David Dollinger

Every dysfunction begins with a distortion of who God is. There is this dysfunction that I see in so many of our lives and I see this resurfacing again and again in my life and in my heart. Its the dysfunction of Anxiety When I am feeling anxious and when I am feeling afraid, and I know you never do, you all trust God for your every needs, you have no fears about the economy, because God is your source. You have no dysfunctions in your relationships because God is your father. But for me, my heart is anxious. And when my heart is anxious, it says so much about what I believe who God is. If no one has told you this before, let me be the first one to tell you, anxiety is not only a dysfunction, it’s a sin. I hear so much preaching about so many other sins. Sins of lust, sins of greed, sins of negligence, but because my heart is anxious, it is one of the most offensive sins before God. Anxiety betrays the belief that God is not in control of my life. Philippians 4:6-7 say, "Do no

'He must also have a good reputation with outsiders" (1 Timothy 3;7) I was fortunate to serve 5 years at Wesley Free Methodist in Waukegan, Illinois. The issues that I faced there was so different than anything I have seen at other churches. When I served in Waukegan, it was a vibrant, healthy, selfless church with a strong young adult base. Many of those who attended there had friends outside of the faith, and did well to represent our church, and Jesus. I cant say that about other churches that I have served at. The other Free Methodist Churches that I have served in have for the most part, been self serving. Now there are people at those churches who are heavily offended by my statement, and will argue that the people who attend those churches are highly respectable, they just choose to not be like the world. Highly Respectable to whom? My observation has been this: We have given up our witness to outsiders in exchange for unlikable people who have bought into "o