Living with Freaks

Ron called the brothers together to gather at his home for a retreat. There was no agenda...he just asked us to show up for dinner on Friday and stay until lunch on Saturday. So we did.

Almost all the men in our church came, with the exception of a few who were out of town or sick. At our highest point, I think we had 16 men together, although people did not stay the whole time in order to go to work or to attend to family needs.

There was a lot to process from a short amount of time. Here are some highlights.

We began with dinner together. People brought different things, and we had a great time eating and fellowshipping.
Slowly, we began to gather together in the living room, even though there was no agenda and nobody told us to do so. I think we all just knew we needed to gather up and see what happens. Michael kicked us off by sharing how much we all mean to him. We then spent some time praying together. We then sang. Aaron talked about how awful we sounded without the women singing with us. So sad.
In every great meeting I have been a part of, someone takes the lead to express the Lord in a way that sets the tone for a meeting. Aaron led us in that this time. Showing great vulnerability, he talked about wanting to know God in a deeper way and wanting greater connection with the church. He even asked us to lay hands on him and claim him as our own. The word "awesome" just doesn't do it justice.
We then got into a discussion about all sorts of things, such as how the church is doing, how the men are functioning, and how the women are functioning. Chris talked about how we tend to sweep things under the rug as a church instead of embracing issues together.
We talked a lot about the women. I had a chance to share my heart about women having a call from God for the kingdom that goes beyond their roles as wives and mothers. I talked about how I cannot think of a single instance in all the New Testament where a woman is called out by name for how well she serves as a wife or mother. Instead, every time a woman is mentioned, it is because of the work she is doing to build God's house. But it would be unfair to say that this is really my heart. So I talked about how Amanda and Erin have helped me to see this.
Believe it or not, it was about midnight by then. We broke up, with some going home for the night and others getting ready for bed. Twos and threes talked about the evening or whatever else was on their minds.
What happened Friday night led into a good discussion about the whole church functioning by each person taking his or her place.
We also sang some together. Todd brought a song that he had written about brokenness and knowing God. It was great. Ron brought a song that had really blessed him.
Jeff shared about prophesying, primarily speaking from Ezekiel 37 and Ephesians 4. In Ezekiel 37, God brings to life dry bones laying in a valley. God says that His people are these dry bones and that He will bring them to life by placing His Spirit inside them. Jeff emphasized how God brought them to life through Ezekiel prophesying (saying what God had told him to say). In Ephesians 4, Jeff emphasized how words build up (or tear down) the House of God. His point was that we need to be intentional about the ministry of the Word and teaching one another about knowing God.
Larry, using his newness as an entry, asked the question of why we do not have elders in our church (at least appointed ones). It ended up being (in my opinion) a good conversation about leadership in the church. I can't say there was agreement on practicalities, but there was a lot of agreement on how God does lead through people, and we need to encourage everyone and anyone (man, woman, child) to take their place. We also talked about how God does not lead through everyone (that is not the gift - expression of God - we all have), and that it is okay for some to lead and others to not do so. When the topic was first brought up, this scared me because I did not want to talk about churchwide matters without the women present (something we have generally come to see). But I hesitated to say anything because it seemed best to see where it would go. I'm glad I didn't say anything, because it was a good decision without any pressure to make decisions then and there. By the time we ended that discussion, it was past noon and many were ready to leave.

It's hard to encapsulate such a time together in written words. But I will say that the time was good. God did not do anything radical, but He was with us and brought us to Him (which I guess is pretty radical, when you think about it).

I could write more, but I don't really want to. I just want to see what God does from here.

After all, Jesus says that you judge a (re)tree(t) by its fruit.