

 

Friends, it's time our PRO-LIFE stance become way bigger and bolder than simply being ANTI-ABORTION. If we are going to be truly pro-life, then our own lives will be interruptible. We will most certainly be "inconvenienced." But this is the worship our Lord is looking for.

 

In describing true fasting and worship, God said, "Is it not to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own family? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise from the darkness..." (Isaiah 58:6-10) [italics mine]

 

Join me in crying out to our Heavenly Father:

Lord, please open our eyes and break our hearts, that we might be willing to be poured out for those who need you. Make our lives interruptible; living sacrifices for the sake of the gospel. Your Kingdom come; your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

 

I'm grateful for you and I'm praying for you today. May the Lord transform the world around us as we live intentionally to bring His Kingdom everywhere we go!

Hurt By the Church

Over the years I’ve had numerous conversations with people who said these words: I’ve been hurt by the church. 

While some folks made this statement in a counseling session where deep wounds and hurts were possibly being shared, others have actually been very casual, in a conversation at the gym or even simply in passing. When someone made this comment to me most recently (just a few weeks ago) for some reason it was like someone shoved a stick in the spokes of my bike. It stopped me dead in my tracks. Some very clear thoughts flooded my mind and I felt I needed to share them.

The first thing that needs to be communicated is that I fully and firmly believe there are individuals, couples, and even families who have been wounded by people, pastors, groups, and decisions made within the church. Groups have been so exclusive that new families could never find their way in. Pastors have misused their authority and acted more like King Herod than King Jesus. Theological differences have been expressed as dogma and isolated people to the point that they felt pushed out. I could go on and on, but the fact remains: people have been hurt in the church.

It's imperative that we key in on that last statement.

SIDENOTE: I get really hung up on words. So much so, many close to me might even say I obsess over them. Words can be like a scalpel or a bulldozer; two very different tools for very different uses and purposes. You better choose the right one. Back to the point.

Every single time I have had this feeling or experience shared with me, it has been expressed with the words: I've been hurt by the church. Here's why this statement and idea can be so detrimental and destructive, both to the churches being referenced and the individuals who feel they've been wounded: the Church didn't hurt you.

The Church is the Body of Christ.

Granted, the Church (and the local churches through which it is expressed) is made up of people. Fallible, sinful people. Those people often make mistakes, make self-centered decisions, and put themselves first. People hurt people. Even in the church. Pastors and priests have abused church members. Congregations have split over utterly minuscule disagreements, leaving many members in shock and confusion. The list of circumstances is much longer than any of us would like to admit. People are hurt in the church all the time. And maybe you're one of those people. If so, I hope to encourage you with some thoughts.

People are hurt in dating relationships all the time as well. A boyfriend doesn't listen to the word, "No." A girlfriend convinces herself it's OK to cheat. Someone goes to dinner expecting a possible greater commitment, only to be told, "This isn't working out. It's not you; it's me."

OUCH! You can almost feel the dagger going through your heart.

In this instance, dating didn't hurt you; your boyfriend did. The "institution" of dating didn't break its commitment; your girlfriend did. And while it may take weeks or months - possibly even years - to come to the point that you feel like you can open yourself back up, become vulnerable, and begin dating again, you eventually tell yourself to get back on the horse, get back in the game, stick your neck and your heart out there and date again. It's what you do. You're a little fearful. You wonder how it's going to go. But you know it's worth it. And eventually, you date again.

The Church is not your boyfriend. The Church is the Body of Christ.

Someone or something in your church may have hurt you in the past. Many have been there. When I was still fairly young in ministry, I dropped the ball with a few things I'd been asked to do. The way those "over me" handled the situation left me hurt, embarrassed, and even bitter for quite some time. A year later it took a shouting match on the side of the road between me and the Lord for me to leave those wounds at the Cross and turn them over to Him. But I knew from the outset, the Church didn't hurt me; those individuals did. I didn't leave or divorce the local church. That was never an option. Through the mercy and grace of God - through the power of the gospel - the Lord healed those wounds. And He's used them in my own heart and life to pay close attention to how I disciple, lead, affirm, and even rebuke those that the Lord has called me to shepherd.

I am part of the Body of Christ. And if you are a follower of Christ, so are you. Divorce is not an option.

I don't know how long the wound has festered or the hurt has been hardening in your heart, but I exhort and admonish you today: come back! 

If you forsake the bride, you are rejecting the bridegroom. 

Jesus says, "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." Right now, the Bride of Christ is crying out to the Lord, "Come, Lord Jesus!" It's a corporate groaning and longing for all things to be made new. I encourage you today: Come. Come and find your place in the Body of Christ and join the cry that is going to ring through eternity: "Come, Lord Jesus!"

Christ loves the Church. He gave His life for her.

We are the Body of Christ. We are the Church.

May our love for one another show a lost world the love of the Savior!

"Come, Lord Jesus!"