Oh no you didn't......Oh yes....I DID!

I'm going out on a limb.  I'm just gonna walk right out there to the tip of it.  Scott & I have been on a church staff for about 26 years now.  We've been around the block.  This isn't our first rodeo, as they say.  So when I say what I'm gonna say, I say it having had years of first hand, front line experience.  When something happens at church that you personally dislike or don't agree with and then you get angry and decide to quit everything and leave, who do you think you are hurting?  You aren't hurting the person or people you disagreed with.  They probably don't know or possibly don't care.  You ARE hurting yourself.  You ARE hurting God's church.  You ARE hurting your church family.  I know all about getting "fed up".  I know all about being "talked about".  I know all about being "the last man standing".  I know all about "disagreeable people".  Been there.  Done that.  Bought a million T-shirts.  If you quit now....you are letting satan win.  Plain and simple.  There, I said it....yep, I walked right out there on the very tip of that fragile limb and said it.  Let me tell you what I'm gonna do.  I'm NOT letting satan win!!  I'm NOT quitting!!  I REFUSE to let satan have his way.  I CHOOSE to forgive anyone who has hurt me.  I CHOOSE to let it go and give it to GOD.  He is the only one who has any business carrying that burden.  He is the ONLY one who has any business judging the hearts of others.  Not you, not me....God.  God sees the master plan and He holds the future in His hands.  He knows what tomorrow holds.  He already knew about what we are going through right now, and He is busy working in and through it my friends.  It's not your job to walk away when the going gets tough.  It's your job to stand up WITH God and go about His work more fervently than ever!  If you throw it all down and walk away, you are essentially throwing it down at God's feet and walking away from the work He asked YOU to do.  God works ALL things for good.  We HAD to go through EVERY bit of this in order for GOD'S plan to come about.  All of it, the good parts and the bad parts.  He's not just working in one person's life here....He is working in ALL our lives, weaving it all into a beautiful tapestry, one thread at a time.  You and I have no right to judge how or why He's doing it the way He is!  Listen, the only thing God is concerned about right now is whether or not YOU are gonna fulfill your part!  We've got to stop pointing at the splinter in our brother's and sister's eyes and get the plank out of our OWN!  What are you doing?  Where are you going?  Stop....Listen to God....and get back on track.  Stop letting satan pull you away from God's work.  Satan is having a party right now.  He thinks he's winning.  What he doesn't know is that Pastor Chuck & Raquel are doing God's will!  They are going to go to Brazil and they are going to win thousands to Christ!  They are going to change village after village.  They are going because GOD has called them to go and He used circumstances in their lives to show them the direction He wanted them to go!  It had nothing to do with you, with me, or with anyone else!  It is what GOD wanted to happen.  Who are we to question His actions or how He did it??  It had to be this way because that is how GOD wanted it to be.  Scott and I have actually been in a situation like this before.  We were "the last ones standing" on a staff in Tampa, Florida many years ago.  It wasn't easy.  As a matter of fact, it was one of the most difficult times in our lives!  Our boys were very small and I didn't work outside the home.  Scott was NEVER home because he was doing practically every job in the church.  It was very hard and I remember wondering why God would put us, and that church, through such a difficult time.  Perhaps it was to prepare us for this?  Who knows.  My beloved friends, you have got to get your focus back on what is important to God, and that is doing HIS work.  It's not gossiping about what's happened.  It's not seeking revenge on anyone you feel is responsible for our situation.  It's not holding grudges and despising your fellow church members.  It's not quitting and walking away.  You have no right to say that you can't stay in a place as long as this person or that person is there.  How are you any better than anyone else?  How is your sin any better than someone else's sin?  To God it's all the same.  He loves every single one of us lowly, dirty, unworthy, unwilling, whiny, sinners.  He looks at us through Jesus' blood and to Him, we are ALL His beloved children!  Now, I feel that tiny tip of a limb I've walked out on shaking a bit and it may be close to breaking so I'll step back now.  But know this, I love this church, and I'm not backing down to satan.  Even if that means I offend someone by saying so.  So let's get our eyes back on Jesus, pick up what we've thrown down, and get back to God's work.  It's not a sin to be angry.  But allowing anger to cause you to sin is a different story.  Carrying around grudges and anger towards someone is like taking poison and expecting it to kill the other person.  It only hurts you.  I challenge you this very minute, right where you are, to CHOOSE to forgive the ones who have hurt you or made you angry, no matter what they've done.  Forgiving them doesn't let them off the hook, it's not YOUR hook my friend.  It's God's.

Proverbs 24:10
If you faint in the day of advesity, your strength is small.

James 1:2-4
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

2 Chronicles 15:7
But you, take courage!  Do not let you hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.

1 Peter 4:12-13
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.