Arkadelphia House Church

Sorry for the lack of postage yesterday, everyone.  Adam was back at work, and Nick was making it clear that he was Not Happy about the arrangement.

Sunday night we met at the Sellers’ house for our regularly scheduled meeting.  We had an abundant dinner of velveeta nacho bake, bean and cheese enchiladas, baked potato bar, baked cabbage rolls, and two kinds of cake.   Even better than the meal was getting to spend time with each other!

We retired to the living room where everyone seemed really eager to get into the Word!  Becky brought a passage from Isaiah to share with the group:

²⁵ “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶ Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

²⁷ Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸ Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. – Isaiah 40: 25-31 (NIV)

Becky shared a testimony of God bringing this Scripture to her when she was very ill as a child, and how it brought her hope for her healing.  Many members of our body are in need of healing, so this was very encouraging to hear.

Adam shared some storying from Exodus 4.  We talked about how God had just told Moses to go to Egypt and talk to Pharaoh and then tried to kill him on the way there.  God took His commands very seriously, and Moses had not been obedient.  We then talked about how the story of the Exodus is a metaphor for our salvation.  We are slaves to sin without Christ, and without Him, we will surely die.  The Hebrews were slaves in Egypt and only escaped the death of the tenth plague by the blood of the lamb.  The first major event after the Hebrews left Egypt was walking through the Red Sea, which had been parted for their convenience.  This is a metaphor for baptism.  Does anyone see any other parallels?

Aaron brought up the idea of rich people entering the kingdom of heaven which was a springboard into discussing reading Scripture in context and “being patient” with Scripture.   The Bible is not an easy read, as most of us can attest.  There are things that don’t make sense the first time you read them, or even the hundredth time you read them.  Be patient, and ask God for His revelation of His Word.  Also, while the Bible is God’s Word, it is not the only way that he speaks to His children.  Aaron recounted a time when God used the weather to speak to him.  A downpour of rain that abruptly transitioned into bright sunshine was a way of saying, “I’m going to be with you.”

After a wonderful time of Scripture reading and talking, we prayed together for a while and dispersed.

Our meeting last night was a bit unusual. (This is a bit of a joke…as you can read from our Sunday and Thursday recaps, we don’t really have a “usual” meeting.) We sat down to a dinner of chicken adobo, roasted chicken and vegetables, and spice soup and broke bread together.

The main event for our meeting was a Skype call from Carl and Claire Miller in the Philippines! The Millers are a missionary family that teach at Faith Academy, where Carl went to high school. We got to see their lovely home as well as their beautiful family. Micah and Ian are getting so big! We were also able to catch up with them and hear about what is going on in their lives right now. A major prayer request for them is that they could have a car there. It is very difficult for Claire to go out during the day with two young children in tow and meet people. Those of you reading this blog, please pray for a car for the Millers.

After the call, we talked about God as our healer, and how God healed people in the Old and New Testaments. We also discussed where sickness comes from. Does sickness come from God? Satan? Natural causes? What do you think?

We prayed for Carl’s students at Faith Academy, for a car for the Millers, and for our other prayer concerns.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!  Sorry for the late blog post; we had a few developments in Adam’s job situation today, so it was a pretty full day for us.

Last night we sat down to a dinner of velveeta nacho bake, mexican chicken soup, broccoli, rice and cheese, and homemade root beer!  We checked in with each other and had good fellowship.

Janee expounded on her testimony from Thursday’s blog post with us, talking about some of the stages she went through in coming to the realization that this life is all about Jesus.  There are many things that we as a church can focus on that can take the focus off of Christ.  A focus on the Old Testament law, the Holy Spirit, spiritual giftings, the End Times, and the quest for knowledge are a few examples.  While these can be good things to study, a focus on anything other than Christ leads us away from where He wants to be, in the middle of His will.  We talked about ways that we can purposely focus on Christ, and Adam suggested looking at the names of Christ in scripture.  We read and discussed Isaiah 9:

^2[b] The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,^[c]
a light will shine.
³ You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
and its people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest
and like warriors dividing the plunder.
⁴ For you will break the yoke of their slavery
and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
You will break the oppressor’s rod,
just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
⁵ The boots of the warrior
and the uniforms bloodstained by war
will all be burned.
They will be fuel for the fire.⁶ For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor,^[d] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!

