The Church

I have had the privilege of serving on the staff of Fellowship Church (the best local church in the world according to my opinion, and I will go toe to toe with anyone on this!) for the past 8 years. Throughout those years I have been surrounded by some awesome people - on our staff, in our volunteer ranks and the members/attendees of Fellowship Church. In my profession we deal with the best and the worst things in peoples' lives. And over the years I have seen God do amazing things through people. But it has never been as personal as it is now.

Within minutes of losing our friend and pastor, Jimmy York, the church (read as "the people") responded. And the response has been like a tsunami...it just keeps growing, welling up from deep within the church. This wave of love has left me stunned. I have taught for years how important it is to support those in need, those in crisis. I have preached about meeting one another's needs, about grieving with those who grieve and celebrating with those who have reason to celebrate. But now I am not preaching it; I am living it. And I am living it from the other side. I find myself and my closest friends as the recipients of this outflow of love and support. It is AWESOME in the truest sense of the word.

Tricia York has been surrounded by the love of her church. Innumerable prayers have been lifted up. People have offered to babysit, they have brought meals, written cards, shared memories, and given money to the Jimmy York memorial fund. They have walked her through the process of changing accounts to her name, filing with Social Security, and making the insurance claim. There are dads helping the boys learn to fish, to hit a baseball and swing golf clubs. Stay-home moms drop in and check on Tricia, give her a chance to run errands without a 2 kids in tow, and offer emotional support. Men are lining up to mow the yard, paint the house, clean the garage, plant the flowers, and trim the hedge. The volume of cards, calls, emails, blog comments and facebook messages is mind numbing. And that is only what is happening at the York house. Trena and I have experienced so much of the same...people praying, encouraging, supporting, cooking for us, and I don't even know what else. It is amazing. This is the church in action! This is what the church does! This is what only the church can do!

Jesus commands us, "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35


He said that to the ragged few who were the very beginning of the church. If you read the book of Acts, which is the account of the earliest days of the Christian church, you will find that they took him seriously. And today the church lives on and loves on. The body of Christ is alive and well and functioning at a very high level. Thank you, church, for all your love.