House Church Reflections - "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Conference"
This past weekend Gale & I attended a house church conference in Salem, Oregon, sponsored by Nate Krupp (check out their ministry web pages at www.radchr.net and www.ptwpublish.com) and a coalition of house church people in the greater Salem/Portland area. We debated going right up to the last minute. On Thursday afternoon we had a choice to make. We had enough money to either attend the conference (cover hotel, travel, registration, etc.) or pay May's rent. Wow! What a choice. So, we took a step of faith and went to the conference.
We had an excellent time hearing what God is doing in various places, seeing the various "streams" of the church which are coalescing in "house church," attending workshops put on by various people we had never met, and generally networking with many other believers. We were blessed to spend time with Paul and Lori Byerly from House2House Ministries (and their friends, Mark & Dena Brehm from Dallas, Oregon). House2House will soon be offering our Equipping Workbook on their website (much to the chagrin of our banana boat captain who is concerned about the loss of business) and we are very blessed. There were over 100 people at the conference, although I couldn't do an exact head count.
On Sunday morning we attended our final workshop, led by Nate Krupp. It was a wide ranging discussion of issues facing house churches. In the midst of the conversation someone remarked that house churches don't spend large amounts of money on buildings, but how do they spend their money? I agreed that this was indeed a concern that needed to be addressed. For example, what about "five-fold" people who commit themselves to live by faith and devote themselves full-time to the ministry? I then remarked that my wife and I had spent our rent money to attend the conference, believing that it was important to be networking with other house church people. The discussion then moved on to other topics and soon the workshop was over.
We gathered for the last general session and spent the next two hours sharing, worshiping and ministering. Toward the close of the session Nate stood up and made several announcements. Then he remarked, "And we have a couple here who spent their rent money to attend this conference. So I think some of you should help them out." Nate pointed us out and then we began a final worship song. In a matter of a few minutes, as we worshiped, we were beset by a steady stream of people handing us money and stuffing money in our hands and pockets! We were overwhelmed! The conference ended, and as people slowly dispersed Nate asked be how much we had received. I told him I didn't know, but would quickly count and let him know. I found a quiet corner and counted what we had received. Our rent is $645. When the counting was done we had received $650! Later, after lunch with new friends, one of the couples handed us another check for $250 (apparently, God knew we had other bills to pay in addition to rent!).
Yep, a funny thing happened on the way to the conference. God challenged our commitment to "live by faith" (a commitment Gale & I made several years ago), and then He taught us a lesson about His faithfulness while giving us a practical example of how the house church community is to meet one another's needs. Can anyone spell K-O-I-N-O-N-I-A? O, by the way, I forgot to mention that this was AFTER the conference had already collected a separate offering of nearly $5,000 to go toward the expenses of the presenters, who had all come at their own expense as well.
In the words of the old hymnwriter: "Here I raise my ebenezer, hither by Thy help I've come; And I hope by Thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home." We did arrive safely home . . and promptly paid the rent (early). This particular ebenezer we'll name "Jehovah-Jireh".
Please pray for us as I would like to attend a "listening conference" in Texas May 9-12. We don't have the money for it . . . yet, but after the events of the past weekend I am fully convinced that if God wants us to go, He will provide. Well, DUH! (Should God lead you to help toward this trip, send me an e-mail or give me a call at (509) 928-3360)
A Gathering Of Angels . . . And A Time To Dance (this Friday evening, April 21)
You are cordially invited to come and join us as we seek God together. Our goal is to worship, pray and press in to God’s Presence. Whether or not angels attend our next meeting is beyond our control. This is the pursuit of God in the company of friends who are learning to dance with God and with each other . . . and occasionally with angels. Please consider this your invitation to join us this Friday evening, April 21, 7:00PM at the home of the Shipley’s (Call if you need directions – 926-7743).