Kind of Interesting Thing Just Happened

As part of our effort to communicate better,  I've assembled a new Apex listing of phone numbers and addresses to hand out at the August 1 Gathering.  I just copied them this morning.

I gave the first one to Rebekah.  She read through it and stopped on almost 1/3 of the names and said "who is that?"  My answer was almost always, "that person has been part of _____ house church for awhile.  I don't know if they've ever been (or seldom have been) to a Gathering."  After saying that about twenty times, it hit me that this is probably something that effects more people than just my wife.

And it may be part of why I am confused when some people seem to not believe me when I tell them that the once-monthly gatherings is a good and natural part of the journey we've been on for quite awhile. 

I feel like I should say that if you are seeing only the people who come on Sunday nights as being Apex, then you have a mightly limited (and, quite a depressing!) perspective on who Apex is.  That aint nearly the picture.  I guess I forget the unique perspective that I have gained from visiting house churches so often.  I would encourage many of you to go tour a little bit.  It may be eye-opening to see what we have become.  And, in some corners of our de-centralized universe, you might just find some really exciting and unique things happening that otherwise go unseen.

 

Quotes to Chew On (or Spit Out):
 
"The heartfelt compassion that hastens forgiveness matures when we discover where our enemy cries."  Brennan Manning 
 
(you may substitute "friend who has differing views on issues" for the word "enemy" above if you like).
 
 
"When I attempt to make myself virtuous, the me I can thus organize & discipline is no more than the me of which I am aware.  And it is precisely the equation of my total self with this one small part of it which is the root cause of all sin.  This is the fundamental mistake often made in exhortations to repentance and amendment.  They attempt to cofirm me in my lack of faith by getting me to organize the self I know against the self I do not know."  H.A. Williams