We're Moving!

A lot has happened since my last post. Needless to say, it’s been hectic. But in all of this, we have seen our God work in our lives to confirm the call to plant a house church in East Alton, Illinois. And we pray that it is the first of many.

Since my last post my wife has been offered a job and plans are that she will begin in June. We’re excited about that, and we believe that God opened the door for that position. It means that we will have some income very soon after our move. We praise God for that.

Our next major step was to secure a place to live. We decided to look at places to rent. That proved to be a futile effort, so we started to look for a house to purchase. We first looked at a couple of online internet sites. After looking at many houses in the East Alton area I found one I thought would work. Later, we called a realtor and scheduled a couple of days to look at houses. She informed me that the one I had found on the internet had an offer on it and was not available at this time. So we drove up and looked at a half dozen houses one afternoon. My wife and I agreed that none of them “felt right.” I was impressed to ask our agent again about that house. God moves in mysterious ways. The other offer fell through and we looked at the house. We believed it was exactly what we needed and we made an offer. Through negotiations we were able to get the house at substantially less than the asking price.  Tomorrow we will close on the house and next week we will begin the actually moving process. We are thankful for the way God has provided for us.

Last Sunday was my last time in the pulpit as pastor of Ridgway FBC. I have to say it was a great experience. I love this church and they have been supportive of God’s call upon my life to plant house churches. They gave us a great love offering and I take that as a tangible expression of their love and support for my wife and me. It’s a God thing.

We are still looking for a church to serve as our “mother church.” We’ve talked to a couple of pastors and neither has worked out. Recently someone talked to a pastor at another church who expressed interest. Yesterday I called him and had a long phone conversation with him. He is definitely interested. Could this be the hand of our Lord and God at work again? I’m optimistic that it is.

Over the last few months I’ve watched God work in the lives of my wife and me as we’ve tried to be faithful to His call to plant house churches. He has moved in little things and in major ways. I’ve praised Him each and every time. So, today as I pack more boxes in preparation to move I’m going to be praising the Lord. If you live close enough to drive by, don’t be surprised if you hear praise coming from my house.