Friday, October 23, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
NEXT HOUSE CHURCH MEETING
538 Old North Main in Cambridge
(kitty corner from the big Lutheran Church)
Give her a call to find out what food to bring!
at 763 227-7209
ALSO be planning for the Gathering next weekend which will be right after the
Spiritual Warfare Conference at the Fish House (5:00 pm in the upper level)
It's a CHILI FEED!
So bring your favorite recipe and learn some Israeli cirlce dances
while you are there!
The Topic is (of course) Spiritual Warfare - "Giving the Keys back to the Church"
Go to the Journey's main site for more details and to register: http://www.thejourney-ecmn.org/
Sunday, October 11, 2009
COMING UP THIS MONTH
Saturday October 17th - 5:00 p.m.
1087 - 313th in Cambridge
Bring your favorite oriental food (in honor of Becky Roby's birthday!)
ON THE 24th we will be at Meg's on North Main
Food (to be determined)
HALLOWEEN WEEKEND SPIRITUAL WARFARE CONFERENCE &
GATHERING AT THE FISH HOUSE! (see the main website for details:
www.thejourney-ecmn.org
Thursday, October 8, 2009
UPCOMING EVENTS!!!
- Blue Fish Meet Saturday at Rick & Lori's, 937 Golden Way, Isanti 5:00 p.m. bring your favorite kind of chicken, or a side dish.
- Spritual Warfare Conference will be held October 30, 31 @ The Fish House! Begins 6:30 p.m. Friday night and includes a ministry opportunity Saturday night at 8pm.
- Gathering will also be at The Fish House and will include an Israeli worship dance team to stir things up a bit.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
NOTES ON HOW THE CHURCH IS LED
So how do we square that Jesus both "set His face to go to Jerusalem" in Luke 10:51, and yet only always did what He saw His Father doing? (John 5:19) It doesn't seem a mystery to me any more. It has a lot to do with what we believe God wants from us, and what He will do if we bow our heart to Him. You see, every other god (and I use this term in the broadest sense) seeks to take power from us - to use us, and use us up. The true God is the only One who can afford to give us more power than He takes from us. (Note the promises in Acts 1:8, Ephesians 1:20, e.g.)But old habits are hard to break - we have been taught by our other gods that to come under the authority of another means we must disengage our will. At the same time we are doing this (which I beleieve is very offensive to God - kind of like bonevolent adoptive parents bringing a child home only to see him crippled by a constant, parylizing fear that they are going to beat and abuse him), He is all about the task of healing and rebuilding our will so that it is functioning again - evidenced by the ability to daily choose to follow Him. (Romans 8:14)
Saturday, September 5, 2009
EVENTS COMING UP
The Topic is "Hearing from God - Why at least every Christian has already heard God's voice"
The Shed (34092 Vickers Street NE in Cambridge) has been offered by Dale Forslin for us to meet starting this month! To show our thanks we are going to be out there next Saturday the 12th to work on clean up and whatever else is needed.
Plan to be out there from noon to about 4:00 p.m.
LATEST EXCITEMENT IN THE JOURNEY
Well, we had four baptisms in July, and our August Gathering was filled with sharing around a campfire in the park - what God is doing among us.
The Blue Fish house church has been on an amazing journey around learning to invite the Spirit of God to teach us - as Jesus promised He would. (John 16 :12-15) We are going to breakout discussions with questions that send us into the Bible for answers, and seeing how God speaks to all of us - It has been amazing.
But lately we have been tugging on the meaning of "ministry" to each other, and what ministry really means. Ministry has been defined by some as "Our needs being met by God's resources", but how do God's resources get involved? We recognize that the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit are our only hope of "ministry" happening, so we have to go to God with our hands and hearts open, while at the same time we test what comes to us by its:
- Consistency with Scripture,
- Confirming fruit, and
- Confession of Jesus Christ as Lord
We are beginning to see healing and freedom among us - but it's a learning process. We find we have been affected by all kinds of teaching and perspectives on these things - But as long as we can all defer to the authority of Scripture, we are going to find our way through the experiential part of our walk. He will complete the work He began in us!
