the Morning Jog: Sell-Outs

My blogs normally consist of things I’m facing in my everyday life. While this does affect me personally, I wanted to deviate from my normal rhetoric and say how PROUD I am of the church community I'm a part of.

Because of what happened to our church building this past Thursday morning, today’s service was not our normal Sunday gathering. Tropical Depression Nicole blew in and caused substantial flooding in the Harford County area. Pastor Wade walked in Thursday afternoon to find over 2 inches of water in our place of worship.

Immediately our human side asks the question…Why?
God, our schedules are set up for something else…Why?
We are trying to prepare for this up-coming event…Why?
This was simply not on the schedule…Why?

(Our driveway)
(Forest Hill, MD)

Right in the middle of a disaster such as this, I witnessed a church community come together this morning to prove that God’s church is about so much more than a building. Lights,

sound equipment, carpet, and walls can be replaced…but God’s presence has no substitute. And this group came together today and gave their all not only to provide a place of worship, but also to give thanks for what we do have.

In his message today, Pastor Wade mentioned some unseen qualities of the church that fit so appropriately. If you choose to be included in God’s church, you can count on experiencing pain, risk, and loss. If you don’t have some painful moments in this walk with Him, you might need to look deep within at how close to Him you really are. Walking with God can be ‘risky business’ at times. Why do you think faith in God is so important? And a life must be lost in order to truly find it.

Pain causes us to want to pull back.
Risk can cause us to not take that next leap.
Loss can be much too high a price to pay for some.
To become the church though, all three are a must.

So in the midst of the unexpected, are we in this thing or out?

Mark Grissom said it well at the conclusion of today's service:

"I was willing to buy in, but God has been asking me lately to sell out." Buying in is a great thing, but selling out goes to a whole other level. God’s church should be known for nothing less. It’s such a thrill to be linked with of a bunch of ‘sell-outs.’