When I was in the United States Air Force, my future wife, Evelyn, and I wrote letters to each other every day of the week. They were handwritten and stamped “snail mail” letters. Evelyn even used a wax seal on her letters and were anointed with her perfume. When I opened my mailbox I could smell her virtual presence. I couldn’t wait to go to the mailroom and dial in my four digit lock code to open that little door to collect those precious love letters.
Sometimes, due to holidays and weekend schedules, there would be no letter in the box and I would be crushed. But, I would go back to my barracks and reread the previous letters.

We were just teenagers, but our love was intense and we were exclusively devoted to one another. Those letters were read over and over again to the point that I knew which ones had the content that I needed to reread in order to pick me up when I was lonely for her presence. My memory of the times I was with her were precious, but to read her words made me experience her presence in a more substantial way. It was her words, written in her style, in her handwriting, and with her scent. We would write about what we had done that day, the thoughts we were having, the hopes and dreams and plans we had for our relationship, the frustrations and hurts we were experiencing in our separate lives, what we had to eat, what we were wearing. We shared everything with each other. Total transparency and honesty. We no longer write letters to each other, because we don’t have to say, “Goodbye!”, and part from each other as we did decades ago. We thank God daily that we now live in physical presence with each other.

When I got saved as a young teenager, several years before my relationship with Evelyn, I had that same experience with the love letters I read from God in my Bible. They did not come in my mailbox, so I did not have to wait for the mailman to deliver them. Those letters were right there with me in my Bible. I could read them any time I wanted to, just like the letters I saved from Evelyn. As I read His letters to me, I experienced His presence in a real way. They were not just words on a paper, they were words of an intimate relationship between me and my Heavenly Father, my Savior, and my Comforter. 

He told me about His love for me, what He had done for me, about His plans for me, His emotions towards me, His total knowledge of me and His total acceptance of me in spite of knowing my sins and shortcomings and immaturity. There was total transparency and honesty. I did not write letters to Him but I did speak to Him through prayer, memorization, and meditation. I rehearsed our initial encounter when He opened my eyes to my sin and then offered me forgiveness. Our relationship has grown through the years as I have read and reread His love letters to me. I continue to reread His love letters with the anticipation of the Day when I will see Him face to face and live in His physical presence for eternity.

Why am I writing this to you? Because I want you to experience the presence of the living God, Who is like no other god created by man. Our God, YHWH, is a personal God, who loves us and has revealed Himself to us in love letters, the Bible so that we can have an intimate relationship with Him. It breaks my heart when I hear from men and women who tell me that they don’t read God’s Word on a regular basis. They tell me that they are too busy to sit down and read. They tell me that they don’t like to read. They tell me, that if they do read, they don’t understand what they are reading. They tell me that they hear what the Bible says when they go to church or listen to a sermon, or
watch an online service. I wonder if they would leave love letters (or emails) from their boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancè, or fiancèe sitting in the mailbox, with little or no time or interest to read them. What kind of love does that demonstrate towards the one sending the letter (or email)? What kind of relationship is that? How would the writer feel knowing that their communication is not worth their time reading?

Now let me digress here a little. We all know what a wife is, but I want to tell you what a W.I.F.E. is. Paul uses the physical analogy of marriage to describe the relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ. He says in Ephesians 5 that Jesus is the Bridegroom (husband) and the Church is the Bride (wife). We all know what a physical wife is, but what is a spiritual church?

First of all, the worldwide Church is comprised of all those who have individually placed their trust in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of eternal life. It is worldwide in scope and includes all who have believed since the day of Pentecost and who will believe in the future. Second of all, the worldwide Church meets in physical locations known as local churches, as it was with the church at Corinth, the church at Ephesus, the church at Colossae and the church at Rome. The Greek term for ‘church’ is ‘εκλησσια’ or ‘ecclesia’ and means ‘assembly’. The writer of the book of Hebrews exhorts the dispersed believers with these words, “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25, NASB)  The local church is a physical gathering of believers in a certain locale. In the book of Acts, the local church met in the synagogues and in houses. They also had godly men (elders) who were appointed by the Apostles or by their disciples, like Paul, Timothy and Titus.  These local churches “were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42, NASB) These practices, which characterized the early church, are basic practices which are to define local churches today. Hence, an online meeting without physical assembling is not a church. It may have believers watching and interacting through chats, but it is not a church.

From that description in Acts, the acronym W.I.F.E. is derived “Worship”, “Instruction”, “Fellowship, and “Evangelism”. The early church was devoted to worshipping in prayer, they listened to the teaching of God’s Word, they enjoyed meals together with the Lord’s Supper, sharing with one another their material possessions so that no one had needs and they witnessed to others concerning the love of God in Christ Jesus and His death and resurrection. Consequently the local churches multiplied and there was great joy in the midst of Roman suppression and Jewish persecution. They were devoted because they had experienced the new birth and the new relationship they had with the living God through His Son. They were devoted because they now had the peace of God and hope for the future and the assurance of their salvation. Everything else became secondary to a personal, daily, and vibrant relationship with God. Having like minded believers gave them the opportunity to practice the ‘one another’ exhortations which were later recorded in the epistles. These new believers supernaturally exercised them because they were so grateful to Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit to freely and cheerfully live that lifestyle.

 So, in the 21st century, the Church worldwide is still the Body of Christ and family of God. In addition, local churches existing all around the globe are still defined as they were in the Word of God. However, due to numerous factors, the local church in America is sadly deficient in being a “happy” church, thereby not experiencing a happy life. Too many true believers are not enjoying the abundant life which Jesus promised in John 10:10. Too many of these believers are satisfied that they are going to heaven when they die, but their priority in life is not seeking the kingdom of God first. They are not willing to die to self and live for Christ. Their salvation is simply, and tragically, “life insurance”. They are not concerned about worshipping the Savior Who bought them, reading and obeying the Word of God, enjoying meaningful fellowship with fellow believers, other than a casual one hour encounter online on Sunday morning, or sharing their salvation experience. How sad! What is our Heavenly Father feeling? That is not a happy or abundant life! Let’s pray for revival!

Bill Olsen, Elder