WHO WE ARE
we are we
PEOPLE JUST LIKE YOU
We’re a group of folks called by God to bear witness to Jesus by our lives lived out... Together for His Glory...
we are we
in deed
Our Mission Our life
To be light demonstrating life in the loving Holy Spirit of the living God and bear witness to the work of His heart and to share the peace through prayer together daily and the joy in the journey in the pilgrimage to the New Jerusalem… come… His yolk is easy…
Our Values in Hearing
We are in the world not of it… holding all things in common and have a common purse… our rule is based in scripture holding to His command to love… and our lives are directed through hearing His voice daily in prayer… as in the first community…
WHAT IS OUR LIFE ABOUT WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE
A house is not a home for us it’s just a dwelling place until we reach our final destination…
The Kingdom of God…
for we all are on a pilgrimage…
our lives here are based in Jesus… following His path moment by moment…
We can never be disappointed… Men are only disappointed in their own plans which are wrought in selfish gains… everything material will be swallowed up… the only lasting quality is the perfect love of God… living in Him and for Him…
We ask you to think on these things What will you take with you?
What will you leave behind that is lasting? “Love not the world!” is a benefit… what did Jesus take with Him? He took our sin so we would let go of this world to be with Him forever… are you still in want… the love that God has in Jesus fills all our need
Seeking more things… or forever?
We have found making our way through life the only gain is living in the love of Jesus and trying to share that love…
We do not claim there is a right way but the only way is following Jesus praying and hearing His voice and living forgiven… the best we can guided by His Spirit… we have learned life is not about us but about His purpose for our lives…
Do you know God’s purpose for your life… do you know why you were created and the plans Jesus has for you or are you just trying to find some sense of comfort or happieness which seam to allude you… God created you! the only way to find out why is to know Him and His love for you… it’s as easy as praying until you hear and know His voice… We are here to help in any way we can… you can start right now… pray and accept nothing less than His voice… are you listening…
He is ever awaiting you…
LIVE BY FAITH OR IT'S JUST A CONVERSATION
Living for Jesus
The adventure begins
Living for Jesus begins with Jesus… and His life example…
How did He live…
we focus more on what He said than what He did…
We have lost sight that teaching starts with example.
Want to join in… can you hear… “Follow”
He chose twelve to walk with Him… Come “Follow me” which begins the example of what followers do when drawn by the Father to His Son. Disciples are seen as those devoted with their lives to Jesus. They not only gave everything up they did not try to pick up where they left off… it was a life not just three years of following. This is so very much of a divergent point of departure in view of our commitment today.
That is why living for Jesus today has few if any examples.
We are here directed by God to help you see and realize the difference as well as encourage those who can still hear to draw closer to Jesus.
Who we are… is bound in our relationship to Jesus and because of it.. to the Jesus in each other.
Our lives may not appear much different than anyone else but the turning point is our motive.
We live for Christ led by Christ.
Our prayer life is at the center of everything we do.
We trust God to lead us as we seek His voice every day.
Why would someone… someone like yourself perhaps ever even consider a life like this devoted to Jesus.
Well it only happens in the heart drawn by the Father… because your choice ends… when you choose to follow…
life in Christ is led by the Holy Spirit… your will is His.
The battle is generally brief with the mind trying to overcome the powerful drive of the heart. Love drives us but the core of our being cries out in need of Him… We above it all… above every cost and every benefit… is the total need of Jesus. It is not for any other reason we come to a place of surrender. Here not as others we see relationship as an engagement and marriage… “Let no man put asunder…” while some let you try it… come see if you like it. Here we don’t care if you like it… are you called. Following is for life unto eternity. There are no short cuts. So many maybe yourself are desirous of more than we may presently have in Jesus but find it almost impossible to leave the world… while you exercise and stretch yourself… just read how Matthew jumped at the chance. No we’re not all the same with some even here being more inspirational than others. There is no doubt about it… following by picking up our cross daily denying self… is a rigorous exercise in faith. But than… this is what we are all called to… live in faith. So there is no rational no logic or thought out equation… this is a leap of faith… and that alone. Reminding us “You cannot please God without Faith” This than puts you on that trek of enduring. The mindset here is how can we make life better for each other and because of it how can we than together make life better for those God directs us to. His love extends to others; it’s the binding of ourselves in the selfless love of God together through the power of the Holy Spirit. God came as a man to demonstrate man’s purpose. How to live. More precisely how to live loved. This is the cause and effect of “Follow me” The cost is our whole lives submitted to God through each other to continue His mission as we have been called as we have been created for this purpose. Accountability is the result of working together in the will of God more like a product of and not an analyzed process. The fruit of which creates a bond of trust in cooperation in knowing where one begins and another picks up… intergrading strengths to maximize every effort in the love of God. There is so much more but it need not be put to paper or in this case screen?