Monday, July 20, 2009
JULY 25TH GATHERING - "SAVED - BORN AGAIN" WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
Friday, June 26, 2009
THE GATHERING - SATURDAY JUNE 27th
THEME: PRAYER - "What is it and does it really change anything?"
Food at 5:00 - Worship and Open Mic at 6:00
Bring friends and stories of answered prayer!
For Home Church group information go to www.thejourney-ecmn.org
Sunday, May 31, 2009
WAR & HEALING IN THE KINGDOM
When it comes to addictions, (those things that take control of our lives against our better intentions) it often requires a true battle to evict them from the claim they have on our lives. These are the things that are "energized" by the Ephesians 6:12 struggle, not just with our own weaknesses, but against spiritual enemies, without bodies. Submission to God is only a first step when it comes to confronting these "strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:4), we have to take a second step. James 4:7 states we have to also "resist", as do Ephesians 6:13 and 1Peter 5:8.
Few of us were taught this dynamic when we learned about Jesus, how ever we came to know about Him. Yet, about a third of Jesus's ministry involved "resisting" these evil spirit beings, starting with Satan himself in the wilderness. We also see Him resisting the money changers in the temple courts with a camel whip. Not the classic "gentle Jesus" we see in the paintings. When He was resisting, He was never praying, so His example takes us outside of the teaching of even most current books out on the topic of "spiritual warfare". In Jesus's ministry, there was no such thing as "warfare prayer". War was war, and prayer was prayer.
Once the dust settles, after the battle is won and the enemy is out of the "house" (that is, our bodies - God's intended temple), Jesus the Carpenter needs to go to work restoring the areas of our soul that have been damaged, including the paths that the enemy has worn so well in our mind, will and emotions. The battle is about driving out the enemy that is at war with God's design for our lives. - Healing is the restoration process after the enemy is out of the way. The picture we get from the Old Testament Tabernacle is helpful:
The teaching of Jesus ties the Tabernacle to our bodies as God's intended home, and so its design reflects the blueprint of our soul. God's idea of "salvation" gets real practical when we talk about removing any things that do not belong there, and inviting the Savior to set up housekeeping and start restoring and redecorating us - as His sacred place.
How differently do we see our life when we consider that we have been made a "sacred place" - a temple of God Himself? Some of the words shared on Saturday night reflected the power of this truth. I think it is really God's passion that we see ourselves and others as sacred places, made to be inhabited by God's presence.
Bob
Monday, May 18, 2009
EVENTS & PEOPLE
Food, Music and Open Mic to share what God is doing!
TOPIC: Healing & Addiction
May 30th from 5 to 8 p.m.
Cambridge City Park
Our Weekly House Churches:
BLUE GROUP - Contact Bob & Becky - nogah@izoom.net
RED GROUP - Contact Josiah & Fancey - josiahlorsung@yahoo.com
GREEN GROUP - Contact Scott & Tammie - stjmelliott@gmail.com
"Look at what they make you give."
None of us gets out of this life alive. All we can choose is what we will say to the world we live in with the time we have. There were many things in life that Jesus pointed out we could not hold onto as tightly if we were going to follow Him, and (as we would say) "Get a life!"
- Devotion to extended family;
- Devotion to employers without boundaries;
- Devotion to financial gain;
- Devotion to religious traditions.
I think we all see the battle in one or more of these areas on at least a weekly basis. For us in the journey, we are finding out the cost of carving out a different life rhythm as we try to walk with one another in closer proximity...and finding out that transformation always comes at a price: something like taking up our cross. It's not that Jesus didn't pay it all, it's just that getting the "flesh" (patterns, habits and attachments) out of the way is really painful. But God gives enough grace to survive it.
So, why did Jesus have to die? Partly, to show us the cost of following Him in life. Why would anyone follow Jesus in dying to what is a "normal" life to us? Maybe my answer to that is to say, "Because,...look at what we made Him give!"
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
GATHERINGS AND PEOPLE
Come Help us Keep this Life Saving Station Open!!
