Here is a good read, Some lengthy excerpts from::

My Gripes About The House Church Movement Written by Andrew Jones

People leave the church as turtles or skunks. This is what Brother Thomas
Wolf told me. Turtles crawl quietly out the back door, without bringing
attention to the protest of their silent withdrawl. Skunks leave at the
front, where everyone can see them, where they can let everyone know how
badly they will be missed, how they should have been listened to. They leave
a smell behind that lasts a lifetime. A stinky reminder of the decision that
divided.

But here is the challenge: To allow the new without threatening the old. To
preserve the old without hindering the new. Those without wisdom choose one but not both.
And the result is skunks and turtles.

I visited a House Church in the early 90's. It was run by skunks. A group of
disgruntleds whose happiness came from the fact they met on Thursday and not Sunday.
In a living room and not a sanctuary. On a sofa and not a pew. They
were like kids staying away from school, hiding out, proud of their
boldness to leave. And yet in all their freedom they managed only to move
the church service from a building to a house. Not much else had changed.
Only the location. They had the smirks of naughty boys on their faces. They
were a church service on the run. An escaped meeting captured by a living
room. One that built its identity from rebellion, defined themselves by what
they were not. This was the Revenge of the Skunks.
I didn't go back to that church. But I have been hanging out with turtles.

"They're not organised" insists the Owner in the movie "Chicken Run". But
she is wrong. The chickens have been cooped up long enough. They build a
plane and fly over the fence. To a new world. An island. To set up a new
existance away from tyranny. To become Free Range Chickens.
Free Range Turtles, on the other hand, left quietly and by themselves. No
machinery. No noises. Just a quiet withdrawl. A velvet revolution.
Pilgrimage. A solitary exodus. Their tithes first and then their attendance.
Their protest was in their feet. They choose not to come back but still kept
up relationships with those who stayed. Lest they be like the skunks.

But on their journey outside the institution, some of them discovered each
other. Ate meals with each other. Prayed with each other. More often. More
regular. Sometimes weekly. Those with gifts gave them. Those with abilities
used them. Those with leadership led. Those with wisdom taught. Those who
liked the way things were going told others. New churches emerged in places
where Turtles lived. This was now the Time of The Turtles.
Neighbors and friends got caught up. Church people thought it peculiar. New
believers thought it quite normal. The kind of thing they would do if they
had to make a church. Why not in a home? A coffee shop? Wherever people
live? Isn't that how the first church did it in the Bible?

These were another group. Not skunks or turtles. Another. Butterflies,
perhaps. No rebellion. No scars. No issues with ecclesiastical entities.
Just people who liked to live with each other in each others context.
Environments with wallpaper and photos and TV magazines. Lives located
somewhere. Homes where people live and children pick their noses and dogs
annoy. Real people who want to see deeply into each other's lives. To
delight in the beauty. To heal what is broken. To be healed. Touched.
Appreciated but not used.
Perhaps these people are the third wave. People who church together without
contrasting. Part of a church without an address. A movement without a
label . For they do not always call what they do "house church". Sometimes
there is no house. Even "home church" does not contain their experience of
God and each other in this covenanted journey.
Maybe it is just church?


To allow the new without threatening the old. To
preserve the old without hindering the new.

This is the challenge we face.

Sometimes I think more highly of myself than I aught...reading things like this help me to take that step back and examine myself against God's holiness instead of my neighbor's. We can only measure-up if we use a broken measuring stick.

God probably granted me this experience so as to teach me to look beyond the spiritual characteristics and outward forms in search of the true center. And that can only be Jesus. I came to learn that the fact that we have been converted does not imply that we are following the path of true discipleship. On the contrary, I discovered that as evangelical believers we often use the statement, "I've been saved," as a cushion to rest on or even as a shield to protect ourselves from further penetration by the light of truth and from God's judgement. Consequently, the danger of hypocrisy and pharisaism is great. Assuming that one's life is in order, one proudly looks down on others, sometimes even being reluctant to take communion with "mere chruch-goers", who also attend lectures and concerts, i.e.those who still "belong to the world." One fails to realize that some of these churchoers are more pleasing to God, since they are like the publican who prayed, "God, be merciful to be, a sinner."

