The Whirlwind Continues...in a good way.

Well, when things begin to happen, they seem to happen all at once.  On Wednesday we got our final contract back on the house and we are now in the 10 day inspection period.  The inspection will be Monday and prayerfully and hopefully all will be in safe working order (i.e. nothing BIG is wrong) and we can proceed to closing.  We really do not want to go through the looking, offering, negotiating process again if it can be avoided.

On the day before we had our second small group Bible study.  We added a few people (and some more children too) and had a great time.  We discussed an article by Ray Ortlund that was from a seminar he gave at this years Gospel Coalition Conference.  The basic premise is that the gospel, in particular justification, creates a culture of grace (or at least should) and counters our proclivity to self-justification.  I will quote just a little bit to give you a teaser of the worth of this article.

"The gospel does more than renew us personally within.  The doctrines of grace also create a culture of grace, called a healthy church, where the gospel is articulated at the level of doctrine and incarnated at the level of culture and vibe and ethos and feel and relationships and community.  But getting a church there and keeping a church there is not easy.  Without the doctrine, the culture is unsustainable.  Without the culture, the doctrine appears pointless and powerless...justification alone creates a culture of acceptance and warmth and beauty and safety: 'Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God' (Romans 15:7).  The more clearly that doctrine is taught, and the more beautifully that culture is developed, the more powerfully a church will bear prophetic witness to Jesus as the mighty Friend of sinners.  He will be honored, and people will come."
That word is compelling to me.  I want to see the Lord glorified and I want to see people come to know Him so they can experience true grace, true life, and real hope in everything.

Life is moving quickly right now, but I must say we are enjoying the ride.  Just a few months ago we weren't even sure where the Lord wanted us to plant a new church, and now we have a home under contract and a Bible study that has been a true blessing.