Dear Reach Church,

Last night I was called at 11:30pm and told there was an active fire inside our church. When Melanie and I arrived, we were met by a firefighter who is also a parent of Red Lion students. He prayed with us and directed us to the command center where the Fire Marshall was stationed. There were fire trucks all up and down our entire driveway and firefighters everywhere. We thanked these fantastic men and women who put their lives on the line to keep us safe. Several firefighters were on a lift drilling holes in the steeple in order to release the smoke. The law enforcement officials shared that random pews and several of the window sills in the sanctuary appeared to have been intentionally set on fire and that equipment had been thrown off the balcony to the main floor. The officials stated the obvious—that it was apparent that the fire had been set intentionally. The place where many of us had just sat together for Core Team Training, the place where we worship together, laugh together, cry together, hear the word preached, and commune together was now a crime scene where our church had been egregiously attacked. The Fire Marshall asked that we wait to release the information regarding the origin of the fire until today. Our security infrastructure, including our surveillance equipment, performed exactly as intended.

There is a tremendous amount of water and smoke damage in the sanctuary and throughout other areas of the building. We have been told that the sanctuary will not be useable for several months. Bill Becker, our Operations Manager, and our team, are working with our insurance company (we have an excellent policy) and local contractors to begin the long process of assessing the extensive damage and rebuilding our sanctuary.

I was interviewed by ABC 6 News today (the interview will be broadcast this evening at 5:00pm) and the reporter asked for me to describe the emotions that we are experiencing at this time. I shared that we are going back to the Scriptures and are reminded of Paul’s words to Timothy…that “we have not been given a spirit of fear or of cowardice, but of love, of power, and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). That we are reminded of James’ words to the scattered early church that had experienced persecution that we cannot fathom…to “consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds because these trials develop perseverance in us and that perseverance must finish its work in us so that we will be complete and lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4). I shared that our mission is three words: Nothing But Jesus, and that we are called to see all of life through the lens of Nothing But Jesus (I Corinthians 2:2). This means that when someone sets themselves up as our enemy and does what this person did to our church building that we are reminded of Jesus’ challenging question in Luke 6:32…”If you only love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” And that Jesus commands us in Matthew 5:44 to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. This means that it is actually freeing to forgive the person who committed this intentional evil and pray for them to encounter Jesus as we have. I told the reporter that the Reach Church is not relegated to a building, but it is a living organism of our precious people…you (I Peter 2:5). I shared how much I love our congregation and how I have no doubt that this will bring us together as never before. I am so sorry that we are facing this evil, but I am convinced that Joseph’s words in Genesis 50:20 are true for us today…“what man meant for evil, God will use for our good”.

Read the rest here.