FYI: Roof and Boiler

the roof estimate is over 30 thousand... no kidding. it's huge, it's steep and the gutters are like 20 thousand--ancient german box gutters...

before you ask all the questions of "do you need..." and "have you considered", the answer is YES. The options are constantly being exhausted, and this is what it means to turn a giant old funeral home into our home and base of loving a neighborhood in this confused city... into a living, daily representation of the Church--not a pointed building, but a people who point skyward in their hope and daily generosity to each other and their neighbors...

story after story will explain why we didn't choose the money jobs, but found ourselves here, playing with children, loving addicts, and the missing (lost) sheep of Cincinnati...

the boiler (13 thousand dollars) has finally died, too... It's over. Total replacement of the decades old boiler is now necessary...

It's almost October. No heat. Roof leaking. And our trust is in Jesus, here. Please don't take this post and worry. But we've heard back from a lot of people who read this and pray. Please pray with us for the resolution of our earthly trials to show the Glory of God--and his wisdom--before all the heavenly beings who are looking...

Revolutionary Table/Roof update...

It's back. the Revolutionary Table.

In the wonderful "fray" of the "reformation" of the Guys' house--they are radically declaring their house (5 guys to one Bathroom) (which they rent) a brave experiment in the Pursuit of Christ... They are doing Radical Bible Study every day, now... and Radical breakfast... and Radical planning and scheming... and Radical schedule-changing and job-changing...

They're dedicating to the Life, Together. Exciting Stuff. Keep the Guys' House in prayer. The neighbors are gonna get more love...

...and the Table! AAAh! The Table is Back. Up late, crowded around the Table in the Chase House, are the Revolutionaries who are scheming ways to follow Jesus. Scheming to be followers! Love it!

It's going to be a cold winter, I guess. They all have a certain coldness to them. Last year hovered at 56-58F. The house is just too big to heat. This year, so far, the Boiler isn't even functional. After a quick repair this week, its still leaking through cracks in some "element" or soemthing... Word is it'll quit sometime...

The roof isn't leaking the same, since I stuck some gooey stuff over the holes--but I missed a few, so I'll be back up there... 40 feet of Roof, two valleys, all STEEP, draining on one 2.5 inch hole... it just plain overflows... all the professional rooofers have literally just shook their heads...

the ESTIMATE from a reliable roofer is 35,000 dollars to FIX it. Standard issue for a GIANT, Antique house...

Look forward to pics from the top of the ladder. I've been up there a million times, but have yet to bring the cam. up there...

Roof issue: steeper and steeper

Well, I've proven my manhood, ascending the 40'ladder, scaling the valleys of our 10/12 pitch roof, overlooking the 'hood from the heights. I've wandered the aisles of Home Depot, searching for the right tools... what a wasteland...

On Thursday night well into the wee hours, my neighbor and new buddy, Robbie, and I discussed the needs of the house.

Knowing what to do is a process. As I got into the gutters, I thought we needed a little patch and some trees trimmed. Then I discovered significant rusting and many holes in the cheap tin material ("terne")... more patching than I thought...

Then I look up after a while and see missing and loose shingles... rusted valleys, cracked endcaps... this whole roof needs help... It needs to be replaced...

Talking to robbie, we start to plan an October re-roofing--the whole thing. But now I have wisely reconsidered.

Do you understand pitch? 8-12 is a pretty stiff height. You're not touching a 10/12. Seriously. Our guy, JP, who climbs CLIFFS and mountains is freaked out to just stand in the gutter at the bottom of the roof, much less actually climb up the valley. I climb all over it, because I roofed for a few years in my younger youth... still can't haul my expanding girth up a cliff, though...

Sooo... While Robbie and I are jawing about how fun it's gonna be to reroof the whole thing, and the whole time we're talking about BOX gutters...

Box gutters. Most gutters are simple devices, attached to the home by hangers or large spiky nails. Box gutters are built into the house from scratch. They are incorporated into the actual rafters of the house. Wooden frame structures fully attached to the house, with a metal trough for the water to cascade through... All of it hand fabricated using a "brake" (1200 1400 dollars new)... Copper is 100+dollars-a-foot. Any other material is going to be a real mess. the other option is "terne"--a low quality tin product that will have to be properly painted (on that pitch with a can of paint and a brush?) every 2 years.

