The Saturday Night Walk

Saturday night has come to mean a lot of things to me over the course of the last fourteen months. It was July of last year that a couple of people got together in my living room to have supper and good conversation. Before the night was over the meal had been eaten, the conversation had turned to matters of faith and the Church, and before we were done, we were all in prayer and weeping on the floor. It was a powerful evening, and totally unplanned to boot. I think we had planned to play cards or something like that.
For the four of us that gathered that night, it was the answer to prayer. We had been starved of real connectedness (is that a word?) with each other and with God. It was agreed upon that this type of gathering should not be isolated, and that while we knew that we couldn't force the power that we felt that night, that we would continue to gather together and create an environment that would foster humility, honesty, unity, and growth. Within a month our foursome had grown into a chaotic mob of something like twenty some odd regular attendants. Not that there was chaos in our gathering for teaching and prayer, but visualize if you will twenty some odd teenagers and adults gathered in a fourteen by seventy foot trailer, and the living room where we met. . .Well. . . You get the idea.
When i speak of chaos i mean more of a transitional chaos. There were many who were gathering with us that didn't really grasp what it was that we were seeking after. Of course there were others there that were reaching more desperately and deeply for what we wanted, but we weren't ready for nor could we provide it.
In the late summer a couple came to meet with us, they were about the age of my wife and i, and they attended the same "church", but we really knew nothing about them. After our meeting, which at 11:00 pm ended early by our standards, the young man, whom i had never met before, asked if he could speak with me. And so we spoke, that Saturday night, as we walked up and down our thousand foot driveway.
That night as we spoke, as strangers and also brothers, a lot of confession took place, and a genuine desire for healing and growth. Thus began my relationship with Shaun, the man i affectionately refer to as "Samir" (another story for another time). Over the course of the last year i have been floored to see what God has done with our small community. Lives have gone from broken to healed, leaders have been formed, our gatherings have moderated and a whole new family has formed. And all of this on Saturday nights.
On the whole i am rather computer illiterate, but Shaun and his wife are teaching me! Or at least helping me to navigate through this crazy maze. Shaun introduced me to the concept of "Bloging" which is still a little weird to me, but after sometime and reflection, i thought this would be interesting to try.
Some of my goals in life recently have been, to understand God better, and strengthen my relationship with the creator. To be a better husband and father, and to reconcile the church. i don't suspect that my last goal will come to fruition anytime in the near future, but still i feel a strong need to contribute what i have.
i have been at least loosely affiliated with a house church for the last 10 years. i say loosely because when my wife and i moved to the northeast, there was little tolerance for such "cults" until recently.
As i have met with many different communities two things have struck me. Number one - we are all working toward the same end. . . love God and share God's love. Number two - every denomination seems to be under the impression that they have the market cornered on "the right way".
i hope to have some hand in helping to dispel the notion that only "i" can be right in the way i commune with God. In the course of doing that i hope to eliminate the negative feelings and bitterness that come with so many of us from our pride and sense of ownership in others. Meaning that when an individual leaves a "church" for whatever reason, both the individual and the church seem to harbor ill feelings toward one another. This is especially rampant is some house churches. . .but guess what. . .it isn't biblical, it isn't right, and we need to stop it.
All these things i will get into later. For now i just wanted to introduce myself and figure out how this thing really works.

God Bless