Thank you God for Hominy, OK!
Yes, I'm way overdue for an update on here. Forgive me!
Today, I left my house around 4p.m. or a bit after. It's now about 2a.m. or so as I type. Yes, some of my best blogging seems to come late at night...as much as I try to fight it and be a good early to bed early to rise kinda guy, I might need to just face the fact that I'm a night owl! I love nights like this, though. I feel genuinely refreshed, loved, encouraged and inspired. What happened, you ask? And, where is Hominy and what's the deal out there? I'm so glad you asked! Let me tell you.
My first introduction to Hominy came around 3 years ago or so when I heard about it through the grapevine. I was back home in Oklahoma after having lived in a Florida inner city for a discipleship school I was in for 3 years, practically involved in full time ministry---actually our hours went far beyond the status quo of full time, but full time to say the least. After such climatic spiritual highs and a definite call on my life to go to Africa, I was back home in Oklahoma in the perfect place to be...cleaning toilets. It was lovely. In the words of my boss, "Nate, nothing will prepare you better for the 3rd world than cleaning crap out of toilets." That wound up to be one of the best prophetic words I'd ever heard, ha ha. I also was doing other odd job work on the side along with painting work at an oil tube refinery. I remember watching, seemingly, as all my peers entered into their dreams almost effortlessly and there I was, taking a long vacuum hose and putting it at the bottom of a large porta-poty and sucking out you-know-what all day long. Needless to say, it was rather humbling for me. I would eventually save up enough to be able to travel and pay my way to begin doing itenerate ministry in order to raise funds to go to Africa, but that process of getting there was worthwhile in ways, at the time I was unthankful for but have since come to love.
Yet the saving grace for me in that season was dear ol' Hominy, OK. A friend told me about it and so I decided to drive almost a good hour toward the middle of our state, aka the middle of nowhere, to try to find this wonderfully little group of people in this little town. That drive, which I would repeat henceforth all summer and into the fall, would become a worship service of it's own. Such peace and tranquility abounds in the center of this state...I would find this little cliff from a self-made trail that overlooked a lake and just sit and wait for the sun to go down, as the water reflected it perfectly as I was always perched westward. Once the sun was down and the reddish light radiated with brilliance, I finished the calm, scenic drive through Oklahoma's roaming grasslands and arrived at my destination: Hominy.
At first glance, you'd think you had to be careful to not speed through the town, not just because small towns are infamous for speed traps but because if you went too fast you might pass it by! But once I dove into the quaint town I'd find an intense warmth quite unlike any other place I've been in this world. I'm greeted by a few familiar faces and kindly get to know some new ones. I'm offered food...mass quantities of home cooked goodness, soft drinks, veggie trays and of course cookies and brownies. That alone is a praise report, in fact if you just read that you should have a moment of silence.
As the night progresses, I become aware that there is no agenda. Yes, that needs to be repeated, no agenda. That is another thing that is rare to find throughout the earth these days...the house is packed full of both people and love, and everyone is just mingling without any plans of needing to do anything else. There is no rush, no hurriement to wait for "worship to begin"---as if that is a seperate part of life...there are no need for greetings to tell others present "so nice to see you here" because that impending truth is expressed not in word but deed and the sincereity of our handshakes, hugs and smiles says that we are in fact happy to see others. We are beckoned to return from a pull within; pressure to return wouldn't be so much a bad thing, it's just not necessary with such lavid enjoyment in the atmosphere.
Slowly, a steady trickle of people stream into another room close by, somewhat like a living room or entertainment room. I notice that music, reflecting a lifestyle of worship, has begun gently and nearly without attention. Some enter into that room, others wait. But there is no animosity or twisting of our arms to begin or, actually, to do anything. Yet, there is an electricity of excitement in the soul, an expectation that something marvelous is within our potential for the night, so like moths drawn toward streetlight we go to the light.
The music seems to the untrained ear or eye to have no structure at all...one who has had a taste of such gatherings, however, learns that such moments are perfectly orchestrated far beyond human ability and wind up, at the end of the day, having far superior organization, as in hindsight we see the Creator with the absolute permission He deserves to run things doing a really great job at it. Songs that have been written are sometimes sung, at other times, Scripture is shared outloud and music than reflects what is shared. At other times, a word of encouragement is given to the group and the music may stop for a bit. But the sweet, tender awareness of the Holy Spirit is not suddenly gone just because the music is. It is as if the conversation itself is entirely full of pleasure and elation before God...as if His delight can be felt as our words come from hearts that truly want to know Him. It's hard to find out if there is a leader in the room. Yes, that is shocking to most in the Church today, and some would fear this and think that this allows "friut cakes" to say crazy things. Difference is in such a meeting that those who sometimes are misunderstood with what they say are not shunned for saying it. Furthermore, it becomes truth and not theory to find that when God is given control of a gathering, He actually can do a pretty good job at it and make sure that improper things are (we certainly hope) not said. Yet even if they were, true love for each other fills the room, and love always casts out fear, as fear shows us that love has not been perfected in our hearts (see 1 John).
