a testimony to the goodness of God

This post is here because I'm not always very good at talking.  When I say stuff, it doesn't come out like it sounds in my head, or I never bother to say it at all out of fear of it sounding absolutely ridiculous.  In any case, this needs to be written down anyway.  This blog post is a testament to the goodness and provision of God.  God truly deserves all of the glory for the things He has done in my heart and life and in the hearts and lives of the people He has graciously placed in my life.

This story begins in September 2011, while sitting around the table at my aunt and uncle's house in Washington state.  After that conversation, I went home and wrote this (for the full post, see this link: The End of Church):

I think the church is dying, or at least is on its way to dying. Maybe it's already dead in any real sense. After all, on what is an institution built (even if built on an entirely true creed) if its members do not love their neighbors? If its members do not long for the things of God with every breath, what is its purpose? An elaborate social networking place? A place to hang out, to be served, and to go home feeling fed? What is the point of "truth" if it does not result in sacrificial love and service to the broken?

What I'm looking for is this: A small group of individuals who meet together regularly, (but in relative secret - see Matt 6:5 for my rationale), to pursue God together. A group who is committed to each other no matter the cost. A safe place where there is no "off topic" conversation topic. A group without a paid leader, without a budget of any kind, except an offering for the sole purpose of service to the hurting, broken, and lacking. A group who shares with one another as if they were blood relatives. A group who takes discipleship seriously, who is not afraid to walk the hard road, and who always pursues the narrow and elusive path of hardship even in the easy times. A group that is composed of believers who live sacrificially, loving their neighbors more than themselves. Believers that live fully in the world, loving the tax collectors and sinners - never forgetting that what they do to the least of these, they do to Jesus. A group that does "not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing," but also does not equate "church" with "best way of meeting together." I'm looking for a place where I can love God, where I can seek Him, where I can grow in my walk with him, where I can make disciples (and be discipled), and where I can lead and serve both my brothers and sisters and the world at large. Not so I can make a difference or change the world, but because I am coming to the conclusion that life is not about winning converts to a creed but about remaining true to Christ's call to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, no matter the personal cost.

I am writing tonight to tell you about the goodness of God, of His power, and of His gracious provision and call in my life.  Because, you see, the above paragraph describes almost exactly the people I have found here in Georgia.

I moved to the middle of nowhere Georgia in June of this year.  Two days after arriving, I stumbled upon a group of people to whom I was immediately drawn.  We became friends almost instantly.  My work schedule didn't (and still doesn't) allow me to attend church, but my friends were all part of a singles' group at a church here in the area, so I began attending their Bible study on Tuesday nights.

Almost immediately, I watched my life begin to change.  By September, God was calling me in some big ways, challenging the ways I thought about what it means to follow God, challenging me to more fully surrender.  This process continues still, and it is complex and I don't yet know the end of the story.  But this I do know.

I have watched this small group change and grow.  I have watched numerous people join our number, and I have watched visible change happen in their lives as God calls them into relationship with Himself.  We study the Word together, and it is changing us.  We pray together, and it is changing us.  We serve the community together, and it is changing us.  I have never been part of a group of people in which God is so clearly moving, and it nearly moved me to tears tonight.

We are best described as a strange group.  Men and women of various ages, backgrounds, and interests.  Many of us have little in common beyond a love for Christ.  But that love binds us together.  My friends (or rather, my family) have cared for me in numerous ways over the past five months.  They have shown me the love of Christ in crazy and undeserved ways.  We spend tons of time together, and they encourage me to pass on the love I have been shown to everyone else I meet.

God is good.  To Him belongs all the glory.  I believe that He is doing great things here in my small Georgia town, and for that I am indescribably thankful.