This is a pic of Adam Waters, a local church planting man of God, Ryan Adkins (Adam's right hand man), Paul "the Paulscout" Nicolai (all around gentle giant miracle man), John "JP" Parran (Mexico/Kenya Summer Guy), and the Lew-Dog, after a Charlie Hall concert outside Cinci... These guys need your prayer as they are moved in ministry...

The Message, Mat 11:28-29



“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

"...about to move..."



Well, there hasn't been a lot of time for blogging, lately. What I want to tell you is that things are really about to move...

In prayer times and counsel with each other and the Holy Spirit, we are all sensing that there is a building storm of activity that is rising up, spiritually.



In the physical sense, there is a build in every aspect of our community. Intensity and regularity of corporate prayer, depth of care for one another, outpourings of support for each other and encouragement in the Word...



Our sunday meetings have become a time of deep and encouraging sharing. We eat for at least an hour and a half, then we sing until we're done. This time of singing is carrying us into a precious experience of Jesus. It's wonderful to sing as a circle of worshippers, rather than as spectators at an event... Then, we start to share the Word from our lives--that's powerful... It's done as a circle of disciples, gathered around the feet of Jesus... Not leaderless, but led by Him. Then, we spend time praying for each other...



During the week, there are times we devote to study, prayer, and fellowship that punctuate a deepening interdependence... The Church is growing, here where there is no church...



Here are some things that have happened this month, though:

Retreats with leaders...listening and praying and sharing about the ministry's development here...

Visits to some friends who are doing stuff like this...

Lots of folks staying over at the house because God's good stuff went too late...

Tons of food together...

Saturday Night prayer times

Sunday night family sharing

Wednesday 6am mens sharing times @ Clifton Starbucks

Thursday night Scripture slam-down at Lookout Joe's

Tuesday night Ladies' time @Lookout Joe's...

Chase Mission House developing into a reall center of community...



Prayer:

For the coming storm of developmental activity that the Holy Spirit has told us about...

For all the discipleship and evangelism that's going on here

For provision

For our brothers and sisters in Kenya

...and for Prari who just came back after 6 months there...



Our kids are well and growing. Judy and Lew are blessed and busy with awesome life stuff... Mr. Weiss is prospering and doing well. JP is living at the Chase House now and doing fine... Our daughters -- Zara and Pianan, who are here for 10 months as high school exchange students-- are really doing well...





we hope you are blessed...



Lew

No Outreaches! (???)



Today I got up nice and early (4am) and went to Starbucks with my friend, Matt. So, we're talking and Matt (please, call him Daniel) says to me, "we oughta get the bbq's out front and bbq with the neighbors... like a block party..." typa talk.



And I get this really strong feeling that I definitely don't wanna do that. So I start to talk from that feeling. I say some pretty confusing (to me) stuff, trying to express what I feel about it...



But here's what it is, kinda:



I dig getting to know my neighbors and having redemptive relationships where I stand for the Gospel as a living letter--where I proclaim the truth in love and am "mailed" to them by Christ. I love that stuff dearly and love the way it pans out...



But I really don't dig "OUTREACH" as a concept of what we "oughta" do. I don't seehow that works. I know how many people's lives have been absolutely changed by a free bottle of water on a hot day from a group of Christians on "outreach". I hear the stories all the time, always told by the leaders of the "outreach", trying to get us to commit to more "outreach".



And I do that kind of stuff. I love to do just that kind of stuff. And I think that Jesus likes it when people do that kind of stuff. But there's a more 24/7 version of it that i'm getting sold out to. A 24/7 version that displaces my value for the good feelings and "beyond the comfort zone" satisfaction that "outreaches" give me.



And I'm hungry to see more people discover this 24/7 love lifestyle. To see HOMES become bases of Love and real life, keeping it real with Jesus. This is deep, and pushes out the concept of "outreach" on Saturday afternoon as satisfaction of the Great Commission.



That's it! Satisfaction of the Great Commission! It just so ISN'T "outreach". It's a life ablaze... And that's so not me. "Outreach" I can do, because it begins and ends at a certain hour and after, we all feel so good... And I will do that! I'm not quitting! And none of you should, either... But there's something so incredible that awaits us if we'll SEEK THE LORD in prayer.



We don't see this kind of "outreach" in the Bible. Instead, the book of Acts describes a COMMUNITY, ablaze with the bewildering power of God! It started with pursuit and waiting in prayer, and Galatians was written to keep it one.



Yep, a lot of what's going on there is Galatian. That is to say, flesh-inspired. Sorry. It's true.



So, we're committing to stoking up the prayer meeting and the community gathered instead of the BBQ.

Yesterday we had a Bible Study at 6am in the Clifton Starbucks. It was super to get into the Word deep with a few brothers... Let's keep that up! That's good stuff...



Sunday last week was intense! There was a serious word from Acts 6 and 7, and we spent the time after it in total worship and prayer... Some were filled for the first time. Some got word from the Father...



We're waiting in Jerusalem for the Promise. That's it.

Prayer this Saturday Night.

Arrivals between 8pm and 1am.

We pray till we're done!

This Saturday.

so john writing here from the lovely land o' kenya. yep, that's right....kenya. felt the Lord was calling me to pay a visit to our sister prari and the body down here on the equator and so i bought a ticket and shipped out. it's been one killer roller coaster and i've been loving ever bit of it. i guess the biggest things i'm learning about are just how deep our faith goes. like when jesus says we can ask for anything in his name, does he really mean that? can we still ask for stuff like healings and miracles? from what i've seen and experienced, it seems to me the answer is a definite yes. i've seen some amazing things happen here....stuff like aids victims being TOTALLY healed, money showing up just when we need it, and even dogs at the point of death being healed when we pray for them. it just amazes me how much our father really cares about even the little things in our lives.



so i'm planning on being here for about another 3 weeks, then it's back to the states to finish off school and continue being a little blob of light in a big inky world. i'm working on getting some pics up of africa, so keep checking the site. love ya'll, and keep latching on to the God who first latched on to us.