Good Morning Church Family,
Because we are so closely united with Pastor Dean and his church, I wanted to post an update on what God is doing with Unified…
It’s a long post, but it captures the heart of why we are making changes now and changing our alignment.
Blessings,
Pastor arlen
Update on Unified …
Dear LMIers, Unifiers, and friends,
Last week in the midst of all the exciting things the Lord was doing in our Celebration Sunday, a moment of fear and intimidation briefly crossed my mind. “What am I doing here? I am not even qualified to lead this!” Then I heard a whisper from the Holy Spirit and His voice instantly dispelled my fear. He said, “Because I have chosen you for this!” After hearing those words, my spirit immediately rested as God’s peace permeated my soul. So much have been happening in such a short time, that I felt it was time for an update.
Along with our name change and navigating through the process of transition from LSCF to Unified … , I am pleased to announce we have begun work to improve our facility. Thanks to Casey and Charlie, we will begin to upgrade our technical and AV capability which will allow us to broadcast our worship services and conferences live via the internet. Imagine people around the world participating in our LMI Breaking Free Weekends, Celebration Sundays, and training schools through live video streaming. Yes, LMI and Unified … will be entering cyberspace and going high tech!
It has been an amazing and very fulfilling four months. What has transpired so far has been nothing short than miraculous. It is clear that the Lord is definitely building this church, His way! To do this, I want to commend everyone because we have all had to sacrifice something; some little, some a lot. But like Pastor Bill Johnson said, “Fire always falls on sacrifice.” My dear Canadian brother David Demian, put it this way, “when people willing sacrifice to the Lord, it starts to get very scary, because God will show up!”
Each week we have been blessed by “His Presence,” and despite our two to three hour worship services, it has not been boring!” Each week has been a new experience with the Lord, and in His presence people seem not to want to leave. Testimonies of families being miraculously restored, marriages healed, healing of cancer, diabetes, strokes, along with salvations, and transformed lives have been shared. Our visitation ministry under Wayne’s leadership is witnessing a transformation among the elderly care home residence. This has all taken place while I have continued to travel. In fact, officially I have preached 3 times since January 2010. Imagine, we have no child care or Sunday school programs. But it is a beautiful to see the kids enjoying worshipping God together. At 8 am our sanctuary on Sunday mornings is filled with over 30 – 40 people who willing come to minister to the Lord through worship and prayer. Together families engage the Lord by standing, dancing, and/or kneeling side by side. We allow people the freedom to express their hearts in worship to God. Adults and kids minister yet we have yet to designate an official ministry team. We do encourage the families to stay together in service. We also emphasize the importance for parents to take responsibility for their own home at home and to train their kids to know God. Our monthly men’s ministry called, “Gooder Fridays” have taken off and transparency and realness is what they are all about. Soon we will be launching our women’s gathering.
The bible says, “Attention, Israel! GOD, our God! GOD the one and only! Love GOD, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got! Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.” (Message; Deut 6: 4-9)
Where does the emphasis on learning about God begin? First with the parent, and in the marriage, and at home with the children. It must be first lived to be modeled effectively.
I will be the first to admit that Unified … is not for everyone. When we started on January 17, 2010, a small courageous group of people merged together and dared to walk where we have never walked before. We intended to keep things simple, hear and obey God’s voice, and emphasize transparency and personal responsibility to Him. We then set out on a journey to pursue Him whatever the cost to see Jesus build a habitation of Holiness! Our journey has just begun!
If you have a similar heartbeat after God and looking for a church family, I invite you to join us on Sunday mornings at 8 am for worship and prayer and our Celebration Sunday which begins at 9:30 am. But I need to warn you, it is possible it is unlike anything you have ever experienced before. But come not expecting to change the church, come with your hunger to be the church!
We are also pleased to announce our recently appointed LMI representatives in Japan, Ron and Machiko Netsu. We are also moving forward with initial plans of establishing a Unified … Tokyo, through Tetsuro and Izumi Fujii! We coined it, “Onsen church!” Please keep them all in your prayers!
I need to especially thank the Lord for the awesome core of Godly servant leaders which He continues to bring for LMI and Unified … . Also thank you to our LMI and Unified … family and friends who have joined your hunger for His Presence with ours. It is a honor to walk with all of you. On behalf of our Board of Directors and staff of LMI and Unified …, a big Mahalo! Jesus Really Lives! Really!
With grateful hearts,
Pastors Dean and Kerry
