Our God Whom We Serve

As many of you know I attend Great Lakes Christian Church in Warren, Michigan. This week I've decided to write just a little about my church in order to clear up some misinformation that has been making the rounds. I've heard several versions of what has gone on in Warren and there's always an element of inaccuracy in each one. While it is not my intention to detail the events of 2009, what I will say is that important facts have been omitted, skewing peoples perceptions of this church [1][2]. The rumors that have been circulating have led some to question the legitimacy and order of this church. Thus I feel to write about the current condition of GLCC in Warren in order to give a more perfect picture of how God is meeting us today.

There is no one in our church that wouldn't recognize that there was great turmoil last summer. It affected us all, from our eldest saints down to the little children just beginning to perceive what was going on around them. I myself at one time did not see how we would survive the shaking and trouble that our church was experiencing. To be completely honest it wasn't until some time had past that I was able to look back with enough clarity to be able to see that Jesus had His hand on us even in the midst of our problems.

I think a good example of how we felt can be found in Daniel 3:20 as I'm sure that many of us could relate to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they were tossed in the fiery furnace. During the entire summer we were feeling the heat and while I can't say that I had the faith of these men at the time, I've come to realize that just like them, we had a Fourth Man in the fire (Dan 3:25).

I can't say for certain that all of our shaking is over, there may still be some aftershocks coming our way, but we are moving forward. Some of us have been hurt and those wounds take time to heal, but they are healing. I'd say that right now we are in a stabilization mode and we are still discovering that although we have been shaken, our foundation has not been and that we can still hold onto the solid rock. I can also happily report that much like after a forest has been devastated by a fire there come signs of new life, I see signs of new life in our church and an renewed expectancy for more of the same to come.

Earlier this year I got up on a Sunday night and sang a song to the church. I told the people that I was singing it because I could say that it had once again become true of our church. That song was Sweet, Sweet Spirit and thank God that when I sang the line "There are sweet expressions on each face", it could not have been more accurate. You see, our Fourth Man in the fire has never left us and we have begun to trust in Him and rely on Him more fully than before.

Just this week I've heard three separate stories from different people telling that when they too felt the despair and anguish that we experienced last year crushing down on them, what got them through was that they still felt Jesus with them. I think that each of us on an individual level as well as a corporate level have begun to recognize the presence of our Fourth Man in the fire, and we are being renewed because of it.

My church is not the same church it was even just a few years ago, we've changed and we are still changing but that change is for the better. We're becoming stronger and more sure of the wonderful things God has in store for us. We're becoming a closer knit family and our sorrow is being turned into joy (John 16:20). It is my estimation that we are becoming a church whose testimony has become "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us" (Dan 3:17). The next time that this church is shaken we will look back to the last year and know without a shadow of doubt that "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us".

I want to encourage those of you who are reading this who do not attend GLCC in Warren to come and visit us and see for yourself that what I've said in this post is true. The perfect opportunity for this is nine days away at our Regional Fellowship meeting, however even if you cannot attend this meeting, I'd still encourage you to come and visit us if you can. Don't rely on either the rumor mill or me alone to determine the legitimacy of the church in Warren, come and see that sure enough there is a Fourth Man in the fire with us and that He is continuing to meet us on a daily basis. Find out that regardless what some might say, God is not through with His church in Warren (Phil 1:6).

References:

[1] http://paulbdyal.blogspot.com/2009/08/letter-with-comments.html
[2] http://paulbdyal.blogspot.com/2009/08/are-we-leaving-established-pattern.html
(Note: I am assuming that these posts refer to the church in Warren because of the detail and timing even though they do not name us directly)