Why do I own such a home? I had told God (vowed) that i never would own a home again. This is my third one, and renting was so much better in terms of all this MONEY that upkeep takes.

But here we are. Why? Because of Mom's passing and the need for hospice space. b/c of the state of the church in our day. B/c of the new wineskins we're seeing emerging... b/c of the people who eat together at that table... That's why.

Sooo... I'm collecting estimates, with no possible way to pay up...

Sorry Robbie. As manly and handy as we are (not to mention good looking=), there's a lot of teaching and preaching that have to be done to keep a community on track. The roof would be torn off for a whole week while we try to make those gutters, wasting all kinds of metal, having to buy a 14-16 hundred dollar brake. We better leave this funny business to the pros.



but just in case, is there anyone out there who can reroof and fabricate box gutters out there? I'm not talking about send a youth group over here to help. I'm talking sending a craftsman over here to put in a major push... Is it out there?

Some of you are in pain right now. You love us and me and don't want us in this situation. Thank you. My own dad was never madder than when we would hurt ourselves. Those of you who love--please pray and help.

Yesterday: an example

Some who read this are looking for a view into the life of this community. I think a view of a typical day is a good thing for that...

Yesterday I engaged in a massively evangelistic conversation in the morning, after an hour of study and writing at the Sidewinder. That's our local coffeebrewery.

That was a 3-hour block, right there.. 825-1120...

Then off to get Seth from School.

Then home, plug seth into something like art or toys or even TV or computer games online (PBSKIDS, NOGGIN, or whatever)...

And two hours of teaching two of our folks about budgeting resources using paper calendars and paper budgets, in order to reduce stress and increase fruitfulness... Two hours+, there...

then Lunch, late.

Off to Home Depot for 2.5 hours, with Seth in tow. How does a 4 year old do Home depot for 2 hours? He was GREAT. Something about a house of tools that seemed to capture him... Doesn't it capture us all?

When we got back, Seth napped in the open van, while I got to work putting anchors under the shingles and tying the ladder to them (now I can RUN up and down it--Look mom, no hands).

Then dinner and dark.

Then a meeting with one of my close guys, over here... meeting is too formal a word. More of "a convergence of spiritual minds".

also, we need a huge, new fridge. please pray. I mean a HUGE one.

Season's Changing

Just like the cool air that's settling in on us (I'm lovin' this hot coffee I'm drinking)...



Had to stop bloggin, to have an hour of conversation with a total stranger who happens to be a close neighbor. He is a very deep, fairly recent Chrisitan, who is looking into the deep things of the Kingdom. He's got a copy of "The Cost of Discipleship", by Bonhoeffer, there...



Intense, seminal conversation. Huge. What's it worth to be at tables like these, daily? God is doing a new thing. It's springing up. Don't you see it? Amazing. I'm watching the parts coming together in a move of God in our Generation. A move back and forward. Parts in the Body are craving LIFE--Jesus Himself.

Rainy day, Leaking gutters

so far the roofers are kind of falling through.
So is the rain
into the house, that is.

Today we had a good rain inside and out. haha...

Our spirits are good. We trust the father to take care of us.
Yesterday a roofer just plain old couldn't find us. 1320 Chase. I was on another call and 15 minutes later returned his frustrated message. poor guy. hope he does call today.
two days earlier, another guy had problems climbing the steeply pitched roof, and his ladder couldn't reach the 40' to the ailing gutter.

Our hearts are light. We know that Father will care for us.
And I'm more excited than ever about mobilising prayer for this little band of jesus people. Please do pray, right now, that Father bless and send to us.
More of His spirit.
More Love...
more miracles...
and yeah, the gutter leak, boiler, and a lot of other stuff...

I am thankful for our leaking gutters and house problems if they bring the Body together. Just as I am thankful for them leading me into dependence on Him.

Jeremiah Blog Back up and Running

ATTENTION! The Jeremiah Blog is back on and you're all invited to post edifying comments and encouraging, stimulating observations there. Pleas do. This technology has given us a great opportunity to connect over scripture, even though some of us are far away.

indescribable sunday nights...

Sunday night...
Last Night...

One brother puts it like like this: "I look at my watch around 7pm on sundays and then when I look back, it's about 10pm..." We're just worshipping our heads off... Jesus is visiting us all with such gentle power.

