Forgiving, Loving, and Serving

Lately I have been thinking about posting some encouraging words for anyone here that might be discouraged by the state of the church these days. There have been times when I was deeply discouraged and all I could do is hold on to the hope that we would find our place in the Body of Christ.

I personally had to come to the place that my first responsibility was to follow Christ and trust He would lead my wife and I. The years I had sat under good teaching and my personal study of God's Word while seeking Him led me back to the simplicity of a relationship with Him. That includes responding to the clear instructions He has already given us.

Loving, forgiving, serving others is always an option. I know the context of a local fellowship is important, but there are times when we found ourselves unable to fit in for whatever reason.

This passage helped me many times: Ps 27:13:

"I had fainted , unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living."

The goodness of the Lord sustained us and now we have relationships that are solid and growing and have many opportunities to serve His loved ones.

Some of the advice we receive here might be helpful, but our first priority is to our Lord, who is still building His church, which the gates of hades can not withstand!