We talked about the names of Christ in this passage, and that the even though the passage is talking about the Son, he is referred to as the Father, God, and the Counselor (which is a normal name for the Holy Spirit).  He is the Prince of Peace and the Wonderful Counselor, but He is also the Mighty God and Everlasting Father.

We prayed a lot.  And for a lot of things.

I mentioned (in relation to our prayer) the second verse of Standing on the Promises.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail
By the living word of God I shall prevail!
Standing on the promises of God!

We talked about the word of God being the sword in the armor of God, and how that word is not just the Bible, but every word that comes from God.  He’s not finished talking to us!  Amos 3:7 says:

Indeed, the Sovereign Lord never does anything
until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets. (NLT)

He wants to tell us His plans!

We turned our discussion to war in the Old Testament and what possible reasons God might have for ordering the slaughter of groups of people.  We did have some ideas, but we don’t have all the answers.    What do you think?

After this, we talked about how in most people’s “salvation stories” there is a point when that person has an epiphany of humility.  A point when they realize, “I’m not good” or “I’m not worthy.”  This is the point when we can admit that we need Jesus to change us.  We must realize that we are in darkness and that we need the “Light of the World” to save us.

Time flew by in this meeting and it was soon time to disperse.

Stay tuned for an extra special Valentine’s Day post!

We had a smallish meeting last night at the Sellers’s house due to a lot of winter sickness.  We sat down to a meal of chicken and dumplings and chicken mirepoix over rice (fancy, huh?).  We took communion together, and April talked about the violence of communion.  April has been making her own bread and grinding the wheat herself, the way that the New Testament church would have done it.  The wheat has to be crushed violently in order to be fine enough to make a loaf of bread.  This makes the bread an even better representation of the body of Christ (broken for us) than we had thought.

We talked a little about the nebulous idea of needs, wants, and abilities.  It’s rather difficult to put that on paper as we waxed philosophical for a while.  We ministered to each other in the area of anxiety.

April brought Judges 7 to our attention and we read part of the story of Gideon aloud:

¹ So Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. ² The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. ³ Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain^[a] and go home.’” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.⁴ But the Lord told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.” ⁵ When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.” ⁶ Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.

⁷ The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.” ⁸ So Gideon collected the provisions and rams’ horns of the other warriors and sent them home. But he kept the 300 men with him.

The Midianite camp was in the valley just below Gideon. ⁹ That night the Lord said, “Get up! Go down into the Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them! ¹⁰ But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah. ¹¹ Listen to what the Midianites are saying, and you will be greatly encouraged. Then you will be eager to attack.”

So Gideon took Purah and went down to the edge of the enemy camp. ¹² The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count! ¹³ Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. The man said, “I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!”

¹⁴ His companion answered, “Your dream can mean only one thing—God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over Midian and all its allies!”

¹⁵ When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship before the Lord.^[b] Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, “Get up! For the Lord has given you victory over the Midianite hordes!” ¹⁶ He divided the 300 men into three groups and gave each man a ram’s horn and a clay jar with a torch in it.

¹⁷ Then he said to them, “Keep your eyes on me. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do. ¹⁸ As soon as I and those with me blow the rams’ horns, blow your horns, too, all around the entire camp, and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

¹⁹ It was just after midnight,^[c] after the changing of the guard, when Gideon and the 100 men with him reached the edge of the Midianite camp. Suddenly, they blew the rams’ horns and broke their clay jars. ²⁰ Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, and they all shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”

²¹ Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape. ²² When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. Those who were not killed fled to places as far away as Beth-shittah near Zererah and to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.

²³ Then Gideon sent for the warriors of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, who joined in chasing the army of Midian. ²⁴ Gideon also sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to attack the Midianites. Cut them off at the shallow crossings of the Jordan River at Beth-barah.”

So all the men of Ephraim did as they were told. ²⁵ They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two Midianite commanders, killing Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. And they continued to chase the Midianites. Afterward the Israelites brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan River.

This story reminded us of what God told us at the retreat about the squirrel.  The squirrel made a loud enough noise to scare a person, but it was really tiny.  That’s what the force of 300 did to the half a million Midianites!

We talked about the power of prayer and prayed for each other and other requests and then dispersed.