Well, that was just cool.........

Kingdom things happened on Sunday in Fort Worth and the family grew by four.  A couple, and a couple of guys gave their lives to Christ at the church I was worshiping at.  I love to see the kingdom grow, but I love the way it grew as well.

I was part of an alive body of believers on Sunday morning.  The lead pastor was an acquaintance of mine that I met in Utah a few years ago.  We had dinner on a Friday night and he spoke at our event as well as his father, so I wanted to see his church.  He told me all about it and how they were getting ready to launch.  They launched.  Boy did they launch!  Today, I saw a botanical garden amphitheater change into a house of worship to the God that created said botanicals. 

I have never felt more welcome at a place than I was made to feel this morning.  I mentioned how I'd met Pastor Brandon and was promptly introduced to several people and someone made a point to let the pastor know I was here.  They had a street event today in Fort Worth and the church had a table there.  I dropped by and if not for my bad back, I would have enjoyed a lunch with the two pastors that ran the service this morning.

I like to talk to pastors these days.  I'm interested in what's working to reach the broken.  I'm wondering what draws the young people and families I saw today at their church.  At mine, I'm one of the youngest.  At theirs, I was one of the oldest.  Not the oldest, but among the oldest.

One of the things I think is a great idea is to ask people what their story is.  Everybody has a story.  I got to hear a story from a young couple at this church and got to talk to the young man who told it.  I thanked him for sharing and told him not to be afraid to tell it.  He reminded me of me the first time I told mine.  I told him that, and told him that you just never know what God is gonna do.  I get to tell stories here, and I get to tell stories about God to others one Saturday a month and on occasion at other churches.  I believe God gives us stories to tell and He uses our experiences to reach others.  But I love the approach that is to listen to someone else's story first.

I'm so going to do that. 

I saw a young, vibrant, and growing church.  They're moving to two services in two weeks.  I'm excited for them.  It was just a wonderful experience.

I got something a little more personal today, too.  Confirmation of some things that God is telling me, and more important, a deeper understanding of how the Holy Spirit moves in and through us.  Answers to questions have been plentiful, and one thing for me to lean in this time is to have a new normal that doesn't involve having to fight a battle anymore, and I think I understand something I didn't before.

That something is HOW.

That how involves me doing some stuff, but it's not gonna be through my power or might, but by God's Holy Spirit that the thing will come about.  I read that someplace once.

I'm just left to wonder:  When.

It's been an interesting day.  So interesting, that y'all get two blog posts today.  That hasn't happened for a minute.

It was cool to be at C3 church today in Fort Worth.  And something else happened to me there....the crouching lion jumped out at me.  I was a bit apprehensive about going today because I didn't know anybody, but I didn't let that stop me.  I went anyway.  Then there was the not from me thought:  You know this is all crap. My way to fight back was to sing louder.  And louder!  Because I know that it's not and that when things like that happen, something good is getting ready to happen.  The enemy is real.  The battle is winnable.  Something really really good happened today. 

And I was so blessed to be there to see that.