Since I last posted, we’ve moved into a new house with another family (Stephen and Ayala’s family), had another baby boy, Journey Edan, hosted a few visitors from Rose Creek Village, and have been devoting a lot of time to fellowship with the church here.

The house is great. It’s got plenty of room for us without being extravagant, a large living room and dining room which make it perfect for having a bunch of folks over for meetings and get-togethers, a big backyard for the kids to romp in, complete with a trampoline and large above-ground pool which the previous tenants decided to leave for us.

God’s been providing for us wonderfully; work is going more than well. I’m facing a new problem; how to schedule out everything I need to do, as well as which jobs to take.

Living with Stephen and Ayala has been a treat. We’ve had some rubs, but get them worked out quickly and stay clear with each other. Mostly, we operate like one big family.

Journey Edan was born on March 1st at home. The birth was amazing. It went really fast once things picked up–the baby was born just 50 minutes after the midwives arrived–but we never felt rushed or stressed. There was a constant feeling of calm which was wonderful. Kaleem and Marlene, the midwives, are some of the most loving and serving women we’ve met, and they took very good care of us, even in the few weeks following the birth.

Noah and Haviylah arrived to visit a couple weeks ago, and stayed for a week. They are headed to Nakuru, Kenya for six months to be with the church there, so it was really great to get to be with them. God really spoke through them, too, and they spent a good deal of time encouraging the church here. There’s been some good fruit from the trip–seems like some things were just at the tipping point, and they ‘tipped’ during the time they were here. God’s been really pouring out His Spirit on us then and since, and the love and fellowship we’ve been experiencing is incredible. It seems that a dam has burst sometimes.

Mercy, Ari and Aya’s mom, arrived to visit just a few days after Noah and Haviy did, and is still with us. She’s been a huge blessing and help.

Rick and Katie are in the process of closing on a house which is within walking distance of us. They’re encountering some technicalities which are being difficult and discouraging, so please be praying for them. We know that God wants us to be close together, and it seems that this is the house He’s providing; He’s just going to have to make it work.

We had an amazing “love feast” together during the time Noah and Haviylah were with us. The church gathered here at our house, and we broke bread together, worshipped God, and gave each other gifts and blessings. God’s presence was very strong there, and it was so awesome to watch Him go around the room and speak through just about everybody there, touching each person with His love.

God’s opening doors for us around this area as well. We’ve been meeting some neat people who it seems God may be bringing us into fellowship with. We’ll give more details as things pan out.

This is an exciting time. God is on the move!

“I’m grateful to feel control wrested out of my hands and put into the hands of the one Steve Saint called the Master Storyteller. I hadn’t known I still had such a tight grip on the reins.”

- Shammah Pavao

“Ok, Daddy, come on and let me spank you. Bend over.”

“My word! River, no! You don’t throw cereal on the floor!” (A few seconds later) “Tris! Don’t stomp on that cereal!”

“Mom, on my birthday can it be movie day and computer day?”

“Riv went poopoo in the potty chair? Can I see?”

“You two sit down in the middle of the floor, hold hands, and look at each other. Don’t get up ’til I tell you to.”

“All hands on deck! I forgot it was Friday, and the lawn guys are here! Rock and toy pickup in the yard, now!”

“Hon, it’s time for lunch.”

“Great!” I walk out to the dining room, where there is no lunch to be seen. Ari is laying on the couch.“Is there food ready for me?”

“I was hoping you’d make it.”

I had to run to the grocery store for some lettuce for supper, and was asked by a cheerful homeless lady on my way out if she could wash my van windows for some change for something to eat. I was in a hurry, so I gave her a dollar and went on.

As I drove off, I had the thought, “Hey, why don’t you invite her for dinner?” By the time I had driven the two blocks to our street, I suddenly realized that part of me was working really hard to come up with all the reasons needed to not do something crazy like that; we were busy, had a lot to do to get ready for that evening, etc.

I got home and dropped the lettuce off, and told Ari what I was thinking. I asked Morgon if he minded having company come over for his birthday dinner, and when he figured out I was talking about a homeless lady, his eyes lit up and he got real excited.

“Yeah! That would be great!”

