Unless the Lord Builds the House

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.

It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil;

For the Lord gives sleep to those he loves. (Psalm 127:1-2)

Some of my craziest ideas are hatched during my early morning bike rides.  As I pedal the streets of the city and roads of the county on my trusty Schwinn, all sorts of "brilliant" ideas pop into my head, just waiting for the courage... resources... time... will... energy that transforms ideas into realities.

Usually, by the end of the day, most of these ideas seem premature... immature... fanciful... silly or down right crazy.  Some, however, still seem like good ideas by the next morning, and that's when an important question needs to be asked: Is this just a good idea or is it a God idea?

Those who are far better than I am at hearing the voice of God are able to rely on their spiritual insight to answer that question.  I use the sonic method... keep moving forward until you hear either the sound of broken glass or dented metal.

My theory about the parting of the Red Sea is that nothing happened, that is, the surface of the sea remained unparted until Moses waded into the water.  That's how I sort through early morning ideas to separate the good from the goofy...  the God ideas from merely good ideas.  As the old spiritual puts it:

Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God's gonna trouble the water

So... for the past several months I've been chewing on the idea of forming a network of house churches where faithful followers of Jesus are available to help those with spiritual, emotional, relational or a whole range of other needs.  Not a place where needy people can go to live, but a place where godly people are available to... pray for... walk with... lend a hand to those in need.

I love the idea of restoring what has been neglected so that it can become helpful to others. So with that in mind, I made an offer on a house in St Cloud that might become such a place.  A place where God's people are available to pray for, walk with and lend a hand to the others.

The offer was accepted... So let's get ready to wade in the water, Children.  God's gonna trouble the water!