Some of these nights, prophetic words were shared with stunning accuracy. Such words always uplifted and encouraged and gave those gathered a deeper touch that God really was in the room and speaking through people. Again, one could be blinded by fear of such prophetic things as certainly the Word tells us prophecy can lay our thoughts bare (1 Cor 14). However, love again abounds much greater than fear here, and in all my experiences I see prophetic words flow with power to help heal weary, broken hearts. I myself received tremondous confirmations at times when I desperately needed so much more than a pre-made sermon, but a real living Word.
I remember one night lasting till 5 a.m. It was not that we set it up to be that way. It was just that good. I remember lots of other times where it was really hard to tell when, or if, the night ever stopped. There was something about living out my Christianity in such a real way in a house with other people that liberated me with a newfound freedom to no longer compartmentlize my life so much. I began to realize with crystal clarity that He really does desire us to worship Him in so many places besides big buildings and so much more than once a week. I found in this place that house church was a really great way to do that. Not the only way, necessarily, but just that I had a lot of fun doing it this way.
Tonight was another one of these nights. I was so impacted personally by such real-deal people, who I find love me for me, not for what I do, perform, etc. I'm so thankful for my friends in the Lord in Hominy (and subsequently throghout the region as so many drive from so far to come). Thank God for the joy and freedom I've found on such Saturday nights.
I've got so much I'm trying to figure out right now. Blogging can be a blast but it can also be like having a constant mirror in your face. It seems like all the doors around me right now have been closed or on an undefinite standby, and I'm trying to figure out how to explain that better. For now, though, it's just really nice to join in with other people who love me, for me. And trite as this may sound, I really wanted to thank my friends at Hominy for opening their house and being obedient to the Lord.
Today, I left my house around 4p.m. or a bit after. It's now about 2a.m. or so as I type. Yes, some of my best blogging seems to come late at night...as much as I try to fight it and be a good early to bed early to rise kinda guy, I might need to just face the fact that I'm a night owl! I love nights like this, though. I feel genuinely refreshed, loved, encouraged and inspired. What happened, you ask? And, where is Hominy and what's the deal out there? I'm so glad you asked! Let me tell you.
My first introduction to Hominy came around 3 years ago or so when I heard about it through the grapevine. I was back home in Oklahoma after having lived in a Florida inner city for a discipleship school I was in for 3 years, practically involved in full time ministry---actually our hours went far beyond the status quo of full time, but full time to say the least. After such climatic spiritual highs and a definite call on my life to go to Africa, I was back home in Oklahoma in the perfect place to be...cleaning toilets. It was lovely. In the words of my boss, "Nate, nothing will prepare you better for the 3rd world than cleaning crap out of toilets." That wound up to be one of the best prophetic words I'd ever heard, ha ha. I also was doing other odd job work on the side along with painting work at an oil tube refinery. I remember watching, seemingly, as all my peers entered into their dreams almost effortlessly and there I was, taking a long vacuum hose and putting it at the bottom of a large porta-poty and sucking out you-know-what all day long. Needless to say, it was rather humbling for me. I would eventually save up enough to be able to travel and pay my way to begin doing itenerate ministry in order to raise funds to go to Africa, but that process of getting there was worthwhile in ways, at the time I was unthankful for but have since come to love.
Yet the saving grace for me in that season was dear ol' Hominy, OK. A friend told me about it and so I decided to drive almost a good hour toward the middle of our state, aka the middle of nowhere, to try to find this wonderfully little group of people in this little town. That drive, which I would repeat henceforth all summer and into the fall, would become a worship service of it's own. Such peace and tranquility abounds in the center of this state...I would find this little cliff from a self-made trail that overlooked a lake and just sit and wait for the sun to go down, as the water reflected it perfectly as I was always perched westward. Once the sun was down and the reddish light radiated with brilliance, I finished the calm, scenic drive through Oklahoma's roaming grasslands and arrived at my destination: Hominy.