I drove back down to the grocery store and quickly found the lady, who was still hunting around, spray bottle in hand, for window-washing jobs.

“You’re back!” She smiled at me.

“Yeah, I was thinking about how you were asking for change for food. My family lives just a couple blocks from here, and my wife and I would be honored if you would come and eat dinner with us.”

“Oh,” she said, stunned. Then, apologetically, “I’m sorry, I have a husband.”

I grinned at her, “That’s ok, I have a wife.”

“But he’d have to come along too.”

“That’s ok.”

She seemed genuinely confused at this point.

“So you’d take us to your house for supper?”

“Yep.”

“Just for supper?”

“Yes.”

“And then bring us back here?”

“Sure, I’d be happy to.”

She didn’t seem to know what to do with me. “It’s just that nobody’s ever offered to do that before. Why?”

“Well, we’re Christians, but I figure that we can talk about being Christians and changing the world all we want, but unless we’re ready to do something about it, it’s all just talk.”

She nodded. “Well, that makes sense. I’ll need to ask my husband, though, he’s across the parking lot here. You want to just drive over to that laundromat?”

So I drove over there, watching as she started trying to explain to a short, dark-haired man that some crazy young man was inviting them to supper at his house. He was pretty apprehensive, but she seemed to have warmed up to the idea, and coaxed him to come meet me.

I introduced myself and invited him personally, and they decided to come with me, though he was still pretty reluctant. I realized it was a mixture of distrust and embarrassment. They were hardly presentable, they said, and I reassured them the best I could that we really did want them in our house.

Their names were Billy and Jackie. Both in their early 50’s, I think. She is super friendly and loves to chat. As Billy says, “If she’s not talking, there’s usually nothing to talk about.” He has a braid threaded through his ballcap and kind eyes underneath his sunglasses.

So I took them home, introduced them to my family, and we sat down to some delicious homemade tacos. We had a great time chatting and sharing the meal. The boys were very polite, and Ari told me later that they were so excited about the guests coming that when they saw me drive up, they moved their plates to the coffee table in the living room to make room.

We got to know each other while we ate, found out where they were living (in an abandoned building a few blocks away), what they do in winter, how Jackie’s kids were doing, and other sundry topics.

Ari served up the homemade blackberry cobbler she made for Morgon’s birthday with ice cream for dessert.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had anything like this,” Billy said.

They asked me to take them back to the store after the meal, and thanked me over and over. I told them that we had a great time, and I was really glad to meet them.

“Well, you certainly are a Christian,” Jackie declared. “Nobody ever does that.”

I looked her and Billy in the eye, “Well, I think that’s a real shame.”

And I do. I’m ashamed it’s taken me this long to do it, too. Sometimes it can be hard to get stuck at the first word in the label “homeless people”, and forget that it’s the second which is most important.

What does it cost us? Some comfort, and the risk of being taken advantage of. But when you’re talking about homelessness–or some other uncomfortable subject–over dinner, and it’s facing you from across the table, you’ve got to wrestle with some hard stuff. I think that wrestling is good.

We’re here to show the Love of Jesus to people, and I saw last night how powerful that can be. And I think that we as Christians can use a bit more risk and getting taken advantage of.

“Dad, when grandpa dies, is he going to leave you a lot of money?”

Ari and I just laughed. We couldn’t help it—that’s just a humorous thought to us. We know that both sets of our parents won’t have much to leave, if anything, in the way of material wealth. But one thing we already have that is part of the real treasure they are leaving behind is that that has never even been a concern of ours.

You see, our parents have lost just about everything they had, or ever had a shot at, in the way of success. They did so deliberately, because they chose to squander their lives on our Lord, just as Mary squandered all of her wealth, her oil of pure nard, by pouring it out on Christ.

It sounds great when I put it like that. But when it started, and all throughout the process, most people looked at them and what they were trying to do and asked, “Why are you doing this?” That abandonment and pouring out isn’t ever a comfortable thing to do. It’s usually downright painful. They left families, jobs, possessions, houses, land, security and reputations, and were counted as fools, crazy, ignorant, unloving, and worse.

So, why would they do that?