What we must say and as clearly as possible is that the world is changing rapidly… the darkness is accelerating and life will not stay the same… well not as we expect to be. So we came on line directed by God with some basic insights to prayer our main need today for prayer is the only way to prepare us for what will change in the world and we know scripturally the only defense against every evil spiritual force.
Please understand we are not recruiting… we will help you build where you are if we can… that is if you hear the call to “Follow”
One of the first things you can do is read the book of revelation (we read from it every morning) the warnings to the seven churches are for all of us to examine to see where we need to change our ways.
And get in your prayer closet and pray… by just being thankful and listening… to hear and know the voice of Jesus…
“My sheep know my voice”
Blessings to you!
Another side
One may or may not notice… there are no pictures of us… there are no egos here… neither will there be…the writings are not titled… everything here is not about us as individuals but is led by the Spirit to God be the glory. We are a simple people and without fanfare. Where we are is of much less importance then where you are with God. We are basically a people of intercessory prayer. What you do need to know is we have been here for forty two years living for Jesus… and that we each of us have been called
There is a brief history of our life here with most of the wonderful details of miracles… like healing and deliverance because we are not led to give you more than what you see. So take it in let it stir you… and consider who you are before God… looking more at what you have not done or should do or have been called to do and open your heart anew to Jesus… thank you for reading or more clearly Faith comes by hearing… listening yet!
Is it why...
or...
How did we get here?
introspection another look
How did Sunday come about and why are we in this state because of it?
The celebrating of the Sabbath was the center of the Jewish faith. In the example of creation; man was to labor six days to obtain a day of rest… in which they were to thank God in praising and magnifying Him. This was obeyed under the penalty of death in the law if not maintained. This first establishes “Following” God in His example and marks us in His image. Image being a reproduction of and followed example. We are His people called out to follow His example; His image; His Spirit; His mission. Our lives are made to obey and serve in love as Jesus. This is our created purpose.
The Law spoken by God provided us with the Sabbath as a day of rest on the seventh or last day of what was the week (seven days). God created six days and rested. He instructs man to follow His example.
Jesus rose from the dead the very center of our faith… on Sunday… redefining our lives no longer in the old Covenant (Contract with God) Law but in (the New Contract) the law of love. The saved part of salvation exclaims the resurrection and life no longer facing death but now in Jesus forever. “The Kingdom within us” is eternal life… thus “Saved” from eternal death. Saved from our selfishness that believes the devil…
“You shall not die” so many deny and hate death because we do not believe in eternity.
The turning point is found in realizing Jesus is God. Jesus having power to forgive and redeem us from death unto eternal life sets a new example to follow. The change comes with the light of the world extending relationship to us with God through the removal of sin and giving a place to those that follow in the eternal Kingdom. “In my House there are many mansions…” We have a place… Jesus brings the Kingdom and with it a new contract based on His selfless love for man.
The declaration by God in the timing of the Resurrection of Jesus on Sunday the first day of the week is celebration of the forgiveness of sin and with it the gift of eternal life marks us anew with the example of following. God gave us Jesus out of His love for us in daily example; His life with us right down to the day of His resurrection from death. God came as a man to forgive us and give us a place with Him eternally. This is the course of His life to follow Him to this place… entrance to eternity. Jesus called us to follow this example and so “The Good News” of the resurrection is celebrated the first day of the week in His rising we will be in His Kingdom with Him forever… and we then take this Good News to everyone the next six days. For the early Jews all the feasts are fulfilled in Him and gave place to so great a celebration each Sunday even under persecution.
Thus the New Covenant or contract with God frees us from obeying the law because we have to; into the grace of the Holy Spirit now knowing the motive of His love we desire to, we want to serve in faithful obedience. Need we be reminded we have a contract which was given us and ushered in through mercy. It establishes what Jesus has done concluded in the scripture but what has become vague for most is, now what is our role? This outline opens the door to our hearts to begin with our call. The establishing of our faith is not in what we think but in the commission of what we do in our obedience to hearing.
