Baptism at the Lake

Last week I had the distinct privilege of baptizing Paul Stone, one of the first members of our TreasureField family. Paul is ten years old, and it has been a pleasure for us to watch him growing in the knowledge of the Lord over the past several years. He is tenderhearted and has compassion for others that we’ve rarely seen in someone so young.

Paul’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins joined us for this special occasion. We shared a meal on the beach at Quincy Reservoir before baptizing Paul. The rainbow in the background was a touch we couldn’t have planned, and helped make this event even more memorable. The Lord is truly faithful to us.

We love you, Paul!

Summer Camps: Exciting Report

For the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to be the speaker at some teen camps. Each one is unique, challenging, and exciting. At almost every camp God moves on young people’s hearts, brings them to repentance and salvation, and teaches all of us something. This year was very different. God became the speaker.

I took a few teens from CCWC to the CO/NE camp. The first night was filled with God’s compassion for those caught in sin. He freed us. The second night I felt like God wanted me to switch things up and teach on hearing God’s voice and then take a few minutes at the end to let kids pray and listen for God to speak. Reports came pouring in that night and the next day about what God was saying to students and adult leaders alike. The third night I taught about growing deep roots in Him and allowing God to produce his fruit in your life, but I felt like there was something incredibly special coming for the last night.I couldn’t put my finger on it, though.

As adults, we came together in prayer unlike I’ve ever seen before and begged God to show us what we were supposed to do. Should preach one of the messages that I brought? Should we have a worship night? Should we get in groups and pray? We sought Him with everything we had.

As the worship was blasting wonderfully, I went to the back soundboard and joined a few men in prayer about what I was to do. I had this strong thought/sense that I was to let God be the main speaker – all the students would listen to him and share what they heard. I immediately suppressed it. You simply don’t do that with 200 Jr. and Sr. high students. Not with your reputation on the line. There’s too much that can go wrong. Just then, one of my prayer partners said he believed God had already told me what to do. So we proceeded.

I’ve never experienced anything like it. Two hundred students sat in absolute silence for twelve minutes listening to the Spirit of God. Then I asked anyone who heard something meant for the group, not just for them, to stand and share one at a time. And for the next 45 minutes, student after student stood to share. Confession, prayer, scriptures, encouragement. My favorite was students praying for other students. God became the keynote speaker.

(The Dakota district camp was cool, too. God moved, kids gave their lives to Christ, and students went home changed.)

All praise to God.

Dedicating Baby Girls

Our friends Matt and Michelle welcomed their third child into the world just 4 weeks ago.  Her name is Caroline and she’s a quiet, beautiful addition to our church family.  This week, Matt’s parents were in town from SC, so both sets of grandparents were able to join us as we dedicated both Caroline and their toddler, Abigail.  It was a sweet, sincere time of seeking God’s presence and blessing on their lives as well as dedicating the whole church family to their upbringing in the Lord.

Proverbs 22:6, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

There’s an old Aftrican proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child.”  (Yes, Hillary Clinton capitalized on that saying a lot too.)  And as a community of Jesus followers who believe in the holistic upbringing of children, we in the house church world open our lives and our children’s lives up to one another.  Some house churches take that farther than others, but we definitely strive for humility and wisdom as we seek one another’s advice, observe how other parents raise their kids, and seek to understand God’s perspective on the whole thing.  This was our commitment as we dedicated Abigail and Caroline.  Not just to commit to pray for them occasionally and send them birthday cards, but to treat them as family.  Nieces in God’s family.

Tulsa TreasureField: Serving Love at Easter

My brother, Matt and his family just started experimenting with simple church a few weeks ago in Tulsa, OK.  Their main impetus was a desire to serve the least, last, and lost of Tulsa more than they were experiencing through their local church.  So, this morning, their simple church made and served 20 meals to the homeless all over downtown Tulsa.  You might say that’s not much, but I bet it meant a lot to those twenty folks.  I can’t think of a better way to live out Easter.  Matt said he and his church were “all feeling really blessed.”

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” – Acts 20:35

Marty’s School Update

We’re sorry this is the first blog update in quite a while. After a couple of months filled with prior commitments and distractions, Marty has spent pretty much every waking moment of April with his nose to the grindstone, determined to finish his real estate licensure. He is enjoying his classes and is scheduled to take his certification exam this Thursday.

While we are glad that the school phase is about to be finished (the kids haven’t been big fans of Daddy being gone so much,) we know that the real challenge will be turning that license into gainful employment. We’ve also learned along the way that Colorado law might not allow us to start up a property management company right off the bat, so we’ll adjust the original plan if we need to.

Thanks again for all your support, and please pray with us that God will bless this endeavor and help us to become self-supporting. We love you, and would love to hear from you anything new that the Lord is doing in your lives!