There is such power and glory coming on us as we sing to Jesus on Sundays, together... We are experiencing "inner chamber" with God. More, Lord. 24/7 would be just fine... After the singing last night, we prayed over a dear brother--a seriously dear brother--who has just started leading a new house church with another dear brother...

there's sharing from the Spirit's voice--gently expressing what we're "getting" from the Lord, as we ask him for bread, not stones... fish not snakes... trusting that if we love him, obey him, honor him, that He will visit us with power from on High--all of this that we may glorify Jesus...

There was violence in the street last night, too... As many were praying, some of the young men (the oldest guy we have is like 35, so there aren't any but young) went to pray and call 911. Please pray for guns not to work, knives not to cut...

Pray that our neighbors would have DREAMS... that the Holy Spirit would move mightily and that they totally seek after Jesus--those to whom it is granted...

We finished the night off with an intimate time of looking deeply into what the Holy Spirit is saying to the church in our days... Bed around 2am. What a great life...

When God Speaks

Hi, How are you today. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for praying for us.

I have a question for some of you. How do you handle the reality of 1 Cor. 14's treatment of prophecy in your gatherings? Around us, we have a fairly rich matrix of dreams, impressions, Mental pictures, intuitions, etc... that are shared as folk press in to prayer and soak their hearts in God, and their heads in Scripture... Things are offered up in informal setting, around the big table, and tested thoroughly in an informal, relaxed, gentle, loving way, all week long. When we meet together, the sharing of "words" and such is easy, as there are never more than thirty of us or so, and the atmosphere is very intimate and there is usually a strong sense of God's presence...

In 1 Thess. 5:19-22, we're told not to "despise prophetic utterance..." I think that's exciting, because so many of us are really hearing the Lord, and the sharing of that can be so very edifying, encouraging and comforting to folk who are thrashing it out in the trenches of life... (1 Cor. 14:3 says that the purpose of such sharing is to edify, encourage, and equip.)

I'm curious how other communities handle such dynamics, and I think some readers will want to read how others are experiencing the Voice.

Isaiah 30:21

21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

This isn't an invitaion for a lot of things, and comments are moderated, but I would like to share encouragement in the Body here in Cinci. Could we hear how God moves around you?

Many thanks for the prayer and care!

Today I was at a local church, and as I asked for prayer about our gutters and boiler, I was interrupted. They already knew! Thanks to Brandon and Mike and Aaron and Wes and all of you who have let people know that we're in need.

The Brother who came over the other day, Greg, was held off by the pitch of the roof and morning dew. It turns out that this pitch is something callled a 10/12, which means it's hella steep. Greg, you're the man. I couldn't even climb your ladder. wow! that was high up.

There'll be another roof guy coming on Monday to look at what's up. I hope he has a 40' ladder because there's no way up with a 35' ladder. I better call him back.

Hey all you. Wednesday nights are open dinner and prayer at the house, for all who love the Lord. Shy don't you give me a call, or send an email, and join us for a meal and prayer for an evening. Kids bring chaos and are welcome, because their chaos heals ours. They can hang out after dinner with toys and a vid. Just let us know and we'll allot portions and let youknow if we need you to bring anything...

Love.
Love.
Love.

Touching base again

Hello dear readers. Thank you for checking in to see what's going on in the GrubbyKupp Community. This morning, a man with roofing skills will be arriving to look into our roof situation. the wallpaper's all falling off...there are cracks and wet spots on the wall...water comes in through three windows on two different walls...this has been going on for many months.

The Zero Roofing Co. was kind enough to send out a gent for a free estimate--Box gutter repair: $8,500.00.

This is why I'm grateful to have a brother in the Lord come over and stick down a patch, look around, and teach me how to save the money.

I'd like to thank all of you who have spoken with me over the last few weeks as I've tried to find help for the house... Steve, Robbie, Aaron, Melissa, Bobby, Mike McD... all of you. Thanks to all of you who've prayed and advised, cajoled and encouraged, challenged and taught. I'm not sure the quest for help (love) is over, but at this point, I'm taking a moment to say, "Thank You".


The Boiler repair hovers with a $12,000.00 repair estimate.
The wiring of the house continues to smoke, occasionally...

when we started this journey, we were sure that this would take HELP (love) to pull off. we're just some jesus people. Not a "non-profit". We're a family, the church--your brethren, frontline workers in the Gospel... we're not in the market for gov't grants or big monies. With shelter over our heads, we're able to make major changes in the world, through prayer and the gospel...

well, the garbage has to go out...