We followed God in resting on the Sabbath and now we follow God into the celebration of eternal life in His love.
In Christ our day of rest is forever.
The misuse of celebrating life forever each Sunday came with the lack of faithful commitment.
The early church met each day sharing in their meals together praying together sharing everything in common
learning from each other and serving each other.
They shared everything opening their homes and
surrendering their lives they lived sacrificially for Jesus.
In the image of the “Lamb”
They prayed together all three thousand plus, everyday.
Their daily commitment to serve others in sharing the “Good News” and inviting them into life with Jesus found them without need as God provided everything even adding to their number daily. Their simple faithful commitment, keep’s the liar, the insincere and the deceiver at bay as the angels of the Lord disposed of them like Ananias and Sapphira.
God is faithful to those who are faithful.
Today the concerns of the world occupy us and our meeting together has become condensed into a teaching with some songs to God and limited in time so we can get back to our busy lives. The early church met daily, in smaller groups for prayer, breaking bread, sharing concerns, learning from each other and all of them than met daily at the temple to pray together and hear Jesus and Sunday was a celebration that started with everyone gathering together; breaking their fast which began Friday evening and coined the word for the early morning meal “Break-fast” which lasted with singing into the evening and this while being persecuted and being hunted.
This is the measure of their faith but what of ours?
We have found that comfort and information have replaced sacrifice and faith in our endeavor of religiosity. We ask people to read scripture and lets discuss it rather than bid them come follow our example. We have reverted to legalism in returning to the law in the rigors of simple obedience. We attend church as a building or a meeting place(but why?) we find a time to pray (but do we?) we may have a devotion time (but what of the rest of the time?) The priest was on his way to devotion but avoided the wounded man on the side of the road where the Samaritan had compassion. Our problem is with the reasonableness of legalist thought we consider our actions reviewing and compare ourselves without ever considering what we are not, have not, need not or will not do! Our comfort zones find it difficult for us to even do what we do; considering it a sacrifice. Some boast it’s better than nothing and support each other in vain efforts. We do what we want when we want with our expectation that God will fill in the blanks and complain when He doesn’t.
Manna anyone?
So What God created to be as an all day feast in celebrating His resurrection… rejoicing in being in the Kingdom of eternal life… has become what we now call “Worship”
We have decided that singing has replaced the instruction of the Spirit in Romans 12:
“The call is to be a living sacrifice”
this is the true worship… the work of God daily is the missing commitment; not the so called singing sacrifice of an hour or so… and ends there (in that “church” misnomer Place) replacing the labors of love. We have created in our vain imaginations a Holy Spirit that falls on us at Sunday go to meeting when Jesus said “I will never leave you nor forsake you” Why? So we can get a dose and return to our fleshly/worldly lives for six days. We have all come to Sunday to get alone with God but we do it together? and touched we leave Him at the door of Church. Heresy or not? Who do you love at your Sunday meeting? Could you prove it by your relationships of meetings for prayer or meals or labors of love daily? Daily; the question of “meet as often as the brethren (Church) meet should be everyday as Jesus did or would once a month work better for us and then answer why not? The law of comfort helps us defend what we need to do to conform to the world in our fleshly appetite. We justify ourselves with we go to Church, we pray and the diatribe of what we don’t do… so much of (Drinking-Foul mouth-Gambling-lying-etc.) which says nothing following the will of God for today. So legalism has brought us elitism. We now feel free to excuse and justify our actions. It is after all what we’ve been taught. Accountability is simple for us to understand. We pay rent or mortgage or we’re evicted. We pay bills or lose service even lose credit ratings. We don’t show up for work enough and we lose our job. So what is cost… as Jesus said “teach them the cost” Eden was lost for the eating of a piece of fruit! Or was it disobedience? Judas betrayed Jesus and was personally picked by Jesus; out of simply disagreeing with the plan of God. Judas had a better plan. It’s time to reexamine the call of God and the explicit purpose of His people. We have been less than vague for far too long.
It’s time to take stock of our accountability.
We come now to this point… let us start with our call to live for and be like Jesus… and this together. Can you still hear?
LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS
putting on the mind of Christ with no intention of taking it off
Life in Christ:
It’s time we reexamined our faith, its author and how it was designed by Him to work.
We are called by God; when we mature enough to recognize our calling we know His voice as we have heard “Follow me”
Drawn we come into relationship in our hearing and then obeying… being moved… we act in faith. That was His primary purpose; to establish relationship by faith.
