Recent Encouragement

I have been spiritually encouraged the last few days by a number of new individuals attending our small group Bible studies.  This time of year, those studies are usually fraught with attendance challenges as people take special trips, college dismisses for a month, and even I have special events that meet during small group times that cause the small groups to be shifted or meet without me.

During this typical time of decline, one of my more Spirit-led dojo students joined us after I invited them last Saturday.  It ended up just being two of us and her, but the discussion based of the Bible readings and based off life happenings were very legitimate and spiritually stirring.  I was very encouraged that she opted to join, and I hope to see her more often.  She could easily add a fresh burst of energy that the Saturday afternoon group could use, and I think the group would be a blessing back to her, as well.

Our Saturday morning small group also saw two new people.  A couple weeks ago while I was heading to the basement of Breathe coffee house for our small group, I noticed a fellow that I'd previously met through some ministry contacts drinking coffee by himself.  This gentleman had originally come to Hays through some difficulty; when he arrived in Hays, he was homeless and without income, but he now has a place and is aggressively looking for work.  I chatted with him briefly and mentioned that we had a small group Bible study meeting downstairs--I told him he was welcome to join, and to my surprise he left what he'd been reading and joined right away.  Due to his challenges and seeking the Lord in them, he also had some great, spiritually mature things to share as we discussed happenings in our lives and read the Bible.  Such spiritually mature wisdom, gained by the rough experience of living through situations it applies in, is always a powerful factor in small groups like ours--it helps weigh discussions directly to reality and the life applications that are much more difficult to do than discuss.  I was, yet again, encouraged that it seemed like The Holy Spirit had set up a cool new meeting (I could be wrong on that, but it had that type of feeling).

The following Saturday (this last weekend) when I arrived at small group, our new fellow was back, and he had a friend with him from the church he's currently attending.  His friend is feeling led to full time ministry in some fashion, and we were able to share some things from our lives (and he from his) that were, I think, encouraging to everyone in the group.  The discussion bounced around quite a bit as we read the Bible and talked about what we were reading, but the tangents were good ones, and I feel the Spirit used them for benefit.  In truth, I am used to our small groups often getting on tangents--some of our best discussions come from them.  The challenge is being alert enough in the spirit to listen and know when and how to direct them back (or if to just let them stay off topic--some mornings everyone just needs to relax and share fellowship--but doing that all the time can lead to complacency in spiritual matters; the balance really requires listening to The Holy Spirit for direction in each time we meet).

Feel free to keep our small groups in your prayers, and to those of you praying with us, I sincerely thank you!  It's neat to see God moving at unexpected times--which, in my experience, is exactly when it seems God does move.  Thanks again for reading and praying!