Our church service this week was really fascinating.  We spent the entire time talking about a new name for the church instead of our normal discussion of theology.  It could be perceived as a total waste of time, after all we never got to the sermon, but I left feeling edified, lifted up, and more connected with my community. 

It leads me to my soapbox about knowing who you are in Christ.  It seems as if trying to figure out who you are in Christ is often confused with being self-centered which is really sad.  If you aren't comfortable with yourself, then you are crippled in your ability to function fully in God's plan for your everyday life, and to interact with loved ones in the way that you truely desire.  You need to know who you are separate from what you've been groomed to be.  In other words, what did God invest in you from the beginning?  Sensitivity?  Logic?  Attention to detail?  Love of children?  The ability to teach?  etc.

I believe that I left the church feeling edified because we paused to review what God has showed us over the course of the church.  The bits and pieces of information that he has revealed to us about who we are supposed to be.  He shows us these truths about our design in order to edify us; we should not overlook the importance of this simply because we are so worried about being prideful.  Honestly, you are less likely to struggle with pride if you are truly comfortable in who you were designed to be.

So, who are we as a church?  We have learned that we are accepting, genuine, loving, passionate, funny, joyful, diverse, complicated, familial, committed, misunderstood, relational, sensitive, unique, unified, and loyal.  This is only part of the list we came up with (some of which may not be suitable for all ears).  But, what a list! 

My hope is that we take this list, and are impowered to move more boldly than we have been in the past.

Well, I have taken quite awhile to sit down and write this update on our trip.  Part of it I blaim on being a parent and full-time employee, but some of it has been the difficulty in qualifying what happened in Mexico. 

The facts are: we had 20 people at church on Sunday; the service has moved to an earlier time in the day (which accomodates us better); one person gave their life to the Lord (glory hallelujah); we talked about the kingdom of God, healing prayer and intimacy with God; and people were challenged by the messages and open to change.

The truth is that God moves in mysterious ways, so even though all the facts above are accurate, it falls short of the real picture.  I see our trip as an eye-opening experience.  It is as though His children have had a veil over their eyes, which prevented them from seeing some of the wonderful things that God offers us, but the veil is slowly being pulled away.

There is a real need for prayer in the following areas: for the number of leaders to increase; for God to impart a vision of building/growing the church in Reynosa; and for the leaders to inrease in their spiritiual maturity and ability to lead.

In addition, I would like to ask all of you to pray for the Houston area leaders that are participating in the edification of the Reynosa Vineyard.  We need protection and wisdom as we go travel down the road of growth with Reynosa.

I took a couple pictures while in Mexico which I will post shortly.