church

yesterday morning's church time was...well, we're the church. No matter how it "goes", we belong to Jesus. There is something there that is much greater than anything else. so how do we measure it?

I'll tell you what. The Word came. There was a word shared by several people. It took form as they each shared their part, or asked their question. JP and Lew preached, some commented, some questioned...

I left the time together freshly amazed at the God who has chosen us for His dwelling on the sole basis of his pleasure: he is pleased to have us! That from Ps.132:13-14

We stood amazed as God clothed Jeshua the high priest in Zech. 3

...marveled at Jesus calling us his friends in John 15:15

...rejoiced in Romans 5's good news that God has loved us while we were still His enemies, how much more now that our hearts yearn to love Him back?

Colossians 2:12-14 spoke of the "death warrant" being cancelled--God is now longer angry at us!

Micah 7:8-9 spoke of how Jesus has plead our legal case before the Father. We are fully reconciled.

All of this bundles with words from Zech 3 and Isaiah 6 that show that, as Jesus said, we did not choose Him. He has chosen us.

Please, read through these scriptures this week and think on the very GOODNESS of the news in Christ! No matter how you may have failed Him, He is on your side. Just turn to him in your heart, trust His atonement on the cross for your sins, and start fresh WITH HIM, TODAY.
String together a bunch of TODAYs and we'll catch up on the other side...

and happy new year.

A Quote for you...

got this quote off another blog. interesting and good for us... it is from G.K. Chesterton, whose work I haven't read.

‘The man who lives in a small community lives in a much larger world … The reason is obvious. In a large community we can choose our companions. In a small community our companions are chosen for us.’ Community has been insightfully defined as the place where the person you least want to live with always lives! Responding to this Philip Yancey says: ‘we often surround ourselves with the people we most want to live with, thus forming a club or clique, not a community. Anyone can form a club; it takes grace, shared vision, and hard work to form a community.’ We might also add that it takes a miracle that only God himself can perform. But it is in such a community that disciples are made. To be a community of light from which the light of Christ will emanate we need to be intentional in our relationships: to love the unlovely, forgive the unforgivable, embrace the repulsive, include the awkward, accept the weird. It is in contexts such as this that sinners are transformed into disciples who obey everything King Jesus has commanded.'

Quick Morning update.

Its hard for me to believe it has been six days since I published to the blog... We've had a LOT going on around us. Seth has been sick, but got better. I got a little sick and had a sleepless night. We got new carpet in the downstairs guest quarters and third floor community quarters...

We've had Sam around for a while now, and we're seeing a great potential for a small community of men on the third floor. We're talking 3 to six men. Living together and walking a daily walk of Christian community and intentional mission among the church and our neighbors, here...

The roof is leaking because it is raining. I've been promising Judy to go up there, every day, but I'm actually kind of scared to. It is just soooo steep and 36 feet off the ground. cleaning a gutter at that hight is really daunting. Getting a ladder up there alone is a huge task for a... for a lew...

The leaks are coming through the guttering, onto the sill of a window, and down a wall in the house.

I got some inquiries aobut the boiler situation. Mostly about what is going on, not offers of help. Some kind folks have offered us used boilers and forced-air units, but whether or not they fit is in question, and a forced air unit will require us to rework our whole house with ductwork. A new boiler in the basement is what we're really praying for, here.

Thanks to all of you who lift us up in prayer. Our NEEDS are hard to discern, since each little trial we face drives us to fresh dependence on God. I suspect that He is working in each difficulty to bring us into faith, love and thereby holiness. We are filled with hope...

Just pray that we won't get swamped in the "daily", fretting about how to pull off this life together.

Someone got shot and killed on the street the other night.

Last night all the emergency vehicles were around the corner.

The City has required us to do some external repairs.

A number of the people who have come to our meetings over the years have wandered from the faith. Not the community itself, but visitors who were challenged and gave the faith "a try".

We're plotting to remove a lot of stuff from our basement this Saturday. We're on a push to de-clutter and refresh the inner workings of the house.

We would welcome your visits, all you church who speak well of us but haven't spent time here to feel what its like. We love you and need your prayers for all of us over here...

Emailing Tom Jewell in prison

Click the title, or click HERE to find out how to send emails to our dear incarcerated brother, Tom (clicking "Tom" will give you all the posts on him, up to this point).

His inmate number is 174893. He is in the Roederer Correctional Complex. That's all you'll need, outside a credit card, to do this thing...

love.