Because they hungered and thirsted after righteousness. And it’s the path which God takes those who hunger down in order to make them satisfied.

Ari answered Morgon,

“No, grandpa’s probably not going to leave us anything. But that’s ok.”

“Dad, what about when you die? Are you going to leave us anything?” Ronan, our 7-year-old, asked.

We laughed again, but not so hard this time. This strikes a bit closer to home. And it’s been something I turn over in my head occasionally.

I want to be a good parent. I want good things for my kids. They are talented, smart, promising young men. I, just like you, have a whole world screaming it’s ideas of what is ‘necessary’ and ‘best’ into my ears, and it’s impossible not to feel that pressure. It would be easier for them to feel secure and not have to struggle to live here. But more than wanting what’s good, I want what’s best for them, and I know that doesn’t come from striving after material things.

We don’t own much. That’s on purpose.

I don’t have a 401k plan. That’s on purpose, too.

We have chosen to walk a path where God has specifically asked us to lay our security on the altar, and to put our trust in Him.

I want my boys to know how to cry out, “Where’s the God of Elijah?” and to have to rely on God to back them up when they beat the waters with their cloaks.

My hope is that they are going to see, just as we did, parents who are squandering their lives on the only One worth losing everything for.

Maybe they’ll have money. Maybe they’ll own properties. Maybe they’ll be wealthy. Maybe we’ll be granted to leave some of those things for them, I don’t know. But if they do obtain these things, our hope is that it won’t mean a hill of beans to them, but that their focus will be on doing the Will of the Father, and all these things which have been added to them—because of putting the Kingdom and it’s righteousness first—will be servants and tools of that purpose.

Ari and I have already decided what we’re leaving our boys (and girl, hopefully?) when we leave this earth; it’s going to be the same thing that our folks have already imparted in us: a deep, abiding love of our Father, and the passion to obey him and abandon everything for him. And the wisdom to not go after earthly treasures, but eternal.

Is that a waste? I don’t think so.

In parting, I leave you a couple of my favorite quotes by people I really respect to think on:

“When I die, if I leave behind me ten pounds … you and all mankind [may] bear witness against me, that I have lived and died a thief and a robber.“
John Wesley

“People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives … and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.“
Nate Saint

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.“
Jim Elliot

“I wasn’t God’s first choice for what I’ve done for China… I don’t know who it was… It must have been a man… a well-educated man. I don’t know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn’t willing… and God looked down… and saw Gladys Aylward… And God said — “Well, she’s willing.“
- Gladys Aylward

As comments are disabled on his blog and I have no idea how to get in touch with him, I figured that I might as well throw some thoughts in response up here on the blog and see if they help anyone out.

Francis wrote:

“[…] Until this recent study, I hadn’t noticed the deep connection between the cross and unity. Our oneness is far more than a “nice idea” we should pursue if we can find the time. It was a motivation for the cross.”

I wholeheartedly agree. Unity is such an integral and key part of God’s plan that it was what Jesus staked his validity in the eyes of the world on, according to his prayer in John 17:20–21:

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” [emphasis mine]

Jesus said that the world is supposed to recognize the fact that He is the Son of God through seeing the unity and love of His Church. Comparing the picture of what that Unity and love looked like in the first Church to what we see now in modern Christianity leaves little doubt as to why the world has such a difficult time recognizing who Christ is today.

This prayer of Jesus’ in John 17 is the last recorded intercession for his disciples he makes as a man on the earth. He knows that he will be put to death shortly, and then glorified. His prayer, and the teachings leading up to it, are the most critical things he wants to cram into their heads and hearts before he is crucified—important seeds that he’s planting which will spring to life when he is resurrected.

And his last prayer for them as a man on the earth was that they would be kept, sanctified, united, and able to be with Jesus.

Unity is not just important. It’s critical. It was critical to Christ, to the apostles, and to the early church. It should be equally as critical to us.

But does the modern church really believe that unity is so critical? It seems that it wants to believe so, but the reality is that, in modern Christianity’s scale of importance, doctrine and issues of interpretation trump unity pretty much every time.