From "I Found the Key to the Heart of God" by Basilea Schlink

Our first youth event went pretty well last Friday. We had fun and it seemed like everyone else enjoyed it too. It was good to get the first one under our belt and have a better idea of the types of things we can do again, and do differently.

We had those friends of ours over last week and it was good. Just talking, hanging out, and playing cards as we form relationships with those around us. I look forward to doing that again.

Speaking of...the neighbor we had over a couple of weeks ago was kind enough to get our mail for us when we were gone for a week on vacation. Also, he has a killer garden and is always giving us great vegetables from it. Just a great all around neighbor. So Sara went to get him a little thank you gift and he is a huge Notre Dame fan so she got him a mug.

He came over a couple days later to thank us for it and it brought tears to his eyes as he told us how it just blew him away that someone would do something like that for him.
My jaw about hit the floor...I couldn't believe that something that seemed so insignificant to me could mean so much to him.
I am convinced that I have wasted so many years trying to do the Church thing instead of being the church where I live. For an introvert like me it is difficult to step outside of myself and do the things that Christ would have me do, but at the same time I see all of these wasted years that I didn't even know were being wasted at the time. Now I can't help but want to live out this life that I have been hiding from for so long.

Here are some quotes from Caussade in Abandonment to Divine Providence:

"God speaks to every individual through what happens to them moment by moment."
"The events of each moment are stamped with the will of God...we find all that is necessary in the present moment."..."We are bored with the small happenings around us, yet it is these trivialities--as we consider them--which would do marvels for us if only we did not despise them."
"If we have abandoned ourselves to God, there is only one rule for us: the duty of the present moment."

Oh how true...


We went out on a limb again and this time invited some people, the parents of a wrestler I formerly coached, over to the house tonight. It should be fun, they are great people... I hope that they can see Jesus in our home.
That reminds me...I have to talk to our other neighbor soon...
I kinda like not being a hermit christian anymore.

I almost forgot...check out the Blogs and Stuff on my links. There are some great things going on out there and I finally broke through my laziness to type them in.

peace

Last night I was mowing the grass...it needed to be bailed from being gone so long, but I don't have a bailer. While I was mowing, I was thinking about our neighbors and our friends that don't know Jesus yet. What a burden He has placed in my heart for them. It is even strong enough to make me get leave this invtroverted/hermit style of Christianity behind and begin to live as though Christ is really in me and I in Him.
So while I am thinking about all of this, lo and behold one of our neighbors came out and offered me use of a trimmer for my apple tree. Another bridge has been built and now all I have to do is cross it.
I can't even remember her name because I met her when we first moved in 3 years ago, but I haven't said a word to her or invited her to our home since meeting her.
That is rediculous...why have I been ok with that for the past 3 years?
I am so stupid, stupid, stupid...(as I hit myself on the forehead violently)


on a different note...
We have a small group of people that get together on Saturday nights and we are looking at Tenny's "God Chasers"
Many of them are new to the faith and haven't been poluted by years of training in some of the meaningless "religious" doctrine we tend to hold dear. They are hungry to know who God is and want to seek His face. I have begun to find it more refreshing than I thought I would. We pray, discuss our faith, break bread, and fellowship. Sounds like church...it is
Now that we have begun to redefine what the church is we need to start being the church outside of our Christian circles like I talked about with my neighbors...things are definately moving here in BG

We were on vacation last week with my in-laws. All in all, it was a good week. Spent a lot of time in the pool and relaxing around the fire in the evening. Good conversation...things that make you stop and think things through more clearly.

Back up in BG for church Sunday...an old friend came from Columbus and gave us the message. One thing (among many)that struck a chord with me was this question and answer.
"Is Jesus part of your life?...I hope not!!! I hope He is your life!"
As my friend shared, we all to often put Christ in a place of convenience in our lives that will allow us to keep doing the things we have always done while having a life line to use if and when we need it.

I am guilty of trying to fit Jesus in where I can while trying to live a "good christian life"... doing the things that I like to do and then asking Jesus to bless it.