Today, my church of 85 people raised $1,070.00 for the homeless and hungry in our city – Salem, MA. I love my church for that. But I also love the way we raised that money. Every Tuesday in the month of October we fasted. We gave up things we like to eat, things we like to drink, things we like to do and saved that money for an offering we received today. I think that’s awesome, and biblical (see Isaiah 58). 
In a day and age where local churches receive so much negative criticism, I can confidently say that I love my church. We are not perfect, nor do we try to be. We do not want to be the best church IN Salem, we want to be the best church FOR Salem. Many people are cynical of evangelical churches, sometimes deservedly so. But there are many fantastic churches out there and I am proud to say that the church I belong to is one of them.
We had a beautiful service today with music, preaching, prayer, kids activities, mission and community. But my favorite part of the service was to 1,070 reasons why I love my tribe, my church. Authentic, biblical community is powerful. I am grateful to be a part of one.
Something to Ink about 