Unity of faith is a process

There’s a command which everybody is familiar with in Ephesians 4:3 for us to be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. But many Christians try to go about doing that by attempting to ‘work out’ their differences of opinion on doctrines and theology. It just doesn’t work that way. Look at verses 12–13:

…until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Most people miss the “until” in that verse. Coming to the unity of the faith is a process, not the beginning. As we go through that process, we are still supposed to be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit, and the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are still supposed to be equipping the saints so they can build up the Body, so that it can grow in all aspects into Christ.

Yes, I believe that we are supposed to have unity in our faith. But that is a result of following the first command to preserve the unity of the Spirit. We can look around us and see the fruit of trying to be united based on doctrine—a religion that is so full of different denominations and schisms it’s appalling. It’s not uncommon to find multiple congregations of the same denomination in one city. Compare that to the early church, where the only thing which separated them was their location. There could be multiple churches in the big cities, but even then those churches were united.

I don’t think that the issue is so much one of unity, but of who you’re trying to have unity with. With whom can you have unity of the Spirit with? You can’t have it with just anybody.

Unity is an automatic blessing of being a disciple

True disciples are those who have received the Word, obey it, and are kept in His name (as He prayed for the Father to do). They have abandoned all to follow Him. They hunger and thirst after righteousness. True disciples of Christ are part of the God’s household, and thus have the right to be in His name, and they automatically have unity. If you are a disciple, I’m sure you’ve had experiences where you have met a spiritual brother or sister and there is a joining of spirits—you can feel the connection in the Spirit which you both share.

We just had some friends of ours, the Vicks from Atlanta, come stay with us for a week. We met them two years ago, and have seen them only once or twice a year since, for short visits. We hardly knew them. I wasn’t really sure how the visit would go, though I was optimistic. You know, there’s probably some differences in how we believe some doctrines, but I couldn’t tell you what those were. We never tried to find out. They lived in our house for a week, and we had an amazing time of fellowship, encouragement, and experiencing that true family which transcends natural blood relations. They didn’t want to leave, we didn’t want them to go.

That didn’t happen because we’re easy to get along with or because our personalities didn’t clash. No, there was a tangible, spiritual love we had for each other that covered all the other natural issues which might come up (Colossians 3:14). We were bonded by a supernatural love for each other which was put in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We share that gift of love because we follow the same King, and He is more important to us than keeping our own lives.

Really, it’s pretty simple: you can’t have unity with people who want to keep their own lives.

The Church is made up of disciples

Disciples are the people who make up the Body of Christ. Those who have given their lives up to partake in His life.

I usually like using the word disciple more than believer, or even Christian. I am all those things, but, as it’s been said, when something comes to mean everything, than it means nothing. “Christian” and “believer” have been applied to so many things that aren’t that they almost don’t mean anything anymore—their meanings have become very watered down. I want to make a distinction between what is commonly known as believers now, and what the early Church called believers. They believed with their very lives. Does your belief reflect in your life?

I want to remind myself constantly that I’m supposed to be a disciple, and not just somebody who merely believes (in a modern American sort of way). Jesus made some very clear and hard statements about what it means to be a disciple. Read Luke 14:25–33, for example. I don’t want to somehow excuse away those hard things. We have to wrestle with them and find out what God is speaking to us. We have to hear His voice and obey.

Jesus is our unity. Doctrines are not. But as we conform our lives around Jesus, allowing Him to work with us and fashion us into new wineskins, we find that we are more and more united with those who are doing likewise. We have become containers of the marvelous Word of God, new wineskins to hold the new wine, the Holy Spirit that unites us. We have to be containers of Him. The Church is the dwelling place of God. Only those who are part of that dwelling place can have unity.

A fundamental problem

Churches nowadays have a serious issue: they have created an environment (often in an effort to reach out to folks) where people who are true disciples, trying to live their lives passionately for Jesus, are trying to fellowship with other people who aren’t really that interested in being disciples. Trying to have unity in that situation is impossible. The true disciples can get together and probably experience it, but not the others.

Am I saying kick ’em all out? No, not really. I’m saying that we need to preach the Gospel, not some watered down message which we call the gospel but which doesn’t have any power to bring people to Christ. It is the Good News that the Messiah has come, and has brought His Kingdom, and that He has made a way for us to enter into that Kingdom. It is a life for a life.

