the way to the promised land: faith

So I signed up for the Blogging for Books program about a week ago and my first book for review has arrived. I began reading it last night and it has turned out to be much more than I bargained for. Let me explain.

I didn't give the title much thought as I picked it. It was the authors teaser that caught my interest. Now that I have read the beginning and I see how the title fits with the teaser, God's providence has been displayed for me personally in the most marvelous way.

Here's how: lately I have written about my thoughts and struggles as I left the "Egypt" of the traditional church and entered into the "wilderness" of a time between that and entering into the "promised land" of a more organic assembly of believers. Right now I am in the wilderness. In the book Stephen Furtick inspires audacious faith by using Joshua as our example. You see, after Moses died, Joshua was determined to lead Israel into the promised land and one of the prayers He made to God to accomplish this monumental task was he asked God to make the sun stand still in the sky while he defeated his enemies. God answered his prayer, they entered into the promised land and the rest is history.

Do you see why I am so excited about the potential impact of this book? Acting on audacious faith to enter into the promised land, that is precisely what I needed to hear! What wonderful good news! I am very eager to finish the book and when I do I'll post my review. Same bat time, same bat channel.

desperate persistence

Mr. Grumble has left the building.

Everyday I find myself tempted to grumble to God for calling me out of Egypt and into the wilderness. If you have been reading my blog you probably know by now that I use Egypt as a symbol of organized religion.

Having faith that God will bring me through to complete my journey is my only refuge and hope.  I miss having regular fellowship with my brothers and sisters that are still in the institutional church.  I love and miss them all very much. Knowing that the only real fellowship we can have is in Christ; that is my most comforting thought.  All is not lost, relationships built are not wasted.  I haven't left the people in my heart and spirit but I could no longer remain present with them in the services and programs.

Jesus may be known in the institution and in the wilderness but he is experienced in his fullness in the promised land. We are still united in Christ (at least in thought) but I want it to be more real.  No polite cordiality, no programs to hide behind, no paid professionals expected to do all the work, no systems to maintain and be devoted to to.  Just Christ in us, that is what I want to be a part of.  Christ is all and in all.  He is the beginning and the end.  The firstborn from the dead.  He learned obedience through what he suffered.  Oh! how I want to know him more!  To know more fully what it means to be IN him and have him IN me and to be a part of a gathering that is devoted to putting all our energies into building one another up IN Christ.

I want him in his fullness, I'm done with good enough.  God help me not to grumble or to turn back.

still wandering...

I have previously written about what God has been doing in our lives as we have gone out of organised religion and been moving toward an organic assembly of believers. Today I would like to share what we are continuing to go through as we wander in this wilderness.

In months past we were meeting with a few families in a home about twenty minutes from our own. It was a time of learning and refreshment as we gathered with them and saw first hand that our unity and fellowship is in Jesus Christ and not in confessions, creeds, denominations or our favorite preacher. Our meetings consisted of times of mutual edification and also a meal. All activities were centered on knowing, adoring, and becoming like Christ.  It has been great to see Christ work through the various members of his body without constraint and still with decent order.

In recent weeks my wifey and I have become burdened over the families in our own community that profess faith in Christ yet have nowhere in which they are comfortable to gather with other believers. We know that God is calling and using us to bring our neighbors to a fuller knowledge and a closer walk with himself. What we don't know is if it is his desire for us to continue trying to gather in our own home or if we should gather with other established assemblies across town.

