The House Ministries

When we first read “Decisions that Define Us”, we felt that it described what we have been trying to say for a long time. We want to be different not just to be different, but also to be different meaning “alive”, “real”, “demonstrating the power of God in and through our lives as believers”. We want to truly be “the church” that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, intended for us to be….so the following is a start to help not only “define us” but also help us keep on the path that we want to be on: -We have decided that teaching the Gospel is not without demonstrating the Gospel is not enough. Good preaching, good doctrine, and being good people are not enough. -We have decided that having a good church club is not enough, good fellowship is not enough. -We have decided that having good Bible Studies is good, but not good enough, that just making it to heaven is not our goal, and that knowing about God without truly knowing and experiencing God is meaningless. -We have decided that having good programs is not enough; that change without transformation is intolerable, and that staying the same is not an option. -We have decided that gifting without character is futile. -We have decided that singing songs without worshipping is hollow and having meetings without God showing up is pointless. -We have decided that having faith without works is not enough and having works without love is not acceptable – that our function comes out of our relationship first with the Father and second with each other. -We have decided that reading about the book of Acts without living the book of Acts is unthinkable. -We have decided that confident faith is good and bold faith is better. -We have decided that hearing about the Holy Spirit without experiencing Him is silly, and believing in His presence without seeing it manifested in signs and wonders is hypocrisy, that believing in healing without seeing people healed is absurd, and that believing in deliverance without people being delivered is absolutely ridiculous. -We have decided to be Holy Spirit filled, Holy Spirit led, and Holy Spirit empowered – anything less doesn’t work for us. -We have decided to be the ones telling the stories of God’s power – not the ones hearing about them. -We have decided that living saved, but not supernatural is living below our privilege and short of what Christ died for. -We have decided that we are a battle ship not a cruise ship, an army, not an audience; special forces not spectators, missionaries not club members. -We have decided to value both pioneers and settlers – pioneers to expand our territory and settlers to build on those territories – but we are not squatters – people who take up space others have fought for without improving it. -We have decided to be infectious instead of innocuous, contagious instead of quarantined, deadly instead of benign. -We have decided to be radical lovers and outrageous givers. -We have decided that we are a mission station and not a museum. -We have decided that it is better to fail while reaching for the impossible that God has planned for us than to succeed while settling for less. -We have decided that nothing short of His Kingdom come, His will be done in our world as it is in Heaven will satisfy.