I have spent all my life believing in God. But I’ve only spent the last five learning who He is and learning to trust and believe in His Word.  The truth is I found it hard to reconcile a loving God with some abuse I experienced early in life. But I still believed in God. I just didn’t believe in His promises of peace, hope, and joy. I tried to please God but I lived a life a life chasing people’s approval over God’s approval. This let to bad decisions violated God’s call for purity and allowed me to justify horrible betrayals of trust. So in reality I didn’t deserve God’s love anyway. What changed? I found Jesus. No he wasn’t lost but I was. I found Him in the only place He can be found…in His people. I met people who were sold out to following Jesus wherever He led–not with perfection but with consistency. Their’s were the hugs from Jesus. Their’s were the word of Jesus come alive in a way in a way different from the Bible. Hearing that God loved me from lips of flesh trumped reading it in a book. The I realized the obviousness of the truth, God’s church is the physical form Jesus takes in this world today. We are His hand, feet, eyes and lips. It’s a daunting responsibility. God’s ambassador with power to speak on behalf of our King. God’s warriors to fight for the soul of men in the world and on our knees. God’s prophets to call a lost world to repentance. It’s the very meaning of our lives. Everything we do-work church parenting, relationships – is to that end. Thanks for letting me share.