September 17, 2007

Dear Friends,                                               

May our great and wonderful Lord Jesus, Who knows us completely and loves us with an everlasting, all encompassing love, keep us pure and without fault as we eagerly await His return.  I am missing so many of you as your faces flash past my mind, and I long to greet you with a holy kiss.

I returned from Taiwan tired and worn out; then overspent myself physically doing the seminar for elders and church leaders in Portland. I have not written one word in the book on "church." (Anybody got cheese to go with this whine?)

However, the malaise in my writing assignment is not so much because of tiredness, allergies, or any other physical reason. My theology is being tested, challenged, and shaken.

God must enjoy blowing the doors off all the cubbyholes where I had sorted and stored all my doctrines, teachings, and insights about Church, His Body, and His Kingdom. I know He assigned this writing to me, and I am actually getting excited about what I might have to say about church. However, I am not ready yet. Pray with me that it will click in soon.

Betty and Sarah went on the road again for a pro-life rally in Queretero, Mexico. It was a clear assignment from the Lord for Sarah even though she was physically not up to it. They went, holding the Lord to the deal that as He said to go, He would have to provide strength and ability. Guess what? He did!

A nearby priest in Mexico with a healing ministry prayed for Sarah for an hour and a half. He is in demand and usually only spends a few minutes with people. God touched Sarah mightily during the time and there were noticeable changes in her carriage and freedom and pain levels. The people where they stayed noticed it, and I did too when they got off the plane, and during this week.

So, another Roman Catholic  Priest has joined the large contingent of God’s warriors praying for Sarah, and God used him in a powerful way. And, all of this happening while I am writing, What Is This Thing We Call Church?  I remember Bob Mumford’s observation that as he traveled throughout all the different expressions of "church," it seemed as if where there was the most Bible (fundamentalists, evangelicals, etc.) there was the least love, and where there was the least Bible, there was the most love. He cited the example of biblically illiterate Catholics who overwhelmed him with their love, and I might add some of the New Agers. Shades of James  3:10 “..This should not be so.” But, it is so! We have all seen it.

I think God overlooks a lot of stuff, but He still desires purity and unmixed devotion. Love is greater than faith in all its facets, and it is greater than hope, and is in fact the fulfilling of the law. So, here I am with a Priest who theologically and Biblically…who knows... but who loved on my daughter with the love and healing virtue of Jesus for an hour and a half. There is one church and only one church and it is certainly not just Roman Catholic; but, however you embrace it, that priest is my brother and fellow member of Christ. Aye yi yi.

I keep telling myself that I do not have to fail, but that if I do, I want to fail on the side of love, but even that can be a cop out statement. I must remain true to Him completely, and being true to Him means that I love others the same way He loves me - even my enemies. Who is up for such a task - only Jesus, but He lives in me.

The “church” is this people who are indwelt by Jesus. The “church” is the entity for whose benefit all of heaven and earth, all things visible and invisible, are governed. So, even the weather and sun spots happen in ways that will benefit us in our assignments, for we are the fullness of Christ, Who fills everything in every way.  (Ephesians 1:22,23 and Colossians 1:16)

God help us, beloved, to live like who we are.

Love,

Frank