Saturday May 16th - Register 9 a.m., Walk 10 a.m.
Cambridge City Center Mall Parking Lot - Call 763 689-4319
THE JOURNEY - OPEN GATHERING
Food, Music and Open Mic to share what God is doing!
TOPIC: Healing & Addiction
May 30th from 5 to 8 p.m.
Cambridge City Park
Our Weekly House Churches:
BLUE GROUP - Contact Bob & Becky - nogah@izoom.net
RED GROUP - Contact Josiah & Fancey - josiahlorsung@yahoo.com
GREEN GROUP - Contact Scott & Tammie - stjmelliott@gmail.com
DIGGING INTO WHY JESUS HAD TO DIE
If you would like to follow our Journey through Scripture on this topic and see what God might say to you, here are the Scriptures for the last two weeks in May:
Week Three - Fulfillment of the Law:
(1) Jesus fulfilled the requirement of the law, that sin results in death, but since He had no sin, His payment could be applied to us. He drank our cup of judgment, and gave us His cup of “blessing”. (Matt. 20:22, 26:39, John 18:11, 1Cor. 10:16)
(2) Jesus as Son of Man and Son of God holds both delegated dominion and effective dominion in this world (Matt. 28:18).
(3) Through His perfect sacrifice He prepared us for adoption (Galatians 4:8ff) and restored our spiritual dominion/authority in this world (Ephesians 2:6).
Week Four - The Lamb of God has Unique Authority
(1) Jesus identified as the Lamb of God (John 1:29)
(2) Jesus worshipped as the Lamb who is Worthy (Rev 5:12)
We will be jumping into a new topic starting May 30 at our Gathering in the City Park in Cambridge (5 to 8 p.m.) - "HEALING & ADDICTION" . All are welcome to hang out with us there!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Gathering
Monday, April 13, 2009
WATCHING THE SON RISE
Bring your favorite "slow cooked" dish in a crock pot.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
NEXT GATHERING APRIL 25TH
Friday, April 3, 2009
THE GREAT BRANCHING
Our next large Gathering will be 5:00pm SATURDAY APRIL 25TH AT THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY - Isanti County Fair Grounds.
DOING WHAT WE BELIEVE
When I was in law school back in the late 80's, I remember a Jewish woman coming up to me to tell me that her Rabbi claimed Christianity to be false because it taught that you can believe something and not actually do what your belief says. I didn't have much to say in reply - I knew her Rabbi was making a simple observation...one that others had made within the church: Brennan Manning is quoted as saying, "The number one cause of Atheism in America is Christians, who profess faith in Jesus with their lips and deny Him with their lifestyles. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
And this is why our core value #9 says,"For all the theology we can conceive, at last what we DO is what we believe." We are looking at our lifestyles - not just our doctrine, knowing that all of us are on a journey of transformation, as the Spirit of God draws us.
On March 24th, we gathered again at Lorsungs and had about 35 total with kids, confirming to us it is the right time to branch out into three House Churches. We had a great time breaking the "ice" with probing questions all around.
Worship time included an action version of "Every Move I Make",and some more current favorite songs.
There was teaching from the Scriptures...
Laughing...
...and as we always do, we broke bread together - seeing that in sharing something as common as a meal, we are to remember the daily closeness of our Savior in our lives. He gave us His cup of blessing, while taking the cup of our sorrows for Himself. That is what family does, and what we are learning to do.
Friday, March 27, 2009
KEYS TO THE KINGDOM
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
COMING UP
DATES FOR APRIL:
SATURDAY APRIL 4th, 5-8 pm, Final weekly large group gathering (Lorsungs'). We will be finalizing our three home church groups at this gathering, and each will have break-out time together this evening. These will meet weekly in homes.
EASTER SUNDAY SUNRISE SERVICE, APRIL 12th, 6:20 a.m. at Paul's Lake Landing (Paul's Lake Road North of 313th Ave, East of Hwy 65) Bring lawn chairs. (Alternate location in case of bad weather will be posted here!)
SATURDAY APRIL 25th, 5-8 pm, First monthly "Gathering" - , location (tba) probably the Historical Society Building at the Fairgrounds.
