I love it... even when it hurts.

I love house church. It's a funny thing too. When I was a boy, people thought that I'd make a 'good minister' because I had the ability to do public speaking. I still preach sometimes since our house church network meets together once a month, but most sundays I attend one of our 'house churches' and participate with one of the leaders that I have begun to train to lead a group of 5, 8, or 15 people in a home. I love what happens -- or at least can happen -- in a simple church. I love gathering in a circle and praying for one of our sisters in need. I love watching an 11 year old sing at the top of her lungs with the grown-ups during worship in a Bronx living room. I love walking into the lobby of a building in a less-than-perfect neighborhood and being greeted by my Christian brother with a smile and a hug. I love seeing people sit in a discussion concerning spiritual matters and see one person in the room realize a life-altering truth there in the midst of the discussion. I love children playing at our feet (and I know that they're watching) as we sing with hands raised and hearts lifted high. I love church. I love church in a living room. I love church in the city. I love church as an agent of restoration and a battering ram against darkness. I love it.

And there is just something about opening our Bibles to the book of Matthew or Acts or John while on the sidewalk outside of the window behind me someone is cursing another human being. I certainly don't love that, but it somehow makes it all so real. It is a reminder of the urgency of the task of participating in Christ's mission here and now. There is something about the risk involved in opening our lives to people that seems so much like what Jesus would want from his followers. There is really something about the way I feel when I see tears that represent healing, confession, renewal of life & commitment. There is certainly something about planting simple churches in the city that is raw. I have to admit that I love it. I love church in its raw and primitive form in a city that pushes back so much it hurts. I don't love the hurt. I just love pushing back! ...Especially when it is really Jesus doing the pushing!