The move to Gainesville, GA is complete. We still have some arranging to do in the
house and need to pick up some key pieces of furniture, but we are well on our
way to establishing our home here. Since
arriving it has been a whirlwind of events and I’m really enjoying engaging and
getting to know the community here. One
of my first tasks here is to figure out where and what I will be investing my
time in. After talking with some of the
leadership within Adventures in Missions (AIM), a couple possibilities have
come to the forefront and now I’m trying to pray through these decisions and
ask God where He wants me.
As I’m writing this though, I’m a little overwhelmed by this
decision and I have no idea which direction to head. That’s hard for me to admit because I want to
have it together and know exactly what I’m doing and where I am going. But the reality is…I rarely know exactly what
I am doing. I have trouble and doubts
regarding what I think God is speaking to me and what to do with it. I know this choice probably isn’t a decision
between right and wrong. If I’m seeking
God wholeheartedly and my intentions are to love Him and others, I’m probably
not going to get too far off track. But
sometimes I want God to speak so clearly that I don’t have doubts. Sometimes I want to know I’m making the
decision that God thinks is best. Does
that take less faith? Am I looking for
an easy answer? I don’t think so….but I
honestly don’t know right now. Amongst what
I’m feeling I know God is in control and I’m going to pursue Him more than this
looming decision.
On another note…
I’m sitting in our living room where a few hours ago about 15 of
us gathered together for church. The
heart of this gathering was to challenge the idea of church that many of us have
come to accept as normal. This “normal” we’ve
become accustomed to has been drastically influenced by our culture and our
upbringing. We want to remove these
barriers and go back to the model we see in scripture, specifically the church
in Acts. While we don’t have it all
figured out, we know we want to have a body that is more Spirit lead than
anything else. We want this to be about
God and having that lead everything we do.
I loved our time today because I felt like part of the
church body. Our society is built around
consumerism, and the church is often no exception to that. We come to get fed and if we don’t want to,
we don’t have to interact, sacrifice, or engage. 
This morning we didn’t have someone who had
prepared a message. We opened our time
in prayer and worship and then whoever had a word gave it. We prayed over one another and talked about
the pictures and thoughts we felt God was placing on our hearts. And we noticed a common theme…God was calling
us to get out in the community and serve. He was calling us outside the Christian bubble that we can find
ourselves in. We know that God has equipped
us and empowered us to bring freedom to people in bondage…but are we? This week we are going to have a cookout in a
local park. We’ll be inviting and
welcoming anyone we meet and our hope is that God opens doors of communication,
that relationships are cultivated, and that prisoners are set free.
