Encouraging Word

God is just so cool! Grant and I had a discussion with an individual here in town over Thanksgiving that was very frustrating. I won't get into the details but it just felt like it was very negative toward our city and toward ministry in our city (even though they were involved in ministry). Nuff said.

Our life group lesson in James 3 tonight was on the power of the tongue. How it is a small thing but able to start "fires" just like a small spark. In fact James says the tongue is set on fire by hell itself. WOW! Strong warning about the words we use. We had some great discussion in the group about the use of the tongue, and James 3 just has some great word pictures.

(Side Note: One of the coolest things about Life Groups to me is hearing other peoples perspective on the Scripture and on life. We're in this thing together. We need to learn from each other)

Anyway, I got an email today that was just what the doctor ordered. We had a guest in church Sunday. He's a local pastor here in town. Had no idea he was there but he had some very encouraging words that he put on his blog today and I wanted to share them with you. His name is Brian and he is the equipping pastor at Cheyenne Evangelical Free Church. Here is the link or I'll paste the text below.

"Yesterday, I was able to do something that comes about only four times per year. I was able to visit another church. I took yesterday off, but was back in town from our vacation in the mountains. So my wife and I decided to attend another church here in Cheyenne. It was the first time that we have actually been able to attend a different church in Cheyenne (except when I occasionally speak at other area churches).

Jenny and I attended a new church plant in Cheyenne called the Element Church. It meets on Sunday mornings in the movie theater at the mall.

It is good to be the visitor sometimes. You realize that visitors do not know exactly where to go or what to expect. You realize that they need some sort of direction. I'm happy to say that the Element Church's greeters where really friendly and steered us in the right direction and one lady even showed us exactly where we needed to drop off the kids and where things were. It really helped to put us at ease.

As for the service, the Element Church is only a couple of months old, so we did not know quite what to expect with them being in their infancy. After the first worship song and video introducing their next series, it was obvious that their infancy was nothing to worry about. For a brand new church, they had it together and did things very well. I was impressed. They are putting much energy and thought behind this church plant mixed with some creative thinking and problem solving.

However, the thing that I liked most about this church was their emphasis of putting an extremely high value on serving the community of Cheyenne. They are not about being content within four walls of a church (yes, a church could get internally focused even if they are meeting in a movie theater), they want to impact and serve the city. They want this city to be a better place and bring hope to those who are hurting. This is something that we are focusing on more and more as a congregation and it's exciting to see another church that has a heart for the community rather than just existing for itself.

I'm glad for this. I support this. I am thankful that the Element Church is a new addition to our community. You could call me a fan of this new church plant. This may sound weird coming from a pastor at a different church but it shouldn't. It should not be weird because we are all a part of the same Kingdom. We are all a part of the Church. We are on the same team. Thus, we need to celebrate when another church is doing something well and bringing glory to God.

Thanks, Element. I trust God will continue to bless your efforts!

Brian"

Thank you Brian! You don't know how much it means for us to have the support of other pastors in town. Very encouraging words! May God bless you for that!

Dudes, we are all about JESUS! We believe that JESUS is the only way for us to receive Life and to enter heaven. We believe JESUS is the only thing (element) that can make us into who we are intended to be. We believe JESUS through HIS local church is the HOPE OF THE WORLD. Folks, that should light a fire in our belly that cannot be quenched.

Will we all agree on strategy, mission, vision or even doctrine? NO! But if we can reach people with JESUS we can change the world! MAN that gets me going.