May 2007

These four words describe Whispering Pines Community Church very accurately. This Sunday is our last in the Windmill Point Elementary School. The cloud by day is lifting from this setting and moving about a quarter a mile down the road. This is going to be a big change for our church. Personally, I don’t think this is something negative, but God giving us a huge, wide open door into a new development. Please pray for us that we enter this door and take advantage of this move.

WPCC is also on the move by starting a new service at a local coffehouse in June. Calling this a “service” doesn’t really describe it very well. The Exodus Coffee and Culture is allowing us to come in during open hours and engage this culture in a conversation about authentic spirituality from a Christian perspective. This will be for college age adults that will not enter the doors of a “church” but are seeking a real connection with a real God. In case you wonder why I put the word church in quotes is because I don’t think Jesus ever intended people to enter church, but for the church to enter into the world of darkness and bring light into it. They might not come to “church” but the church is coming to them.

One of the truths God has shown me is that the church is not to be a lighthouse (we love to use this metaphor) but a lantern. Lighthouses are stuck in one position. They are not free to travel and go to those who need the light. And, as a friend put it last night, lighthouses don’t even attract people to it, rather encourage people to stay away. God has called the church to be many, many lanterns. Lanterns are great because they can be picked up and taken anywhere. We at WPCC desire to enter dark places all the time, but leave those places bright and extremely well lit.

Pray that WPCC will not just literally be a church on the move, but will be spiritually on the move. Pray that we gather more lanterns together and help these shine as bright as possible. Finally, pray that we scatter these lanterns around our community and not just reflect our culture, but actually change it.

Light is good,

Billy

you may not want to read this update.

 About two months ago a family in our fellowship had some relatives arrive from their home country of India. Annie was excited about seeing her parents since it had been years since they had all seen each other.

About a week after arriving, our new friend, Paul became quite sick. He was unable to keep any food down. Of course, I made some bad joke about tourists and that they should not drink our water. (Yea, fully aware of my lameness.) Paul is not a large man to begin with and by going weeks without eating was beginning to lose a lot of weight. He also went to see a doctor and found out that he had some severe nerve damage and he might have to cut his family visit short and return back to India. His family was heart broken to hear this.

For a few days God put this man and his family on my mind. Our family prayed for him daily, but I felt like God was saying to do something more. The scripture that kept going through my mind was that of James 5. In this chapter, James tells us to call the elders together, annoint with oil, and pray over the sick. I’ve never done this before, but I knew that God was telling me cordinate this special prayer time.

On Monday, two weeks ago, I called the family and asked their permission to pray over Paul in such a way. They were very glad to hear this and gave us a green light to show up any time. I also called four men in the area and asked if they would join in. All four said yes.

 We showed up a couple hours later. One of the sweet things about this was another family showed up just to visit Paul and bring food. They are a believing family from another church and wanted to join in the prayer time. After visiting for a few minutes we read the James 5 passage, surrounded Paul and prayed for God’s healing. The prayer time was powerful and everyone felt God’s presence in a powerful way.

On Wednesday Paul went to see his doctor. Paul had been feeling a lot better and had not vomited since the prayer time, but wanted to see the doctor about the nerve damage. That day, the doctor ran the tests and came back with the news that Paul looked fine. The nerve damage was gone and the doctor saw no problems with Paul’s stomach.

This experience has been wonderful for our church. What a testimony of God’s power! What an easy way to share the story of God with our friends and neighbors! Look at how awesome God works in our lives when we live our lives in a biblically way!

Join us as we thank God for healing our brother. Pray that God will encourage our people to tell this amazing story to everyone who has ears. God is still a God of miracles and that needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

 Life is good,

Billy