Spreading our wings

Well its finally here. We are leaving the friendly confines of Northside and meeting separately as a distinct community this Sunday, June 4th. There is always a little bit of the unknown when you are doing something for the first time, but I'm looking forward to it.

This Summer we will be doing a selective study in the Book of Acts as we look at "The Naked Church". Don't worry, it's rated G.

Here are directions to Phil and Pam's house for church this Sunday:

From 73 West take a right on Club Dr.
From 73 East take a left on Club Dr.
Once on Club, make a left onto Broadmoor Lane (right after the clubhouse on the left)
2nd house on the left.

God is Awesome!

Declaring that "God is Awesome" does not carry the weight that such a statement should because of the overuse of the word "awesome" in our society today. But this word truly encapsulates what Liz and I have experienced the past couple of days.

We signed the papers for our house yesterday and are just pumped about the prospect of moving soon to our target area. As we were seeking confirmation from God for this property we were about to purchase, Liz and I prayed a lot on Monday and Tuesday. After Liz prayed on Tuesday morning she was reading her devotional, that she's been going through, and it told her to look up this verse:

18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: "Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 19 And as if this were not enough in your sight, O Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign Lord? 20 "What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Sovereign Lord. 21 For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant. 22 "How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.

If that's not a confirmation from God, I don't know what is. Anyway, thank you so much for praying for us during this time. God has been and will continue to be faithful. WE have reason to rejoice tonight!!!

Keep praying!

Ben

Don't miss it!

I know I shared this with our core team this past Saturday, but I thought it is worth repeating.

There are so many times in life that I feel like I missed out on something. My parents never let me watch He-man or Scooby Do because of the supposed witchcraft and monsters that could have influenced me to be a bad, rebellious child (they almost put the gauntlet down on the Smurfs as well, but we successfully argued our case that little blue people are really quite harmless, even if the male to female ratio is 150:1). So when my friends would talk about the latest He-man cartoon, I felt totally lost and would try as quickly as possible to change the subject to something that I felt knowledgeable about.

Sad to say, but many times I feel just as inept to talk about spiritual things as well, when the subject approaches. What's really just awful is the fact that I know enough Bible information to say some pretty spiritual things without really experiencing any of it. I read a passage of Scripture the other day that totally rocked my world. John 5 talks about the lame man that Jesus healed. This guy had been unable to walk for 38 years and hung out with the other "sick, blind, lame, and withered" people down at the pool called Bethesda (sounded like a pretty depressing place to visit). So Jesus asks this guy if he wants to be healed, and Jesus heals him. Now the last sentence in verse 9 says a lot. The verse states "Now it was the Sabbath on that day."

So this crippled man, who has been unable to walk, has been miraculously healed and takes up his mat and heads for home like Jesus told him to. What do you think the people did when they saw this guy walking? You would think they'd be going crazy with excitement over the miraculous event that has just taken place, but verse 10 is just astonishing. It says "Therefore the Jews were saying to him who was cured, 'It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet,'"

I was completely blown away by that verse because these people missed it. They missed what Jesus was doing and saw something completely different than they should have, and yet, I do the very same thing. How many times have you missed what God is doing around you, or even worse, in you? One of the things I've been praying lately, and I want to encourage you to do the same, is to ask God to let us see what He is doing, so we won't miss out on the blessings of life.

By the way...
Huge praise, we sold our house!!! Something we've been praying about for approximately 16 months. "Thank you God for teaching me patience."

Until next time

Bearing our burdens

Psalm 68:19 - "Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation."

I'm a dreamer. Always have been and probably always will be. I love thinking about the future and what it holds for me and my family. I got this trait from my dad for sure. I remember being a kid (probably around 7) and my dad would tell my brother and I that he was going to take us on a trip across the US when we were 15 and 13 respectively. Now I'm 30 and I'm still waiting to see Mt. Rushmore. Trust me, I'm not bitter that I never got to do that. I had an awesome dad who did a lot for us, but we dreamers have a problem.

The problem with being a dreamer/visionary is that we are awful at details. I can tell you what I want to see happen, but I'm not the best at the details leading up to making the dream come to fruition. That's why I know it's important to surround myself with detail-minded people who see the A-Z list that needs to get done. I hate lists. You know why? Because they bring me back to reality, and sometimes reality is more than we can bear ourselves.

I love this verse. I read it this morning. It's great to know that the God of the Universe, the Awesome Creator, our Sovereign Lord today, right now, at this very moment is bearing our burdens. Maybe that's why Jesus could say <

em>"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

It's great to know that the burdens we carry with starting Providence church are not just ours to bear, but God is daily concerned about this new church even more that we are. I don't know what kind of burdens you bear right now. They are probably different from mine a bit but let's remind our selves to let God be God in our lives. Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you.

Psalm 62

Over the past few months, we, as a church, have been anxious to find a meeting place for us. Although, we prayed, God seemed to be silent. I believe that is one of the hardest things for a Christian to experience is the silence of God. We know He is there. We know He loves us and cares for us, and we know that His sovereign will cannot be thwarted. Yet when God does not move by our timetable, doubt and anxiety seem to creep into our thinking. I have to be honest to say that I would tell anyone that would listen that God will provide, but inside, I couldn't help but wonder if He really would, after such a long season of silence.

It was during this time of silence that God would refresh my faith over and over again through the Psalms. In particular, Psalm 46 and 62. What I love about Psalm 62 is how David ends the psalm by saying that there are basically 2 things that we can be sure of about God: He is powerful, and He is loving.

As a child that wrestled with His Father's will, it was these words of Scripture that fed my soul and helped propel me to a deeper faith that I will forever remember.

"Thank you Jesus for teaching us faith"