“Faith comes by hearing!” the voice of God… because faith works by love.
Our calling establishes our relationship; Jesus came into the World and men gathered in expectancy and hope… to Him… to hear a new and clear voice of authority from God… under their yoke of despondency. They came to hear and they came to see; this drawing to Him was the prelude to kindling and reestablishing faith. The almost languishing cry for Messiah was becoming an echo of the past… a hope of need but just about holding on…He came into a people that lacked faith; very much as today. He encouraged and exhorted faith that men would take His lead to gather, respond and walk with Him. The undercurrent of all He said was summed up in “Follow me” declared in His command to Love as He loves. Following; to act like; to do as; to be like and “The greatest of these…” is to love. The exactness in following is found in our faith; to love as He. The impossible (to love perfectly) made possible by Him; in giving us that ability through the gift of Himself in the Holy Spirit.
In the Holy Spirit… is in His love… the Spirit is God and God is love!
The Greek word “Ekklesia” provides three distinct definitions that establish our progression in relationship and the presence of God in our lives. Life in Christ starts with our calling; we are drawn and if we respond we are led to Jesus; to know Him by His love and in that through prayer to desire to hear His voice and follow in faith. To be saved from our selfish flesh one has to pray… this is the way as He is the way and prayer is relationship from our very first encounter with love. We become alive to His call drawn to Him by the love of the father. It is then given to us to respond to His call “My sheep know my voice” Faith (a gift of God) leads us to obey and thus begins following. It is profoundness of loving relationship that the term “Ekklesia” refers to “God’s people called out” enacting the title “Christian” followers or little examples of Christ. So we are called out of the world but most are still in it? We have not followed… we have learned otherwise taking the way of man’s paved wide road by passing the narrow path and now we’re on main street with the world.
So now we are “in it and of it! From the first we are seen as a people within a people but never-the-less together as more loving family (us) than family (the Jews) or the greater family (the World) We are members all by the blood of the lamb a greater bond than our worldly family blood but most would say not.
That interaction of faith is life in Jesus… together; begins in the first definition of “Ekklesia” used in scripture; Ekklesia means; Congregate; they gathered to Jesus. Their primary movement was to approach Him, to be near Him, to see a miracle, to hear Him; they gathered around Him. Their need brought them to Him… was He the Messiah? Their deliverer? It is here we are found wanting, it is here we see our sin, our weakness, our worthlessness, our emptiness, our need… Oh our need… to be loved. The congregants that gathered into His light have a choice to continue on in relationship wittingly or unwittingly open to His love or return to their faithless self-centered darkness. Many are trying to keep one foot in the world and one in the Spirit. We all know that you can’t serve two masters but we will try… losing ground without ever fully realizing it… as the puppet master of lies finds our ear.
The second use of “Ekklesia” as they were drawn to Him; was, they found themselves together; life began anew with Jesus as their center as they now followed Him physically and spiritually by faith. Following Jesus daily they left everything to be with Him; family, friends, jobs, they were moved to do so by faith in Him. This was Community (Ekklesia); life with Jesus; as they formed life together around Him with Him, they now lived with each other as part of His call to follow. They followed together. The disposition of unity begins in having Jesus as the focal point “Two or more He is in our midst” Unity then is congregating or gathering to Jesus as He calls us for His purpose; which is the purpose we are created for. He is our all in all, concluded by our acts of faithfully following (at all cost) together. Community is our together with Him and each other.
The third use of the word Ekklesia; in English “Ecclesia” is the most popular and the most misused; Church. It is defined erroneously as a building or place; the administration of or government; the denomination; prelates to patriarchs to Hierarchy; even extremes of the imagination such as a meeting place of minds in agreement or a place of learning all of which is heresy (contradicts The teaching and example of Jesus) . All or any definition other than the people of God called out in congregating (Gathering to Him to follow for life) community (living in His selfless love with all those called) church (together fulfilling His mission) is an unorthodox opinion to the very instruction and example (the twelve) of Jesus. The misuse can be seen in the basic establishment of today’s church… He sent them “Two by Two” yet no pastor adheres to His instruction as Church’s are established by a Pastor or senior pastor no love nor unity when control comes from one man other than God. Do these men live for God or do they live like you?