For more info, contact Bob at nogah@izoom.net or 763 221-4760.
"GROUPING OUT"
Kids are with us most of the time, but when we go into teaching and break-outs, they have their own things to do...
You know, it was really a radical thing Jesus did when he made His cousin John baptize Him. John knew He was the Son of God, and tried to pass on the whole thing; but Jesus insisted on being a "follower" of John first, and a follower of the prophets who spoke for His Dad over the centuries. It had nothing to do with who was greater or smarter, or worthy of being followed - He came under John and the prophets so to carry the authority of John and the prophets, that the leaders who would kill Him could not rightly accuse Him of rebellion, or discounting those God had used in the past. He followed them, and then He followed His Father.
Monday, March 9, 2009
STRINGS ATTACHED!
REDEFINING "DISCIPLESHIP"
This is a scary word to a lot of people. Maybe a lot of this is because we feel awkward asking someone to 'follow' me, like Jesus did, when our own life is so wobbly. We suggested that the invitation is not really to follow me, but to come and follow Jesus with me. Most of us could do that. It's not one of us who is in the spotlight in the discipleship, it's Jesus. Something I personally could not help noticing in the last few months was that making disciples was the ONE thing Jesus told His followers to do before He left...It was His last statement in the book of Matthew. He said that He would build the Church, and that we should make disciples. I think we have some flipping around to do on this one - So we are going to give it a shot: To ask others to come with us while we follow Jesus.
We are going to be at Lorsungs' again this Saturday March 14th, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. It's about six miles East of Cambridge on Hwy 95, turn into the driveway across from the balloons on the mailbox!
Bring your favorite chicken dish and a side or desert to share! We will be talking about branching into two or three home groups for next month, and the next two core values around what 'leadership' really is at the everyday level...and of course there will be some crazy game to get things going. ;)
Friday, March 6, 2009
CHANGE IN MEETING PLACE FOR MARCH 7th!
5-8 p.m. Saturday March 7th
At the home of :
Scott & Tammie Elliott
1004 Hillock St. N.W.
Isanti, MN 55040
From Hwy 5 in Isanti, is just up Whiskey Road from the Mobile station. Give a call if you need more info!
Remember to bring Italian food to share!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Making Circles
Well, we experimented with that a little last Saturday night - What if we faced our neighbor so we had one hand reaching into the circle and one reaching out, and we could keep it so others always felt invited by those on the outer ring?
That is kind of the idea with a home church network: personal connections with lots of loose ends for others to grab onto. We are taking a few more weeks to get to know each other in the big group, then we will be taking "church" home with us into two or three home churches. Then we will continue gathering as a big group at the end of each month, and celebrating what God is doing among us.
OUR NEXT GATHERING TIMES:
March 7th
Saturday night 5-8 pm at Joe & Deb Lorsungs (6868 Hwy 95 NE, North Branch. It’s about 6 or 7 miles East on Hwy 95 out of Cambridge, and look for the balloons on the mail box across from the driveway). Bring Italian food to share!
March 14th
Saturday night 5-8 pm, same place (Food to be figured out)
March 22nd
Sunday night 5-8 pm, (Food and place to be figured out)
March 28th
Celebration Gathering - (tentatively at Historical Society on the Fairgrounds)
We are working through the basics of what "home church" is about and some of the "why?"s of the movement that is, trying to simplify what it means to be "church", and to walk together with Jesus Christ. We are having some great discussions!
more info: call bob at 763 221-4760, or e-mail me at nogah@izoom.net
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
MY TOP TEN - BOOKS (What are yours?)
Even so, there are books that have had a big impact on my life because, even though I don't know the authors personally, they have explained the message of my Savior, as presented in the Bible, in ways that have helped me understand it better. Here are my top ten:
- Messy Spirituality, Michael Yaconelli
- The Rabbi's Heartbeat, Brennan Manning
- Ruthless Trust, Brennan Manning
- Victorious Spiritual Warfare, (I had the honor of contribuing - Lighthouse Ministry)
- 21 Most Powerful Minutes..., John Maxwell
- Boundaries, Cloud & Townsend
- Addiction and Grace, Gerald May, M.D.
