FBC .... M?

I did something today that I have not done in nearly 24 years. I joined a church. It is a very good church. It is a fairly large church. The pastor is a friend of mine and he has an excellent staff. Their building is beautiful. The praise team and choir were top notch. The drama was great. The message timely and scriptural.

And then they gave an "invitation" and my wife, my son and I joined. This is what our new church looks like.



I was just looking over that picture and I realized that I do not know what is behind any of those windows. I do not know how many floors my church has. Do we have an elevator? How about those all important fire exits? How many pastor's do I have? If I call the church phone number who will answer? What time does the offfice close? What time does the office open? Where IS the office? Do we have a fellowship hall? Is it in the basement? Do we even have a basement? How many acres do we have? What is our budget? Is there a Sunday School class my wife and I will feel comfortable in?

I do not have an answer to any of those questions. I joined "FBC ... M" because "MCC" didn't seem to meet our needs. "BBC" was a little too far. "FBC ... M" kind of became the default church.

And you know what? I'm good with that.

I do not know how long I will be there. I do not know that I will attend every Sunday. Now is my chance to visit around. I may go on some Wednesday nights ... maybe not. There are a lot of things I do not know about my church.

But there is something that I do know.

I have always said that if God gives me a chance to be a member of a church that I am not on staff at I am going to do everything I can to show people how to love the pastor and the staff. I am going to go the extra mile to show them how to bless and not harm. NEVER harm. Harm within the church is not right. Ever. Attacking your pastor is not right. Ever. And now I have the chance to live out what I have told God I will live out. I am not sure exactly how I will do that but I plan on putting together a strategy. I may leave "FBC ... M" in 3 months. Maybe 6. I hope it will not be a year but I serve at the pleasure of King Jesus and He holds my calendar in His nail scarred hand. And so, for as long as I am there, one pastor and his staff are going to get loved. And blessed. And cared for.

You see, it does not matter to me if we have an elevator or a basement. Those things are ... things. But now I have a pastor to love. Watch closely. I want to teach you something. He'll never know what hit him.

My calling from God right now ... love. Serve. Encourage. I am tired of bleeding. Tired of the battle. Tired of relentless ugliness and cruel attacks. Tired .... sick and tired of mean. Now I am simply a guy in a pew. And I am going to do what a guy in a pew is suppose to do. I may not be there long ... but I will make sure my shepherds are sorry to see me leave.

Let the fun begin ...