Our Church has a Pew!

Our church has a pew! Does that make us a real church now?

Crystal and I bought two of these pews last fall from a guy in DeBeque for $50.00. We've had them upstairs around our dining room table but we decided to move one downstairs where we meet for church on Sundays to add a little more seating. Now we just need a pulpit :)

Communion

We took communion together as a church for the first time last night. It was clear God was present with us in what turned out to be a great time of worship and remembrance of Christ and his sacrifice as he fortells it in John 6. What's even more amazing, the kids seem to be getting the hang of participating with us!

Check out the photos below:

Rained Out

So, we had a picnic planned for our church group down at the ranch Monday night instead of doing house church on Sunday evening, but heavy rain off and on all day Sunday and Monday put an end to that idea. Maybe we will try to picnic again this upcoming Sunday if things dry out before then.

In other news I drove to Denver over the weekend to pick up our new 12 passenger van (well, new to us anyway). It is so much more roomier than our mini-van! We put the kids at opposite ends of each bench seat and proceeded to have the quietest ride to church ever since they were too far apart to poke at and annoy each other :).

Lunch Meeting

I had the chance today to meet with Charlie Hornick, the pastor of Grace Bible Church, a local church in the community. Grace is the church my parents attend. Pastor Charlie is a man I admire and respect, both for his immense knowledge of the scripture as well as an obvious sincerity on his part to live according to God's Word.

Pastor Charlie wanted to know a little bit more about what we were doing, and offer his assistance and prayer. He had reviewed some of the family integrated information on the internet as well as led family integrated churches in the past and wanted to offer his opinions, based upon scripture. I'm very appreciative that he was willing to take the time to meet with me and discuss these important matters. What's more, I admire his willingness to offer assistance to our church group as we need it instead of being threatened (which sadly enough is the reaction that I suspect most pastors would have).

As we have some overlap in our attendance, I'm looking forward to working with Pastor Charlie / Grace Bible Church (along with other area churches) as together we attempt to reach this community for Christ. We are all part of the same body, though we may have different functions.

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" - 1 Corinthians 12:17-21

We dun' had church!

Including our family, the turnout was 30 last night for our first church gathering (13 adults and 17 kids). After eating Crystal's enchiladas we went downstairs, gathered around, and read, sang, prayed and discussed. Afterward we enjoyed some dessert upstairs while continuing our discussions. I truly believe the Lord was with us last night, and everyone seems to be looking forward to next week's gathering.

I must admit, though I should know better from past experience, that (perhaps due to rosy descriptions of church-life in some of the books I have been reading) I expected there to be an instant cohesion between those of us that gathered: we would agree on everything, everyone would know their part and perform it perfectly, the children would all be orderly, etc. While last evening was a good start it was far from perfect. I realized (again) that the church is formed of imperfect people, apart from Christ we are like babies that can't do anything but mess in our pants. Yet God chooses to build his church out of us imperfect people so the glory can be His, and I'm excited to see how he will build this church out of the diverse group we have.

Back from Tepee Camp

So, the lack of posts for the past week was due to being at Tepee Bible Camp for the week. I served as chief while Crystal was the nurse. We had nineteen 8th and 9th grade campers (a small camp). The theme of the week was discipleship, and despite some problems it really seemed God was at work in the lives of some of the kids. If any of you campers or fellow staff happen to read this drop me a note to let me know how its going.

As always, our children had a blast playing in the dirt and enjoying being at the camp. Purity even did the "big hike" (7 miles) with us for the first time (at least the first time on her own legs) and didn't complain once!

We have our first official house church meeting at our house tomorrow night so today was spent unpacking from camp, doing laundry, preparing food, and getting things in order around the house.

Church Update

So, unless I miscounted, we had 37 people in our home on Friday evening (14 adults and 23 children ages 8 and under). Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves eating food and playing games. This was primarily a "get to know each other" gathering and despite the diverse group in attendance everyone seemed to hit it off pretty well.

We are hoping to hold our first church meeting on Sunday, August 3rd. I'm still a bit puzzled as to how we will include 20+ young children without complete chaos. It wasn't too bad on Friday night as we have plenty of space for them to run and play, but getting them to hold still is a whole 'nother issue. Crystal has been coming up with some good ideas to keep them involved.

I don't think the answer is to become militaristic. The entire point of including children in church with the adults is so they can learn, grow, and at times even contribute...and I don't this this is achieved by squashing their child-like spirits. At the same time there has to be a certain level of order maintained so we can hear each other speak. I'm honestly not sure what the right balance is as we've never done this before (well, apart from with our own kids), but I trust that God will provide the answer(s).

On the Horizon

So last week's meetings with our pastor and Eric Vaughn (a local minister working on planting house-churches in our area) went very well. Everything seems to confirm that God is really working and leading in this direction.

Being used by God as he directs is rather encouraging to me as for a number of years I have been content to "sit on the sidelines" of Christianity and not truly be open to God's leading. However, over the past six months God has used a number of circumstances to change my attitudes and my desires. I'm so thankful he never gives up working on us!

This Friday we are going to host a dinner and game night at our home. At God's direction I have called and invited a number of families who have been our friends over the years. Some are believers, some are not. Only a few already attend church with regularity. I hope to discuss this new family/small-group approach to Church with them on Friday evening in hopes that God is leading some of them to "join in". Depending on how God leads we may try to hold our first "church meeting" on Sunday evening.

Pray that God will soften the hearts of both the believers and unbelievers who will be gathering in our home Friday evening and make them receptive to His will, wherever He may lead.

A Vision for Families

My wife and I attended the CHEC conference last month, and since then God has really laid it on our hearts to share the vision he has given us (and others) about family and children. I believe he may be leading us to start a family-integrated church fellowship in our area! I'm not quite sure what direction this vision will take, and to be quite honest I find it a bit frightening....it has been some time since I have served in any leadership position within the body of Christ (since 2001 when Crystal and I were first married).

I'm keeping in mind Joshua 1:9:

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. (NLT)

Tomorrow I am meeting with both the pastor of our church Heart of Junction as well as with another local minister who is working to start house churches in the Colorado River valley (see River Churches) to discuss this further. I'm excited to see what God will do! If you read this please be praying.

If you are unfamiliar with the term "Family Integrated Church" I recommend you check out the National Center for Family Integrated Churches for more information. The key concept behind family-integration is that it is the role of the parents (specifically the father) to disciple their children, and it is the role of the church to support and encourage the parents in that goal.

Family News

On Saturday my Dad got out the boat and we wen't to Harvey Gap for the day (a small reservoir not far from here). We tried to teach the kids how to fish without much success (my first time fishing in about 5 years), but had a great time with the family on the lake.

Crystal's twin sister Brandy met us at the lake and spent the night with us. On Sunday we traded her for Purity and Charis' friend Isabel (from church) who has stayed the past two days with us. Crystal took them all back to Grand Junction today to go to a beekeeping presentation at the library.