1 Church 3 Buildings

Today we had a great day!  No projects, No Chores. Just worship.  We had the privilege to attend 3 different churches today.  Yes you heard me, 3 churches.   There was a time in my life that I would have said no way to such an idea.  Not now.  I know that I am heading for a life of NO privilege. I will not have the opportunity to be in churches where women and men sing together.  I will not get to see the cool lights, stage setups, full bands, and sub woofers when I am incarcerated.  I expect to find church services but I expect them to be very limited.  That is OK, as I can worship God with my voice, words and in my heart and anywhere!

There are 3 churches that mean so much to us; Faith Fellowship Church, North Ridge Church and ValleyBrook Church.  At each church I was surrounded by people who love us and stand by us on this journey. It was wonderful to share in worshiping our God at each church today.  They are so alive and full of people who are seeking God. We are blessed to have these 3 faith communities.

These churches have had such an impact in our lives and mean so much to us!  Each has something different to offer that have deeply impacted and shaped our lives.  All of them have one focus; to reach people for Jesus!  Is one more right than the other? Is one better than the other?  No!  Each church has a different personality and a little different style.  There are things that we like about each one of them. The way I see it is that as a Christ Follower, I am part of the church of Jesus Christ.  He is the head of the church.  We have buildings where we gather to worship him but these are simply different campuses of the same church.  Each campus has a community of Christ Followers that love and support each other.

We call NRC our church home.  This is where God has called us to be.  We are a part of a small group community that has been so supportive over the past year.  Our discussions are often deep and challenge us.  Our prayer time is filled with big requests and bigger and answers from God!  It is a rich time with earnest and heartfelt prayer.  

It is here at NRC that we were able to find healing from my sin. There are many people here who came along side of us and are walking with us. They accepted us and let me tell my story without rejecting me. The messages from the pastor seemed to be coordinated along with the study we had in PURE 83 miles away.  This could only be led by the Holy Spirit. The Pastors here have a strong vision of bringing awareness and recovery from addiction to pornography.  They brought in a guest speaker from California to host the first ever “Porn Weekend” event in Marshfield.  Then they allowed me and a member of FFC to lead a group of men through the same study of PURE that I went through at VBC.  This was a RADICAL move but it changed many lives! Yet it was a combined effort of all 3 churches working together to make this happen!

Our kids and grand kids attend FFC and we have been attending there for a long time.  People at this church have seen me at my worst. This is back when God was trying to reach me but I was too full of pride to listen.  Unfortunately they saw me living out my old self created identity; the one where I was in control and tried to run my life and a few others.  That did not go well for me. I thank God for the Grace they have shown me and the reconciliation we have through forgiveness!  The pastors here are full of grace and have walked with me through finding forgiveness of those who I had wronged. It was painful but rewarding!  Reconciliation is a wonderful gift from God! I thank God for how they walked with me through this process!!

Today, we were able to witness the first service in their new building.  God has blessed them with a wonderful church building.  I watch as my son played his guitar with the worship team.  I am so proud to watch him praise God with his talent.  I was able to sit next him and his beautiful wife.  I watched as my grand children ran to hug me after the service.  People gathered around and offered encouragement love and prayers for us as we walk down this road.  It was great to be there today. 

VBC is a church that God has used in such a big way in my life!  This is a church that offered the PURE ministry that God led me to last summer.  This is a ministry that reaches out to men with addictions to pornography and sexual addiction.  This is exactly what I needed!  Despite the 163 round trip miles it was worth every mile!  I have not kept track of every trip but I estimate I have made about 30 trips to this church in the past year. That is almost 5,000 miles.  At 1.5 hours each way that is about 90 hours of drive time which were mostly spent listening to podcasts, audio books, worship songs and meditation. 

I have built some strong friendships with people there who share the same addictions including the pastor who leads this group. He has become a mentor, teacher and a wonderful friend!  He is a Freedom Fighter! Through this ministry, I have come to understand the story of my life.  I have learned who I am in Christ and what it means to have a new identity. In fact, I have found my new name that identifies my new life in Christ; Bryan McFreedom.   I praise God for this church and the ministry they have!  Every time I go to this church for our group meetings or church services, my heart is overwhelmed with love.

All of the people in each of these churches have played a strong part in my life! We will always stay connected to all of these churches as we have made such strong friendships in all of these churches!  These are friendships that will last a lifetime and long into eternity.  I thank God for each and every one of them! Now do you see how God brought these 3 churches together to make an impact in my life? God is so amazing!  I consider myself to be a member of each one of these churches.

In my new identity in Christ;

Bryan McFreedom