We need to call people to the same commitment that Jesus and the apostles called them to; if they’re going to say that they’re Christians and that they’re part of the Church, then they need to live like they’re disciples, or at least try (God loves those who try, and comes to them and empowers them). If that commitment level was being upheld, not just on Sundays, but in the people of God being in each others’ lives, exhorting, speaking the truth in love, banding together to protect the unity of the Spirit in whatever measure they have so that it can grow, then it would quickly become apparent whom the people are who are not interested in being disciples. And, yes, there should be an obvious difference between the sheep and the goats—it’s probably the only way most goats will even figure out that they are goats! Then they’d have a chance to become sheep! Right now, it’s just okay to be a goat and to be merely called a sheep.

Unity exists. It can happen. It is a sweet, wonderful, good and pleasant thing. So follow Christ! Be a true disciple. Find other true disciples. Join together, and believe that 1 John 2:27 is true. Those are plural “you’s” in that verse; the leading of the Holy Spirit in you (a corporate you) will teach you the truth. It is why the Church is the pillar and support of the truth, not an individual.

It’s all River’s fault.

We’ve been in the early stages of potty-training with him, and lately have been trying to catch him before he goes in his diaper, which explains why this morning I was careening through the house to fetch the potty chair before it was too late.

Somehow my little toe intercepted the corner of the wall on my way by.

The wall didn’t budge.

At first I thought that it was just the injured toenail causing the pain, but as I grabbed it (yelling), I felt the bones grinding together.

Sigh. It’s ridiculous how such a small part of your body can cause such trouble. My toe immediately started to swell, which has since spread to the entire foot.

Of course, everyone in the family was very concerned for me, though that didn’t stop any of them from laughing at me. They really got a kick out of it (pun not intended).

Lately, Morgon has been coming into the age of klutziness. He constantly is stubbing his toes, dropping objects, running into things, and otherwise causing damage to his person. I think it tickled Ari to realize that he just comes by it honestly.

I had walked with Morgon a couple blocks to Jerry and Erika’s house drop him off so he could play basketball with Malachi. Erika gave me a plate of ours to take home, and I started back.

As I rounded the corner to our street, I saw a dog walking and sniffing around on my side of the road. She looked to be a pit bull mix, not too big, but I didn’t see an owner anywhere. I crossed to the other side of the road and kept going.

The dog spotted me, however, and crossed over to my side of the road. She was coming around a couple of parked cars, so I kept those in between us and crossed back across the road and picked up my pace, keeping an eye out for the dog. I couldn’t tell what her intentions were; her body language wasn’t convincing me that she was too friendly.

The dog came around the side of a car where she spotted me again, and immediately put her head down and started coming right at me–not running, but very deliberately.

Oh boy, now what? I looked around quickly and saw that I was right next to a pickup truck parked in a neighbor’s driveway. I took two steps and jumped into the back of the truck right as the dog was getting to me. I glanced up and caught the eye of a woman just then coming out of her house leading three small dogs on leashes–the owner of the truck I had just jumped in.

Her expression was pretty funny. She looked totally bewildered. I realized then that her truck doors were standing open–she was in the process of loading up her truck to go someplace. This isn’t that great of a neighborhood, but usually men don’t go around jumping into the back of vehicles at random. I’m sure she was momentarily wondering if she should be worried about my intentions, but I think it was pretty obvious that if I was trying to steal her truck, I was going about it the wrong way.

I immediately started apologizing and explaining about the dog, which was still sniffing around. She quite calmly came down from the porch and got her dogs into the truck. She apparently knew the dog I was running from.

“Don’t worry about it,” she told me. “I totally understand. I think the dog’s pretty sweet with humans, but I’ve had some problems with her and my dogs.”

We then introduced ourselves, her name was Maureen. She was really nice about the whole thing, and we had a good laugh about the situation. I then went home, thanking her for the use of her truck.

“Anytime!” she laughed.

“Community is not the answer to man’s problem of lack of fellowship; Christ is. Love precedes location. Common location is the fruit of Uncommon love, first for God then each other.”

Noah Taylor