Here our calling has moved us to Jesus (“No one can come to me unless the father draws them) than establishes a new and distinct life with Jesus and with each other by following and living in faith… emerged in His love they soon were sent to continue and fulfill His mission as His “Sent ones” the Church. Life in Christ is a life lived in faith. The Twelve; the original sent ones much later are the inspiration and example used by the church and given the respectful title “Apostle” (Used two to three hundred years latter which focuses on them as the first sent ones. The distinction of the twelve at this point is subjection as slaves to the undergirding of the Saints in selfless love is exampled by their martyrdom. Martyr; or witness… Fulfilling 1 John 3:16 “This is love! Jesus lay down His life for us so we may lay down our lives for each other” Following perfect love leads us here… to meet and be with Him forever. We are called to live like Him and to die like Him out of His selfless love.
The basic description although brief entails both the order of our calling and the relationship we are to maintain in its loving accomplishment. It was only Him who knew in the gathering of the twelve that He would depart from them physically and send the Holy Spirit to continue to lead establishing the example for those who continually would be called, through the ages, to follow. And so came the three thousand until today in your “hearing” The life of Jesus was an example of both the reception and submission to the Holy Spirit and defines following from our faith in praying to our trust in speaking to knowing the direction of our lives moment by moment daily. “Pick up your cross (death of self) daily and follow”
The simplest way to describe the difference in the overall question of “Following” Jesus can best be described as… the difference between celebrations of the people of God…
There are festivals and there are feasts (both Congregating to Him)
A festival (was and remains) a gathering of God’s people to celebrate which would describe our basic definition of “Church” today… a meeting a time of acknowledgement of God through praise and song with readings of scripture to support and encourage the people of God… whereas Feast would best describe “Community” as eating together by His provision and praying to hear and know His will and to perform it by His Holy Spirit daily… (Please do not compare daily or weekly symbolic meals they do not nourish neither the body nor the Soul to sustain it.. in its daily rigors)
“We” are gathered to be the overflowing light of His love compounded in and through each other to minister (serve) the needs of others… daily attentively and with compassion… We are the light of the World; we are to be the City on the Hill.
We are called to Christ Jesus. Can you hear His voice? We are congregated to Him and each other to live for Him together.
A SHORT HISTORY
Every beginning starts with someone
ever since Adam
This writer will express what transpired in part
The very root of what God had planned for us and for everyone that has ears to hear… began in the early seventy’s…
hearing God in prayer one evening a Tuesday on my way home… God spoke… Go to Arizona… I left on Friday… my wife and two young children joined me in a few weeks
We had at this point in life chosen to give up the world and live for God…
The move was a whirlwind of grace and a further cleaning house of our values both of us coming from upper middleclass homes… during our stay (The account is endless with grace) God once again spoke first assuring us we would have a place to live
Then He said return and build “Community” having no idea what that meant…
we heard the call to return and resettled with a bereaved aunt…
discussing this idea of Community proved itself as brethren said how can you even begin without knowing what community means to which enlightened by grace
“Well God is going to be very direct in speaking and opening doors”
With faith and little direction we began to seek God as to where He wanted us to live… ironically both my wife and I had agreed we would never like to live on Long Island…
to wit My wife said one evening… I believe God wants us to move to Long Island… confirming it reluctantly… we began to look… seeking God… and not just looking for a dwelling we had found many appealing places… finally out of nowhere we drove way out on Long Island and as we got off the expressway on a whim of expectation… we knew our searching was about to end… we were sure this was the area… now to find out exactly where… what God planning for us was a real sense of “what next”
skipping the details we ended up in Coram… praying but now hearing nothing we settled in and waited… and waited… one night I read there was a prayer meeting at a local church… a small group of twenty or so charismatics assembled… it was not to my liking but as I was walking out after prayer the voice of God said come back…
no thank you God I’ll wait… but God insisted… I returned… after the second meeting God spoke to me “they will ask you to be a leader and you will say no and submit to them” so that next meeting they did just that and on my refusal telling them what God Said… they invited me out for coffee… assembled were the eight principal people… upon sitting they bluntly asked… so tell us about “Community” up to this point I had barely a thimble full of info but at that meeting it was a great insight that we had come to the right place… after months of prayer the meeting grew to hundreds and friendships were made… after several families came for pizza to our house it evolved into a Sunday breakfast and we’d linger until it became breakfast and dinner with our families what began with several became twelve or more some staying a time and so as it was changing faces… the core of us without any plan except our love for one another drew us closer… soon… some of us wanted more… so we began meeting for dinner during the week… we grew closer and closer until some one finally said lets do this… all in… Community… God is speaking to live before Him… anyone with me all twelve families agreed we even committed ourselves on paper…
