I was reading an article yesterday about the current state of the church in America. You can check it out here. In it John Burton says, “The foundational pursuit of revival has nothing to do with church growth or the lost. It has everything to do with the church awakening, contending in intercession and attracting the fire of the Holy Spirit.”
Now don’t take that quote the wrong way. It is not saying that church growth or ministering to the lost are bad things. It is just saying that shouldn’t be the focus of the church. It is simply saying that when we focus on seeking the Holy Spirit, all the other stuff will follow. It is easy to just write that statement off and not read anything else he has to say. I was a little shocked to read it.
A couple of weeks ago, my church was part of an event at NC State called Packapalooza. We were there to let them know about the meeting we have on campus and see if there was anything we could pray for them about. We have done this event for years, but in the past our focus has been more about getting as many flyers into as many hands as we could. This year, we completely changed our focus. We decided to focus on praying for people and not worry about how many flyers we passed out.
This year, one of our groups talked to someone who said they were hearing voices telling her that God was not real. They were able to encourage her and pray with her. In years past, we would have probably just stuck a flyer in her hand. The coolest part is we aren’t really concerned with whether these people actually come to our church. We would love it if she did, but that isn’t what is really important. What was important was that we were able to assure her that God is real and that He loves her. Whether she comes to church or not, that moment will mean more.
In a few weeks, we will start having House Church meetings in our house. I’m so excited to see what God is going to do in Clayton. We recently switched the way we have been doing our services and it has been amazing to see the things that God has done. We have seen people physically healed, emotionally healed, and God moving through all the members of the church. There isn’t anything crazy we have done. We just decided as a church to collectively seek God and His spirit with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. In doing so, we are seeing God move like never before.
On September 16, at 8:30am we will launch the meeting at our house. You can get more info at myhousechurch.org and by emailing me. The ministry is personal and intimate and it’s a place where you will have the opportunity to minister too. I’d love for you to join us.
until next time…