Spotlight: York County, SC

One of my joys in this season of restoration is to connect with other fellowships and leaders in the Organic Church movement. These are connections forged through relationship. In this case I met people from a fellowship in Waxhaw, NC. Through that connection I met a man named Richard Tompkins. Richard has been working with a home church in York County, SC. In fact, they began gathering a few short months ago.

When I met Richard for lunch the first time, I was startled to discover that the vision the Lord has given to both of us... are the same. And the only difference is the region He has called us to. This is very consistent with reports I continue to hear from around the world. As promised, JESUS is building His church! And he's building a people together unecumbered by a broken religious system that circumvents His Lordship.

Richard asked me to visit the York County group last night. And I was tremendously encouraged by what I saw:

Not surprisingly, the people coming together have had some level of relationship for years, but recently the Spirit of God began stirring all of them to pursue something more intimately personal and more missional. It was inspiring to hear how one man, who passed by a woman's home for over a decade, finally followed the prompting of the Spirit to stop and be a friend. The result is a series of projects to repair her home... and an opportunity for the group to share the love of Christ in a relational and practical way.

What I met are people who have been quickened to "Christ in them, the hope of glory".

After sharing a meal we had a time of singing together. And we were all struck (no pun intended) by the timeliness of singing "How Great is our God" as a severe thunderstorm raged outside.

We enjoyed the testimonies of Jesus drawing people closer to Him and guiding them to build their lives together in Him.

I also shared a prophetic word the Lord gave me this weekend. It is very simple. The Lord is zealous to release His life in and through us. But our main challenge is to shed the layers of "fig leaves" that keep His glory from being revealed in His people. These "fig leaves" are pride, selfishness, independence, and many things under a religious banner that are too numerous to name. All of us need to ask the Lord what we need to "shed" to allow His life to flow like "rivers of living water" in us, as He promised.

As we left, our first view from the front door was an awe-inspiring double rainbow. For me it was not only a reminder of the promise from the Father to never repeat the life-ending flood of Noah's day. It was a reminder of the many other promises the Lord is fulfilling today. Our God is faithful!