"Buildings Don't Go To Heaven, People Do."

It seems like yesterday we were about to close the deal on the building. In fact, it was one year ago this week that we received the news that we were approved for the purchase of the new building.  One year ago this coming Friday was when I received the call from the bank that we had been approved and we could close before the end of the year.  I remember well because I was on the way to Memphis to run in the St. Jude Half Marathon when I got the call.  We ended up closing  on the building later in December.

A lot has transpired since that time. We took possession of the building and late January we had our first work day. We have worked steadily since that time. We have had six teams from outside our church that have come in and assisted us in the process.  In addition to those six teams, our friend Danny Smith has been our general contractor throughout the process. Countless numbers of people from NorthStar have worked tirelessly moving us forward to the point we are today.  For all of this we are grateful. We are especially grateful for the way God has worked so mightily among us preparing us to enter the building.

I am reminded of what  Lemuel Penelver, a pastor friend of ours from the Philippines, said to us about church buildings: "Buildings don't go to Heaven, People do."  This puts it in prospective when it comes to our task.  Our job is to share the good news with others. In the end, the buildings we use are just a tool to assist us in making His name known to all the world.  Having said this, I am thankful that the people at NSC have the vision to reach people for Christ and our building is secondary.

It is all about priority and focus.  While we work hard trying to get in our new building, we must always keep our focus on the reason we are spending the time constructing.  It is so that we can spread the base and reach more for Christ.  With this in mind, we must continue to work to get in the building so that we can fulfill the purpose in which we were created.  The work is going great and we are in the final stages of being ready to prime the walls for painting.  I am so excited about the day we will be able to enter the building but I am more excited about the lives that are going to be changes because so many worked so hard bringing it to completion.