so the adventure began how to unshackle from the world…
We found the first greatest obstacle… each of us had a geographical picture of how we should live this life together… we had no example and the focus was growing on how we all saw our life together to be… some thought what would be ideal…
once we realized it was about our relationships not the
type of building(s) we moved to hear from God…
we were praying constantly at this point in great expectation…
it was just a matter of time we were all certain we would find a place… on L.I
There were a number of buildings that were offered that for one reason or another did not work out… when out of no where we heard a ministry was about to move and we were trying to connect via a local brother
The Hand of God
In my travels I had visited a large community north of NYC so we went and visited
It now settled us in the possibility of leaving Long Island…
as well as this is doable… building were offered like convents and even a school some worth millions but God did not give us a confirmation
One night returning home for dinner I was absolutely sure that we would firm up a direction before the night was over…
after dinner we sat and prayed… a knock at the door… one of the couples… came
believing we would hear good news tonight… the excitement was incredible we sat like giddy kids and in moments… another couple came with readings referring to our estate… soon one by one everyone was sitting excitedly praying bubbling over…
there was no contact that night and why everyone came to my house was surely the leading of the Holy Spirit… waiting was soon over when the phone call came…
some one we vaguely knew told us of a place up State NY…
As crazy as it seemed we were open to look…
that Sunday all the men drove in a large van and entered the small town…
unsure where are destination was exactly… we entered a supermarket parking lot and
parked to pray and get direction… when one of us looked out the window
and parked right next to us… were three couples that had began with our prayer meetings… God had sent them right there that day directed in prayer and we than confirmed we were to build here… They were sent to build here… but… The other three threw faith to the wind saying they did not want to be in the snow belt?
We searched that day excited and asked around… we even found a Christian realtor…
what next?… we were in no way disappointed with not finding something that day
We all knew this was God… this was the place
several days later we received a letter from a group of Christians in that town
who heard that we came there and God spoke to them that prior week
“That a group of brethren were coming to build among them…
they gave us an address of a farm for sale…
unanimously they sent me the following week… Driving to the farm I knew it was the place and miraculously… with a simple conversation we quickly struck as deal to rent with an option to buy… this giving way to selling our houses and planning the move…
it was decided three families would go and prepare the way…
we led the way…
Community had begun in this most unusual God led way…
“Entering the fire” with the resulting fireworks
FROM THERE TO WHERE
or is it
FROM WHERE TO THERE
COMMUNITY
The truth be known
there is a cost to live for Jesus
it costs everything… everything…
even your life
With three families settling in… it gets totality unnerving… yes there was a period of adjustment three woman in the same kitchen was to be the least of the things to come… prayer each morning and at lunch time and a long quiet prayer time every evening… Christians visiting every weekend… local Christians coming to pray… It was confirmed I was to go to church’s speaking… things began to open up… so many stories… it’s time to jump to the major problems… first one couple (one of the leaders) got cold feet and invited himself and family out… one of the most zealous brother living with us was disappointed in this life as He came with baggage and now was having second thoughts the other resident family wanted something more for his children… he was the first to go… he headed for the community we had visited… a large and well established (after many years there he left there he then left his wife) the other brother used that as his excuse to depart as well… the brothers that were coming liked the idea of the secure community… so here we were unable to sustain the farm alone and with no way to buy it… we were forced to join with everyone or go it alone… believing God sent us here… where we were… we rented a small house and… Great time to ask…
“Anyone want to learn how to pray without ceasing”
this is the primer… give it all over to God to see it crumble…
but we were ever sure He was in it!
Love and trust may never make sense… neither does it’s root… faith
Amen… for enduring…
again too many details and a host of God providing… we move on…
The hand of God is faithful to those who are faithful…
It was time for the big miracles… My heart was full because faith carried us this far… but now what… the house that God promised us… was that gone or about to happen… coming into the house one evening… My wife was cooking and I said we’re going to get the house God promised (this was thirteen years later) she turned off the burners and we went into the living room to pray… so sure of it… that dinner… I announced to the children that God had made a promise… Him giving us a house to build community and we would see Him deliver it!
The way God works is received in faith… or missed by our thinking…
Faith took us here to this town and it took everyone leaving us… to give us a choice…
go with the consensus of men who went elsewhere or blindly trust God?
