Dear Friends of Heartland:
Most of you are brokenhearted at last week's events that revealed that our beloved pastor would no longer be OUR pastor. Many of you are angry. Some are experiencing grief. I've felt myself wavering between so many emotions, too.
I can't understand. Not sure that I want to, either, if I'm being honest. I love the Peigh family dearly. I love their dedication to the church family, to the community, but most importantly, to God. They have given their heart over and over to us tirelessly for a long time. The thought of not seeing any of their smiling faces around the church building makes me extremely sad.
I don't understand the will of the Lord in every situation. I don't understand how or why the elders came to the decision they did. And I don't honestly know if the elders for sure DID hear the Lord's direction for the church and acted in the way they should have. I'm not them. And I'm not privy to the private prayers they prayed.
But as I've prayed and let the news sink in, I've had one constant thought: We put our trust in the elders of the church so, regardless of what I feel or think, they are in charge. That is difficult to accept and akin to the statement our parents would say, "Because I said so..."
We tend to trust our leadership until an unpopular decision is made. Guys, I honestly have hoped and even wondered if they DID make a mistake in this, but that just isn't gonna change things anyway. Leaders DO make mistakes sometimes. Man is flawed. But, God is NOT flawed. And He can take the biggest human errors and turn them into great masterpieces. But it takes us remembering that HE is the artist and we are merely the paints He uses. And the canvas this time around is the church, our church...Heartland.
Whether the elders made a mistake or not does NOT change the Artist working on this masterpiece. The canvas remains in the form of the building that houses Heartland. But the paints in His palette, those remain to be seen how they react.
Will they trust that God is still in control? Will they pray desperately for the church, for the elders, for the Peigh's, for each other? Will they remain steadfast in their love for all of His people? Or will they run? Will they spread untruths, gossip, and anger like fire? Will they leave the church all together?
Satan is reveling in the state of chaos and anger that is flying around. His sole purpose is to upend the church and his favorite method is one person starting a fire of discord, then another, then another. And this day and age it takes off faster than anything with social media.
I am choosing to not attend the elder's meeting tonight. Not because I don't care about what has happened. Not because I don't deeply love the Peigh's. Not because I wouldn't love to have more answers than I feel I have now. But, I am choosing not to go because I do not want to hear the negativity hurled at the elders. I do not want to be caught up in the painful drama of it all. And, after praying this week, I feel the Lord leading me to trust His hand. I realize that to some it will seem I don't care enough to fight for our church. But, that is simply untrue. Knowing some of the inner workings of how a church is run from the inside out, I know that the meeting tonight is to further explain things. But knowing the inner workings of a church turning on the leaders and how profoundly that hurts, I know I cannot be a part of that, either.
Be upset. Don't be. That's all up to you and I wouldn't try to take away the emotions you have or try to tell you you're wrong.
Do make your voice heard, though --- to the Lord. He is the One that needs you to bring things to Him. He needs your trust, your love and your devotion.
What scares me the most about this situation and if I had to guess, would be upsetting the Peigh's the most, too, would be that some will take this decision as a reason to walk away from the church for good. And that will break the Lord's heart, the Peigh's heart and, for what it's worth, mine. And Satan will rejoice. See, at that moment, Satan wins because the one that walked away for good was like one of the seeds sown on the side of the road in Matthew 13: 20The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Hold on, friends. The business of church is something I hate. Being a pastor's kid, it is something I've hated all my life. But the love of Christ, oh, that is the real deal. No matter what you do, hold tight to your faith in Him.
Praying for you all!
Most of you are brokenhearted at last week's events that revealed that our beloved pastor would no longer be OUR pastor. Many of you are angry. Some are experiencing grief. I've felt myself wavering between so many emotions, too.
I can't understand. Not sure that I want to, either, if I'm being honest. I love the Peigh family dearly. I love their dedication to the church family, to the community, but most importantly, to God. They have given their heart over and over to us tirelessly for a long time. The thought of not seeing any of their smiling faces around the church building makes me extremely sad.
I don't understand the will of the Lord in every situation. I don't understand how or why the elders came to the decision they did. And I don't honestly know if the elders for sure DID hear the Lord's direction for the church and acted in the way they should have. I'm not them. And I'm not privy to the private prayers they prayed.
But as I've prayed and let the news sink in, I've had one constant thought: We put our trust in the elders of the church so, regardless of what I feel or think, they are in charge. That is difficult to accept and akin to the statement our parents would say, "Because I said so..."
We tend to trust our leadership until an unpopular decision is made. Guys, I honestly have hoped and even wondered if they DID make a mistake in this, but that just isn't gonna change things anyway. Leaders DO make mistakes sometimes. Man is flawed. But, God is NOT flawed. And He can take the biggest human errors and turn them into great masterpieces. But it takes us remembering that HE is the artist and we are merely the paints He uses. And the canvas this time around is the church, our church...Heartland.
Whether the elders made a mistake or not does NOT change the Artist working on this masterpiece. The canvas remains in the form of the building that houses Heartland. But the paints in His palette, those remain to be seen how they react.
Will they trust that God is still in control? Will they pray desperately for the church, for the elders, for the Peigh's, for each other? Will they remain steadfast in their love for all of His people? Or will they run? Will they spread untruths, gossip, and anger like fire? Will they leave the church all together?
Satan is reveling in the state of chaos and anger that is flying around. His sole purpose is to upend the church and his favorite method is one person starting a fire of discord, then another, then another. And this day and age it takes off faster than anything with social media.
I am choosing to not attend the elder's meeting tonight. Not because I don't care about what has happened. Not because I don't deeply love the Peigh's. Not because I wouldn't love to have more answers than I feel I have now. But, I am choosing not to go because I do not want to hear the negativity hurled at the elders. I do not want to be caught up in the painful drama of it all. And, after praying this week, I feel the Lord leading me to trust His hand. I realize that to some it will seem I don't care enough to fight for our church. But, that is simply untrue. Knowing some of the inner workings of how a church is run from the inside out, I know that the meeting tonight is to further explain things. But knowing the inner workings of a church turning on the leaders and how profoundly that hurts, I know I cannot be a part of that, either.
Be upset. Don't be. That's all up to you and I wouldn't try to take away the emotions you have or try to tell you you're wrong.
Do make your voice heard, though --- to the Lord. He is the One that needs you to bring things to Him. He needs your trust, your love and your devotion.
What scares me the most about this situation and if I had to guess, would be upsetting the Peigh's the most, too, would be that some will take this decision as a reason to walk away from the church for good. And that will break the Lord's heart, the Peigh's heart and, for what it's worth, mine. And Satan will rejoice. See, at that moment, Satan wins because the one that walked away for good was like one of the seeds sown on the side of the road in Matthew 13: 20The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Hold on, friends. The business of church is something I hate. Being a pastor's kid, it is something I've hated all my life. But the love of Christ, oh, that is the real deal. No matter what you do, hold tight to your faith in Him.
Praying for you all!
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