I just got through meeting with a Christian brother of mine. It's strange (maybe it shouldn't be), but everytime I get together with him I leave feeling better about myself. Do you know anyone like that? Someone that lifts your spirits, sets your shoulders straight, and re-energizes you spiritually? If you don't, you need to find someone that you can have that kind of relationship with. I have been feeling bad all day. The lack of sleep, beginning last weekend & lasting all the way through last night, has been wearing down on me. I literally drug myself out of bed this morning & had the hardest time waking up. I have been tired all day, my neck and head have been aching, my throat is scratchy, and the list goes on & on. Yet, I get together with a spiritual brother & I feel different. I think there is something to this ...

"Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as though he were your own father. Talk to the younger men as you would to your own brothers. 2 Treat the older women as you would your mother, and treat the younger women with all purity as your own sisters." - 1 Timothy 5:1-2, NLT

Take a few minutes today or tomorrow to just browse through the New Testament and take note of how many references there are in regarding other Christians as "brothers and sisters in Christ." Spiritual family ... that's what the Body of Christ is supposed to look like. But we gravitate to the lesser demons within us & wind up treating our spiritual brothers & sisters like strangers, or even worse, enemies. At the very least we'd have to admit that we largely ignore them. We don't mean harm, we don't necessarily do it out of a hurtful spirit, but we ignore them nonetheless. I think the way I feel when I am around my Christian brother is the way that we are supposed to feel around other Christians. It is also the way others are supposed to feel around us, as well.

This idea of spiritual family is what Bridgeway and house churches are all about and is a part of my Christian journey that I am excited to dive into further. Our new house church got together this past Wednesday night at a local park for dinner, to let the kids play together & let the adults get to know each other better. Andrea & I so enjoyed meeting these new people & really felt as though they were 'family,' in a way, although we had never met. Good conversations & excitement looking ahead to getting to know them better in the coming months.

I'll leave you with an excerpt from the upcoming Bridgeway website (that Multiply is just beginning to develop). These are words that you won't find on the current site, but that shed a lot of light on the heart of these people ... (forgive the piece-meal fashion of these words ... they are a compilation from different sections of the new site)

Bridgeway Church is a community of people that are being changed by Jesus Christ. We are business owners, we are kids into soccer, we are families, we are college students, we are into homeschool, private school, public school, grad school, and no school. We are rich and we are barely making it. We are addicted and we are free. We are mothers and fathers. We are friends. We are broken and needy, but we have hope. We are committed to each other and to Jesus who brought us together. We do life together in Oklahoma City, Shawnee, Norman, Guthrie, Turkey, Germany, Mexico, and throughout the nations. This community is about Jesus, not Bridgeway Church. So welcome! Come and do life with us. Or let us give away to you what we have been given, no strings attached. Whoever you are, you look a little like Him, and we love you.

We bring glory to God not in an organization or in a meeting, but "House to House, Life on Life." We believe the 'meat is in the street.' We don't invite people to a meeting, but to a way of life. The primary expression of our life together is our house churches. These are spiritual families of about 10-20 people who meet weekly in homes to do life together. It's where the life of Jesus "rubs off on each other." It's where we laugh and cry, forgive, love, and ultimately, give away to those that don't yet know Jesus.

We also believe that everyone needs spiritual mothers and fathers. That's what we mean by "Life on Life." Following Jesus is all about relationships. It's about learning from those who have gone before us and about giving what we have away to those coming behind us.

We pursue all four of our core values (intimacy with God, character of Jesus, community with one another, mission to those who need hope) in community. We believe there is no such thing as a "Lone Ranger" follower of Jesus. We need each other, especially those who are different from us. We have been called to radical unity. To this end, our desire is to be a community that is multiracial and intergenerational.