Dear Family,
I want to update you on where we are in this church planting adventure in Southport, NC.
A fresh study of the absolute necessity for the Church, the Bride of Christ, was crucial for me. Ezekiel 47:1-12 is a loaded passage which includes the Source (:1) of the water of life, the Flow (:3-4), the Size (:5) and the Effect (:9). Check it out sometime, and be encouraged to pray for the Church with the living Water, blessing the nations!
And yet, don’t miss this: while we can talk about what all is needed in the community and the world, let’s not forget that the “mainest thing,” as a little girl named Marcie from Mississippi used to say, is the Spirit of Christ. The world’s greatest need is still the gospel, and Christ really is the Answer to that need. If we’re not careful, we allow CNN or even FOX set the agenda for how we pray!
That leads me to the second piece of study in our living room: If the greatest need for Brunswick County and Southport, NC is the Savior, then do we know what that will look like, what to pray for? Note the transformation that occurred to a little village in Samaria in John 4. It is a shocking story with at least 10 major, unsettling surprises: Right after a night time visit with a big shot in the covenant community of Israel Nicodemus (John 3), John tells us about a visit with a woman of Samaria at high noon.
Note: (1) the Self-emptying of the Savior, the Son of God, tired and vulnerable, in an unfriendly land (the focus of 500 years of hostility). Instead of giving in to custom to withdraw as a woman approached, He remained seated and even asked for a drink of water (:6-9)!
(2) the “gift of God” to which Jesus refers is not a Book (the Torah for the Samaritans or Law and the Prophets for the Jews (or the Qu’ran for the Muslim)~but a Person--Himself :10-13 [see the connection now with Ezek. 47 – “the well of water springing up” Jeremiah 2:13, Isa.42:6] !
(3) the “Magic” Water exceeds our expectations (:13-15)!
(4) the Spring for Others (not kept to ourselves :16-17)!
(5) the Escape into Religion (who has not played this game when the Spirit of Christ comes downtown, to Main Street, in our hearts :17-20)?
(6) De-Zionizing Tradition (wow! This is something the evangelical world had better learn, especially today :21-25)!
(7) the first “I AM” in John’s gospel (:26)!
(8) the first (gulp!) female Preacher- (“it’s in the book”, guys :27-30)!
(9) the Invisible Food for all disciples of the Lord Jesus :31-38)!
(10) the Identification of the True Savior of the World (guess who gets to announce Him first, in John’s gospel – the Samaritans :39-42)!
Ok, if you take some time to join our living room study here, you will be able to pray with us with more enthusiasm. We want the Lord to connect some dots for us on site, but also to help people praying for us in this “parachute drop” of a church plant.
That’s what this email is about: this is an unashamed plea for pray-ers. Would you prayerfully commit to pray regularly with us and for us? Do you know how easy it is to “mess up” in this venture? Yes, I guess you folk who have known me through the years do have some idea. And while you’ve prayed for me, sometimes holding your breath, you’ve always been able to thank Him for my wife and family.
Now we are in earnest: please let us know if you are in the position in your busy schedule to take us on for vital prayer. I would give anything for 120 prayerful, expectant brothers and sisters lifting up this work and the Shepards….for the Holy Spirit to show Himself in all facets of this mission development. It is all about “Thuh Relationship” with the Lord Jesus, and not some strained and testy religious talk about “church,” as this culture knows it. And yet how I long to see them all come to know a different kind of “Church,” the Bride and Body of Christ, where they will find the Living Water through the vital relationships with His own folks!
We are desperate to hear from you. Soon, we will have the website I’ve talked about before, up and running for regular reads from us.
How we love you all! And how we thank God for you all!
Walt
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Yes, Walt, we will pray for you and your family and this venture. And yes, we are especially thankful for your wife and family, knowing you need them!! Counting ourselves blessed by God's grace, anxious for nothing, thankful in everything. Your old Holston friends in Laurel.
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