- The Shaping of Things to Come, Frost & Hirsch
- The Church Comes Home, Robert & Julia Banks
- Transforming Discipleship, Greg Ogden
This list is not static for me - I am always looking for others that bring light to the path. Let me know what you find!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Newspaper Towers
and making up descriptions about each other, like:
"Beautiful Barbie, Justice James, Joyful Josiah, Notorious Nic, Bouncing Bob’s B’wife Becky, Joyful Julie, Evangelist Esther, Amazing Amanda, Judge Jeff, Brilliant Bruce, Missionary Meg, Miraculous Muriel, Precious Pam, Terrific Tammie, Silly Scott, Mysterious Mark, Ken, Jazz, and all the kids…(and I didn’t write it down either)
...", it's a little scary with all the “judging” or “justices” or whatever they were…it reminds me of my lawyer days, like walking into court! :)
Seriously, we are off to a good start in getting to know each other, with 10 kids and 18 adults! February 20-22, Becky and I will be at a “marriage encounter weekend”, so you can pray for us as the Lord moves you to… We don’t get really excited about conferences, but it will be good time away together.
Our next get-together will be Saturday night, February 28th, from 5-8 pm. It will be at the home of Joe and Deb Lorsung, at 6868 Hwy 95 NE, North Branch. It’s about 6 or 7 miles East on Hwy 95 out of Cambridge and look for the balloons on your right. We're going to do Chili night with other Mexican food. If you like milder stuff, bring it, otherwise each family can bring a main dish; and if it’s just you, bring chips and salsa or another side thing. Drinks & coffee will be provided.
We will keep meeting all together through the Saturdays in March, and in our study time we will be discussing the Biblical base for the first five of ten core values.
1. Everybody is worth dying for; John 3:16
2. We are called to love people and control resources, not the other way around; John 13:35, Luke 16:9
3. The blood of Christ really works; 1 John 1:9
4. Eternal life is great for dead people, but we’ve been provided an abundant life now; John 10:10, Ephesians 1:18-20
5. We all lead, because we all have influence; 1Corinthians 7:14, Daniel 12:3
6. We can’t lead well until we have learned how to follow; Matthew 3:13-15, John 5:19
7. If we aren’t being led by God’s Spirit, we will be driven by other things; Romans 8:14, Luke 4:1
8. We hold tightly to our personal calling, but trade our hats as needed; 1Corinthians 12:7-11
9. For all the theology we can conceive, at last what we do is what we believe; James 2:18-20
10. In the end, making disciples is the ONE thing Jesus told us to do. Matthew 28:18-20.-
We will have some break-out discussion on these.
Also at this next meeting we will set aside time to celebrate things God has been doing, so be ready to share answers to prayer and other ways God has shown up in your life!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Our First Party!
We have had 23 people say that they want to hang out more together, so we are really looking forward to doing some fun stuff and sharing more of what is God saying to us on Sunday. I expect to have some good pics to post after that - and I hope we can have a website soon.
We plan to keep meeting as a large group through March to get to know each other better before grouping up into house churches. The next gathering will be on Saturday February 28th, 5-8 again, but we haven't confirmed a place yet.
Here is a great website to check out for missional church strategy:
http://www.missio.us/
Exciting times...good to be following the Wild Messiah!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The In-gathering
On the 15th, New Hope Community Church will be commissioning and praying for us, and taking as offering to provide some resources for the start up period - a real blessing!
So after the last "open house", it will be time to really get to know each other, so we will keep getting together on the weekends as a bigger group (21 as of right now) and do some things to connect better and find out how God has wired each of us - it will be fun to discover how God has been at work in the lives of others to draw them to this vision. Eventually we will see probably three groups emerge out of the big group, but we will be waiting to see how God connects people before moving into that.
If you would like to find out more about Mission-link, you can reach me at 763 221-4760, or my -email: nogah@izoom.net. Live the adventure!
Grace & Peace
Bob