What’s Right with This Church

When I was at Heritage Christian University, all of us faculty members wore several “hats,” as is common at small universities. Not only was I a faculty member, but I was the social media director and took care of the school’s online presence. I started a blog not long after I took over the school’s social media accounts; because so many were running down the body of Christ at the time, I asked several good friends of the university to write articles on “What’s Right with the Church.” We ran one of those articles in this space last week.

But this week I wanted to share some reflections I’ve had on “What’s Right with This Church.” Nine months ago, I moved halfway across the country to work here after only meeting the elders and their wives. Yet, I was persuaded then—and more firmly so now—that God was opening a door for effective ministry here. Let me tell you why I believe this is a good and solid church.

We have faithful elders.

Some might cynically say, “Yeah, the preacher’s gonna praise the guys who sign his paycheck.” But you’ve neither had my experiences in ministry nor have you seen our elders from my perspective.

• Let me be perfectly honest, I’ve worked with men who should never have been asked to pastor a congregation of God’s people—some didn’t meet the qualifications outlined in Scripture and others allowed public sin to fester in their lives. Not so our elders.
• Let me tell you something else about our elders—they love this church. I work closely with these men. I’ve seen them pray for souls. I’ve seen their emotions. They love you, they love me, they love the Lord, and they love his church.
• If I may go on, these are wise men. Even if I can’t share something specific because of confidentiality, I’ll often go home after meeting with Jimmy and Scott and tell Tammy, “Wow, they came up with an idea I hadn’t even considered. Those guys are really smart.”

We have faithful outreach.

The Wheelhouse, the Prayer Tent, the pillow ministry, and World Bible School are great ways to serve this community and beyond. This church doesn’t just care about “keeping house,” but you care about sharing the truth with those lost in sin.

We have faithful service.

There are so many in this congregation willing to do whatever they can for the cause of Christ. I hear from several about the visits they’re making or the prayers they’re praying or the service they’re rendering. Others will tell me if I know of anyone who needs anything to call them, and they mean it.

I could go on and on about how things are right here. Yeah, we’re not perfect—we’re made up of imperfect people, after all, but the future is bright. We’re small, but God can do great things with something small (remember David and his one little stone against Goliath?). Let’s thank God for the Church of Christ Deer Park!

This article was originally written by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., for the weekly newsletter at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.