a great leader

I am reading from Nehemiah right now and am amazed at what a great leader he was. He was passionate, resourceful and most importantly he loved his people. He was so deeply saddened by the destruction of his city.

Some of you may know that I am on staff at a church plant downtown Buffalo. It has been an amazing journey since we started attending in September and then me joining the staff in November. God is at work in this city and it is so awesome to be a part of it!! I think about the love that our church has for our city, how even yesterday we were talking about parts of it that are in distress. There are parts of our city of Buffalo that are like third world countries. Pastor Jose's church doesn't have electricity or heat sometimes and its a struggle for them to pay the bill. There are people and families in our city that go without food. There is no doubt there is need all around us here. BUT God is at work!!! He is using us to help rebuild the city....to network and partner with what he is doing.

I am so excited because we are looking at a possible building for our church to gather in. We really want to be a beacon of light to this community. A safe place where people can see life change and transformation lived out on a daily basis. A place of hope and comfort and peace.

I keep thinking about Nehemiah and what lessons I can learn from this great leader. He had an insurmountable task ahead of him, but he also had the God of the universe on his side!