Last week three hooded gunmen entered a church in California and sprayed the congregation with gunfire wounding two young men, one fourteen and the other nineteen years of age.  Gunmen enter – leaving wounded in the church.  I thought of that phrase, “wounded in the church” and realized they could be speaking of any church worldwide that adheres to the teachings of Christ.  As sure as there are Christians gathered, there will be wounded among them.  How could there not be?  We’re a wounded community.  All of us broken and hemorrhaging the best of ourselves while much of the world passes by on the far side of the road, trying not to notice.  Thankfully, there are those few who will not only notice but also stop, and using all their skill will seek to stop the hurting.

But wounds are a way of life with those who follow Jesus . . . right?  We’re called to be that “something” different in the world.  Following our Lord leads to confrontation.  We craft our lives by the Word of God, which makes us very different than those who follow the world.  And being different leads to wounds.

Which might be the very reason we gather . . . maybe?  We meet for the purpose of binding wounds.  We gather to encourage the discouraged, strengthen the weakened, and teach the willing that wounds are a way of life for us.  Especially for us, for those who’s Savior, savors His own.

“By His wounds we are healed.”

–Dale