The Sailors Family

Over the past several months, I have had a lot of people asking me about House Church and I wanted to address some of those questions here and talk about why we do House Church.

In my life, I have always found myself in community. I am drawn to it and I have a great radar for it. In short, I love to be around authentic community that is in Christ. This was fostered in me through my relationship with the ultimate fellowship~ The Trinity as well as my family, my church family at New Hope and our neighborhood. It was awesome for sure. My parents created a great environment of love and health. Our house, for the neighborhood and youth group, became community central. It’s always been an anointed home and my mother has always had an anointed way about her that has drawn people in (ask her stories about the nursery.)

As I have grown in my relationship with Christ, I have learned more and more, that what I enjoyed as a young person, that authentic fellowship of believers that are walking intimately with God, (not that everyone who came in the house has this but were definitely drawn to it if they didn’t have it) is what God wants for me all the time and especially for what we call “church.” See at some point I got into the business of “doing church” rather than having “church” as a lifestyle.

I want to walk with and be with people that also want to be in an authentic transparent relationship with Jesus Christ. I want my family to be in an environment that will foster healthy spiritual, emotional, mental, physical and relational growth. And I want my family to be with people that will fight for us and fight against anything that would stand in the way of something that would come against my or their spiritual, emotional, mental, physical and/or relational growth. I want this on a moment by moment basis.

Now…I am not saying the following:

1. I am not saying that you cannot find this at your local First Baptist or Saint Anne’s
2. I am not saying that you should be completely transparent with everyone in the world
3. I am not saying that you should not meet in a designated church building
4. I am not saying that we have the “corner” on Jesus Christ

and many other things as well…that I hope others will chime in on.

Here are some questions and answers to consider:

What is a House Church?

A house church or home church is basically a small group of believers. This could be as small as 2-3 with those that are gathering doing so in the name of Jesus Christ. We really desire to be the church that Christ designed and what we see in the earliest parts of Christianity where they were going from house to house.

The Basic Rationale (from www.housechurch.org)

The undergirding principle here is that all authority in heaven and in earth reside in Jesus Christ who reveals Himself through scripture, nature and by supernatural means, as well. Knowledge and all ethics are thus derived from Jesus Christ through the His Holy Spirit.This means that the totality of life must be God-directed as we are motivated by gratitude for the life, death, and resurrection of His Son. The Home Church perspective is thus a unique world-view in which every follower of Jesus becomes a full-time Christian minister or servant. Every day, every event, every thought, every place become the domain of the Messiah. The line between sacred and secular progressively diminishes because Christ gives true meaning to all things. Every thought is to be brought captive to Him who is All and in all.”

We thus view Jesus Christ as a Lord as well as a Savior. We emphasize an actual faith rather than merely an intellectual one. The execution of deeds rather than the formulation of creeds. Community rather than disunity. Brotherhood rather than hierarchy. Winning unbelievers rather than winning arguments. What we are for rather than what we are against. Making a real difference for others as well as having an experience for ourselves.

The home church platform is perfectly suited for the implementation of such grand ideals. This was demonstrated so clearly in the first 250 years of church history and often thereafter. The Lord is again stirring up interest around the world in this unique house church arrangement and He is activating many. We frequently hear of other home-related ministries being formed and do rejoice in God upon their behalf. We thankfully stand in solidarity with all of them.

This new interest, we are persuaded, could be an effective antidote for the prevalent religious system. The “layman” who desperately need the exercise will, at last, rise up, enter the arena, and join with the “clergy” who desperately need the rest. May it happen in our time, Heavenly Father!

Ourcances of House, Houses or Home in Scripture.  Go to House Church Dot Org for more scripture
Matt. 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Matt. 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

Some good sites and books for further study:

1. John Eldredge: Anything really.. but particularly Waking the Dead and Walking with God
2. www.housechurch.org
3. www.christianquest.org/CQ-Files/Church.html
4. www.house2house.tv
5. I hope others will post more!

We love the body of Christ.. we are for the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom! More to come!