The blind walk… the first door…
First out of nowhere someone offered us five thousand dollars as a donation and we knew this would be the down payment… (Don’t dare count those chickens…) Then a local friend opened the another door that was not to be shut… he had just come back from a trip to a city about an hour or so away and said you need to read this as he handed me that city’s paper… I took the paper and went home… gazing at headlines and stories nothing here that made any sense… oh well but as I was about to put it down… there were buy lines on the last page… looking… there it was a picture of a house right here in our town… first thought it must be God… no one here will see it… why advertise there… was to be discovered to be to get more money than it was worth… both the fun and the craziness was about to unfold… my wife confirmed it… so we called… now it gets weird… my daughter had a friend that lived across from the address… we went to the appointment and we gazed in amazement that we had walked this child home numerously and never saw the house before… yes neither of us… the owners stood with us on the front lawn and my wife and I beamed… this is it!… finally was not so final… they invited us in to see it and we both smiled and said no this is it… to wit they gave us the price… they had just lowered the price to sixty nine thousand with thirty thousand down… we walked away wondering how God would do this for we were certain this was God… hold on to your hat! in this case hold onto your faith…
real tight… don’t shrink now… beyond hope… We prayed Oh and prayed!
The games begin… distract… deceive… deter… discourage… Darkness says hello…
We received a half a dozen phone calls some of whom we did not even know… basically that we shouldn’t have bought this house (them not knowing we didn’t) because someone wants to build a business on the land and we should sell it to them?(twenty acres) we yessed them without saying we did not buy it…
Then we got word the donor of the five thousand had been hospitalized… we sent the money back for they might need it… it was not enough anyway…
and we’d wait on God it was going to take some doing…
Relief came one evening when someone called to encourage us and wished us luck with the house (We did not own) they confided it was a planned barrage of calls to sell and not to be concerned “It’s yours now” he said Whew!
What do you do in the midst of distraction… Pray!
Next was the call from a real estate broker who called to inform us we owed him a fee… we informed him we had no idea that he had listed the house… bravely saying we don’t own it yet! and would get back to him…
we called the owners and informed them… they had no realtor… they had no contract… they didn’t even know the realtor… the owner thanked me… several days later we received a call from the owners (Do you believe in miracles)
(Do you want to!)
and they said they would sell us the house for thirty seven thousand dollars
you read that right… half of what they first asked…
as that is what they owed… but they wanted seven thousand dollars down…
and they would hold the mortgage….
We got a great deal… but no money…
they’d let us sit on it ( you still believing with us) Got this far wow!
can you believe our heads were spinning…
time to pray for wisdom… is there something we missed…
No… don’t know how… but God is in this… we’re getting this house!
Several nights later someone called us that had heard we returned the money ( the five thousand dollars) to the donor… and only God can do this… said I’d like to give you some money… not knowing the sum was five thousand dollars… must have thought it was more… said all I can give you is seven thousand… No!
Can you get up and dance… wait…
it gets better… first we get a closing date… with no more money than the donation…
I go the owners lawyer… never having bought a house… I go with a thousand questions… next town over… I arrive to hear… you need to get a lawyer for the closing (a week away)… he looks at me and says well the owners are holding the mortgage I could be your lawyer… it’s not illegal… maybe unethical so for two hundred dollars… we could make this happen… still in the dark the money 9Donation) arrives in cash… my dad calls the night before the closing (“you buying a house?) are you all set… you know you need money to pay for extras… what extras… don’t worry I’ll send you some money overnight western union… the money my dad sent covered all the costs… took all the time to sign the paper work and was handed a deed..
in a fit of thanking God I thanked everyone… receptionist as well…
Well by nothing but the grace of God… we were home owners… not over yet… did I tell you I’m faithful but not smart and in no way a liar… how were we going to make the payments… that reality hit when I got home… and me without a job…didn’t mention that… God got us here we’ll make it… God will provide…
it’s forty three years latter… and we’re writing about it…
Side note: well some months later repeating the miracle it was a lot bigger than I thought… closed on a house and no one mentioned are you working? Honestly never thought of it… would have never been able to get a mortgage… God is Good! Community begins anew one family at a time…
We build directed by God…
IF YOUR HEART IS TO HEAR
“The love of God binds us into children as His Spirit directs our lives to be about the purpose He created for us... joyful in the work of His hands... we await His return to take us to Himself forever”
