Cesar, Nolan, Brian and I
attended a House Church seminar at New Life in Houston TX..
Asked the Pastor what I should talk about- he
said answer the question: How did you feel before/during/after House Church
seminar.
Before:
1.
Some anxiety/trepidation
about the trip and seminar
a.
Don't know what to expect.
b.
Staying at someone's home
(someone I don't know)
c.
Work commitments and
schedule.
2.
Committed to attend
because:
a.
Was important to Julia
b.
Pastor asked if I could
attend
c.
Felt prayer request for my
mother miraculous recovery was answered with prayers from Pastor and
church members
3.
But also wanted to learn
more about how House Church operates first-hand
a.
Have only just recently
been attending House Church with 8 members
During:
1.
My hosts Danial and his
wife Rachel picked Nolan and me up from the airport
a.
Fast Forward: I was truly
overwhelmed by their genuine hospitality and deep insights into House Church they
provided.
2.
Seminar Course:
a.
We entered the room of with
85 participants from 22 churches.
b.
Pastor was lecturing (like
drinking from a fire-hose)
c.
Taught us the "core
values.":
i. Mission is to make Disciples (start as VIPs):
3.
Testimonials:
a.
We had 4 testimonials at
the seminar. All testimonials were inspirational to me in different ways
and all had conviction and courage to
share their struggles and success's
i. There were testimonials about wives seeing their
husbands to becoming a Christian. Both wife and husband shared their
perspective.
ii. One testimonial from another husband and wife
was startling-the struggle they went through personally seemed
unbelievable-seriously doubt anyone would every go through the journey they
did-the husband was miraculously (truly miraculously) saved and is now a
strong Christian.
4.
House Church
a.
Format of the House Church
was the same as Pastor Eric seminar teachings.
i. Dinner
ii. Ice-Breaker
iii. Worship starting with singing
iv. Bible study
v. Prayer requests (Shepherd (Daniel) wrote them
down).
vi. Sharing time (this is really the key part of the
House Church as described by Pastor Shin (Chai in the book). This is where
healing happens problems are solved.
1.
Inner sanctum where all
members can share but must be reminded what they share is confidential to
the House Church members.
vii. Asked if we (Roger) had questions:
1.
I had asked if there were
any House Church's that are divided into English/Korean. (Like Nolan, Peter,
and me). They said no and that it was critical that the husband/wife
participate together.
After(reflection):
1.
Time with Host: Daniel,
Rachael,
a.
Shared their journey to
becoming a Christian
b.
Shared their personal
issues
c.
Really resonated with
Danial: talked to me about why he became a Christian-we talked about pastor
Chai starting out as a non-believer.
i. We talked about the logic of it all about
science can only explain the universe by saying our universe is unique
among an infinite number of universes.
ii. We agreed there were just too many things that
showed there had to be a creator and a master plan
iii. Daniel talked about how he is "all in"
as a Christian because the sacrifice has led to not just a path to heaven
(ultimate reward) but brings a purpose and a better life for his family.
2.
I was Julia's VIP. This was
a theme from much of the testimony.
3.
Sharing is the most
important-healing comes from sharing and praying:
4.
Talk about Pastor Eric
being the assistant Pastor-God is head pastor.
5.
Daniel and Rachel (sharing
and being Christian makes their relationship with each other and their family
stronger).
a.
Family sits down for dinner
w/o distraction.
Summary:
1.
Although I initially looked
at the trip/seminar with uncertainty the seminar and my time with my
hosts make me see being a Christian is a path to a better, more fulfilling
life.
a.
Felt Daniel and his wife
were truly inspirational to me although they sacrificed they really did have
a better, more purposeful family life
as Christians.
b.
It won't happen overnight,
but small things can make a big difference along the way.
i. Feel like I learned basic Christian principles I
can apply to strengthen my own life and family going forward.