Tags: House Church

10. We have a toddler

9. My feet hurt

8. Picking Greg’s clothes up off the floor ~Laundry

7. My nap time would be interrupted

6. Watching “Wee Poo” for the hundredth time

5. We have a toddler

4. Dishes

3. Driving to the park, then to the library, then to the grocery store, then to the bank, then to the post office, then to the gas station and then we do it again

2. The sleep priority

1. Been trying to file a laundry basket load of papers for over 2 years!

Tags: Funny List, Kryssy

I love Cherry Coke… too much, as it were! However, this morning someone supplied a Cherry Coke to my desk. Not just a can… but a cold one! One may ask how this happened? I, in fact, am scratching my head Let us make a list that will point to the truth:

1. We do not have a public office that people move in and out of… we have a cubby hole office in a church that graciously allows us to use it.
2. No one was in the whole church when I arrived here at 8:50am.
3. The only culprit I know that could do this would be Jamie and I saw him at home this morning getting ready to go to Alabama and he confirmed by phone his innocents.
4. Not many people know of my Cherry Coke love affair
5. It was Cold!
6. Only a few have keys to this office… all of which are not creative enough to think of this or the ones that are do not know about #4
7. Being here late at night or early in the morning will produce hair raising thoughts of this old building being haunted.. from unexplainable noises to conversations being heard in the distance with no one here but you..
8. and finally, the coincidence that my friend Ron has blogged about his love affair with Diet Mt. Dew (aka Diet Mt. Ron) just recently

Well, the list did not point to anything really.. so the search goes on! Do you know anything?

Tags: Cherry Coke, Mystery

I enjoy night time at our house. The family sort of settles in and prepares for a good time of love and attention. I chase Jackson around and we get to wrestle about while Kryssy cooks or vice versa. We usually eat supper around 6:30 and then Kryssy or I will give Jackson a bath, which he loves, and then on to some sort of Hermie or Elmo video etc..

It’s a good time of snuggling and blessings… Kryssy and I really enjoy it and enjoy admiring our son. If he is not snuggling, he’s walking around saying all types of things, from Meemees chu =s Mommy Too to Dada Too. Sometimes it’s Wee Poo =s Winne the Pooh or Re Boo Pees =s Read Books Please.. we love it, what a good time in life this is.

Well tonight we asked Jackson what he wanted to watch and he went over to the videos and said, Wee Poo Pees. Wee Poo Pees. So we put it in (I know, this is boring for some..lol.. bear with me.. finally Spiritual Truth coming..I need to admire my son some) and began to watch it.. he was so precious, he was only half way interested and walked around pointing out things and looking to see if we were watching him. Walking around saying Wee Poo, Jack Meemees Pees.. Cute Cute..

After the video, we brush Jackson’s teeth and we help him pick out three books to read before bed. He picked out 3 then wanted another one, although Kryssy is only gonna let him read 3…we persisted some but come on…the boy wants to read… so anyhow we at least let him carry it in and Kryssy started into the bedroom. Jackson was a little behind and turned around and got another book and was like..wee wee thig, wee wee thig =s Where the Wild Things Are..lol.. so off they go down the hall and Jack is saying wee wee thig, wee wee thig..lol.. I was admiring them. My family is beautiful.

I want to not say “out of the blue” on this because I want my heart to hear this all the time, but kinda out of the blue I hear God say, “I admire you my son!” I was like.. whoa.. really God? “Yes, I adore you! You are my son!” Wow.. it’s been a good day.

God added a lesson too. As you can see above, Jackson is in a routine. Kryssy has been on a mission since he was little to get a routine with this precious one. Jack does not like it when we stray from the routine…and, really we do not like it either.. Now I know this may sound like we are old fogies or something…not spontaneous etc…but there is not really anything in this world that I would rather do than to spend time with my precious ones and love on them.

Well God feels the same way.

1. He wants our routine to be with Him in a daily conversational relationship and

2. He wants us to experience the love and closeness that our family feels on a daily basis and finally

3. He wants us to know that He admires us and adores us.

Tags: Cartoons, Family, God's Love, Jackson, Love