Truth Changes Everything

As a self-described church addict, I think it's important for you to know that I get it.  It's hard to have deep, honest conversations about change, especially when what you're afraid needs changing is something you love very, very much.  There was a time in my life, the majority of it, actually, when my entire calendar revolved around "church."  As a pastor's wife, there were countless meetings to attend each week.  As a homeschooling mom, there were also countless events and classes to lead or enjoy.  Then there was Tuesday prayer, Wednesday service, Sunday morning worship, Sunday night discipleship, plus all of the retreat planning, meals to the homeless, evangelistic outreaches and, let's not forget, actual Bible studies.

So, imagine my anxiety when I started finding things in the Scriptures that didn't jive with what I had been taught or even what I had been teaching? Suddenly, everything I had built my life around had a question mark where it once had my very vocal exclamation point.  Suddenly, my morning Bible studies brought torment instead of peace.  Suddenly, I found myself losing friends and even being called out from the pulpit because I dared to voice questions to my very best friends about subjects such as tithing, sinner's prayers, church buildings, staff salaries and more.  All questions that, at the time, affected me greatly because I was on staff, in a building, teaching the tithe that paid my salary and finishing every teaching opportunity with the same sinner's prayer I had prayed to "receive" Jesus into my heart as a young teenager.  It was terrifying.  Jarring.  World-shifting.  Isolating.  In a word, it was awful.  And that was just how it started.  

The season I speak of began ten years ago.  Since then, my husband and I have been on a journey, at times submitting to what we see in Scripture, and at times, hushing what we knew in our hearts to be true in order to continue to be a part of the "church" we loved.

Ten years.

Ten years of seeking.

Ten years of asking.

Ten years of making excuses.

Ten years of long conversations behind closed doors about how we got where we were in the American Church and what it was going to take to willingly submit ourselves to Scripture in spite of it.

Ten years of asking God to show us the truth, knowing full well we weren't ready to bow to it.

And ten years of desperately trying to create in our own power and ability a community that looked like the loving, moving, living, breathing, exhorting, encouraging, correcting, helping, praying, giving, early church community.

This website will chronicle our journey from being at the church building every time the doors opened to trusting that we are the church in our homes, on our vacations, through our habits, our gatherings, our pain, our questions, our joys, our studies, our relationships, and most of all, in our allegiance to King Jesus.

Join us as we share our heart for the Bride of our Lord Jesus with other people who are seeking, searching and asking,

"Why do we do what we do?"

"Why don't we do some things we see lived out in the Scriptures?"

"Why are other religions so much more successful than Bible believers at passing their faith down to their children?"

"Why are our pastors hiding, quitting, and committing suicide?"

"Why do we do "church" this way when other countries do it so differently?"

How can "church" done so right leave so many isolated, hurting, ignorant, hard-hearted people in its wake?

"If our church traditions are so young, historically speaking, why do we defend them so passionately?"

"If we are doing church right, why are we dead-last statistically in the growth of our religion?"

"Why are the greatest growths in the body of Christ found in countries who do not do church the way we do?"

"How can I be a faithful member of a local church and feel so invisible and alone?"

Is it even possible to just drop out of the rat race that has become the Western Church and simply love Jesus, love people and pursue His Word passionately?

If you are asking these questions and more, you are not alone.  Find people who will seek the Scriptures for answers alongside you.  Have enough faith to ask hard questions, in love, without bitterness, without selfish motives.  Be taught by Jesus about Jesus.  Learn to trust Him above all else!

Grace and Peace to you on your journey!