We hope that you would join us in prayer for discernment and patience as we seek the Lords will in our decisions. It is tough walking in what seems to be a wilderness but it is building our faith in ways we never before considered. I thank God for the road we are on and I look forward to being a part of bringing about his eternal purpose and the advance of his kingdom through obedience to the gospel.  Still yet it is hard for me to fight against my own frustrations and impatience when I see in scripture how beautiful the church is as she gathers with Christ as her only head.  Oh, how I long to reach the promised land, but I want it now and God obviously wants to test my faith first.

church refugee

If you didn't already know, my family and I have been house churching for a few months now.  It has been a bumpy and difficult road so far.  Leaving the structure of organised institutional religious gatherings brought us into a realm of uncertainty, discomfort, and complexity.  It is like becoming a nomad and roaming through the wilderness.  I press on with the hope of reaching my destination...the paradise of my dreams.  What that paradise looks like is uncertain.  My dreams are hazy.  All I know for sure is that it is not full of rituals, it is full of life and God's work in our lives will define the order of our gathering rather than the bulletin.  Christ will clearly be the head of his body and He would be free to use the members of it when and how he pleases.  I only know one way to get there:  forsake all to follow Christ and trust that He will bring me to my destination.  I don't expect perfection this side of heaven.  I expect continual growth in Christ and unity in Him.

Toward that end we have been spending alot of time with some families in our neighborhood lately.  Getting to know them and opening up our lives to them.  Today we have planned to have a "church gathering".  I'm not even sure what that means anymore.  As we have gathered over the last few weeks, we have been the church.  We have shown love toward one another, prayed for one another, shared truths with one another, served one another, and challenged one another toward better living.  What I am most excited about is that there will be an opportunity to bring all things together in Christ and have all of the events of these past weeks brought into the light of God's kingdom and purpose in our lives.  I'm sure we will pray, read and discuss scripture and of course eat together and our conversation will be more about spiritual matters than our previous ones.  Yet my hope is that today's gathering will spill over into what we do the rest of the week and that Christ would become more of a central focus in all our lives each and everyday.  If that happens, what makes Sunday so special?

I am excited yet uncertain.  We are getting closer and that is uncomfortable.  It seems so simple yet so complex because it is so different from all that the ways I have previously defined what the Church is.

I am hopeful but needful of much prayer. If I am in the wilderness I do not want an 11 day journey to last 40 years.

It's late and I'm rambling...gotta get some rest.  Gonna need it to continue my journey.

perfect post for a Sunday sick day

Yesterday was misery for me.  I was like someone was blowing a balloon up in my head and then trying to pop it through my ear.  When I wasn't cowering in a dark corner of the house, hiding from the light and the noise, I was thanking God for the dizzying relief of some leftover tablets from the medicine cabinet.  Today I feel much better than yesterday but still wincing at loud noises.  Combine that with more than a week of In-laws visiting and one of the busiest home school weeks we've ever experienced thus far and what you have is a lost boy and a blue-eyed girl thinking our rest will be best at home this Sunday.

 This morning I woke with feelings and thoughts of guilt over wanting to stay at home rather than gather with the believers today.  Granted, I should want to be with my brothers and sisters as often as possible and I don't do everything I can to be in daily contact with them.  But that is not why I was beating myself up this morning.  Today it is more about sinning by being home on the Lords Day. 

By God's providence I read this morning where Arthur at The voice of one crying out in suburbia has shared more of his thoughts on the sabbath and how it fits into the creation order.

"See when I read Genesis 1, the primary message I see is not the seventh day. It is God creating the heavens and the earth, God creating ex nihilo all that we see around us and on the sixth day God's crowning achievement, creating man in His own image. The day of rest is what He did after He carried out His primary purpose of creation and creation was not merely a vehicle to get Him to that seventh day. Genesis 1 is not a story primarily about the Sabbath. It is a story of creation by the Creator, a grand framework to understand who God is and who man is in relation to Him."

You should read the rest of his post.  What he writes resounds with me because I know he hails from the sola-scriptura side of any argument which sometimes leaves him with a different opinion than our other "reformed" brothers.  I can most definitely relate to that.

So on this morning I am reminded that to be separate from the rest of the body of Christ leaves me lacking and incomplete and I realize that guilt over not gathering with them today is not from God.  I am resting in Christ today and I look forward to my next opportunity to join with believers that we may be mutually edified.