At first glance, you'd think you had to be careful to not speed through the town, not just because small towns are infamous for speed traps but because if you went too fast you might pass it by! But once I dove into the quaint town I'd find an intense warmth quite unlike any other place I've been in this world. I'm greeted by a few familiar faces and kindly get to know some new ones. I'm offered food...mass quantities of home cooked goodness, soft drinks, veggie trays and of course cookies and brownies. That alone is a praise report, in fact if you just read that you should have a moment of silence.
As the night progresses, I become aware that there is no agenda. Yes, that needs to be repeated, no agenda. That is another thing that is rare to find throughout the earth these days...the house is packed full of both people and love, and everyone is just mingling without any plans of needing to do anything else. There is no rush, no hurriement to wait for "worship to begin"---as if that is a seperate part of life...there are no need for greetings to tell others present "so nice to see you here" because that impending truth is expressed not in word but deed and the sincereity of our handshakes, hugs and smiles says that we are in fact happy to see others. We are beckoned to return from a pull within; pressure to return wouldn't be so much a bad thing, it's just not necessary with such lavid enjoyment in the atmosphere.
Slowly, a steady trickle of people stream into another room close by, somewhat like a living room or entertainment room. I notice that music, reflecting a lifestyle of worship, has begun gently and nearly without attention. Some enter into that room, others wait. But there is no animosity or twisting of our arms to begin or, actually, to do anything. Yet, there is an electricity of excitement in the soul, an expectation that something marvelous is within our potential for the night, so like moths drawn toward streetlight we go to the light.
The music seems to the untrained ear or eye to have no structure at all...one who has had a taste of such gatherings, however, learns that such moments are perfectly orchestrated far beyond human ability and wind up, at the end of the day, having far superior organization, as in hindsight we see the Creator with the absolute permission He deserves to run things doing a really great job at it. Songs that have been written are sometimes sung, at other times, Scripture is shared outloud and music than reflects what is shared. At other times, a word of encouragement is given to the group and the music may stop for a bit. But the sweet, tender awareness of the Holy Spirit is not suddenly gone just because the music is. It is as if the conversation itself is entirely full of pleasure and elation before God...as if His delight can be felt as our words come from hearts that truly want to know Him. It's hard to find out if there is a leader in the room. Yes, that is shocking to most in the Church today, and some would fear this and think that this allows "friut cakes" to say crazy things. Difference is in such a meeting that those who sometimes are misunderstood with what they say are not shunned for saying it. Furthermore, it becomes truth and not theory to find that when God is given control of a gathering, He actually can do a pretty good job at it and make sure that improper things are (we certainly hope) not said. Yet even if they were, true love for each other fills the room, and love always casts out fear, as fear shows us that love has not been perfected in our hearts (see 1 John).
Some of these nights, prophetic words were shared with stunning accuracy. Such words always uplifted and encouraged and gave those gathered a deeper touch that God really was in the room and speaking through people. Again, one could be blinded by fear of such prophetic things as certainly the Word tells us prophecy can lay our thoughts bare (1 Cor 14). However, love again abounds much greater than fear here, and in all my experiences I see prophetic words flow with power to help heal weary, broken hearts. I myself received tremondous confirmations at times when I desperately needed so much more than a pre-made sermon, but a real living Word.
I remember one night lasting till 5 a.m. It was not that we set it up to be that way. It was just that good. I remember lots of other times where it was really hard to tell when, or if, the night ever stopped. There was something about living out my Christianity in such a real way in a house with other people that liberated me with a newfound freedom to no longer compartmentlize my life so much. I began to realize with crystal clarity that He really does desire us to worship Him in so many places besides big buildings and so much more than once a week. I found in this place that house church was a really great way to do that. Not the only way, necessarily, but just that I had a lot of fun doing it this way.
Tonight was another one of these nights. I was so impacted personally by such real-deal people, who I find love me for me, not for what I do, perform, etc. I'm so thankful for my friends in the Lord in Hominy (and subsequently throghout the region as so many drive from so far to come). Thank God for the joy and freedom I've found on such Saturday nights.
I've got so much I'm trying to figure out right now. Blogging can be a blast but it can also be like having a constant mirror in your face. It seems like all the doors around me right now have been closed or on an undefinite standby, and I'm trying to figure out how to explain that better. For now, though, it's just really nice to join in with other people who love me, for me. And trite as this may sound, I really wanted to thank my friends at Hominy for opening their house and being obedient to the Lord.
posted by Nate Sanow at
11:58 PM
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