An update on the month of October from Isaac Snow, a resident of the Austin I.G. house

       This past month at ‘The Vatican’ we continued to see Jesus dominate all depression, stress, anxiety, discord and sickness that would arise. I personally have been encountered powerfully with Jesus’ love and have witnessed this equally in the lives of my roommates. The enemy has attempted to have sway in the atmosphere of the house and in our lives, but we have been developing a swift recognition that our complete identity resides in Christ. Every moment He dwells in me and I am released from anything other than Jesus himself. There has been a nasty flu/cough/cold/allergy wave swoop through the house several times and it hasn’t affected us negatively. If anything, it has brought us to a place of our dependence remaining solely in Him. We have been praying for healing over one of other during these last few weeks. Everyone is busy with either work or school but we are always available to spend quality time together, and it’s not a strain or obligatory since we enjoy being a part of each others’ lives. Thank you Jesus!

         Cameron, Zach, and Michael have been spending time in our prayer room basking, praising, and worshiping early in the morning before they scurry off to school. We all stand in awe that He died and was resurrected for His divine demonstration of this loving grace that is incomprehensible in its fullest. A year ago, I personally was so broken and dependent on drugs and alcohol that I sought out the Lord with the ‘desperation of a drowning man.’ I honestly did not have many options left but to find God. In all reality, He found me, coming to meet me in my brokenness. This past year I have been praying and meditating on Jesus, asking for His help daily as I’ve been working through a 12-step program. I’ve also become more and more involved in recovery groups and house churches in Austin. I never understood fully what the cross meant until I experienced the Holy Spirit supernaturally encounter me, and Jesus captivated my mind when I spoke his name. I now truly experience peace that surpasses all understanding. I never could conjure up faith, but I have been given a strong faith by God Himself and for this I am eternally grateful. I simply began seeking Him a year ago and tremendous growth has ensued.

         I have recently been getting my son Mason for weekends and all the guys have been so welcoming of having an eighteen month old boy come and stay with us. Having the type of joy that a child like my son brings to our house is incredible. He sleeps in the room with my roommate Zach and I. On many occasions, he has woken up crying, waking Zach at the same time. I asked Zach to let me know if this bothers him because we could sleep in the prayer room, but he says he honestly is not bothered by him when he wakes up. Last week was Mason’s second visit to our house and everyone told me that they noticed a significant difference in the words he was speaking, and could understand things he was saying. I saw them interact with Mason and it was sweet indeed. They sincerely enjoy him being there every couple of weeks, and understand that he will be a disturbance here and there if he is crying. I am very blessed to have such spiritually sound dudes around my son for the next year to come.

         All of the guys that are students are involved with various student Christian groups. Michael has started a hookah house church. We have been going to 6th Street with our friend, Will, praying for people and bringing the joy of Jesus to those we come across. We all have personal friends over that may not know Jesus, but are a bit curious. They come to the house to hang out and we just ‘chill’ and develop relationships with them. We also have plenty of our fellow Jesus lovers over for large gatherings where we fellowship, share, pray, and praise our Lord together. Heidi Baker’s personal assistant Ania Noster came over one night when all the house churches met up to hear her speak. It turned into a crazy night of praying and worshiping fueled by the Holy Spirit.

         We do plenty of good ol’ fashioned Bible reading together as a house, but it normally isn’t as rigid or structured as Bible studies can be in the conventional sense. We are immersed in his love non-stop and it just happens naturally. Some weeks we take communion every night and sometimes only twice a week. As a community of brothers in the house, our relationships with Jesus and with one another flourishes naturally. We recognize that we are wholly complete in Jesus, and fruit exudes entirely of Him through us. We no longer must perform under our own will power to pray, read the bible, love on others or do anything else other than that which flows naturally and spontaneously under the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit. Lately we have been brimming so full of Jesus love that we love doing all the things listed above that done by our own initiative would of have been missing the whole point of what God did for us through His Son. Guilt to perform is not what we are compelled by. The enemy is tricky, but Jesus captivates our mind through the wisdom of His Joy, and we are fooled no longer. This last few months have been AWESOME! Thank you IG supporters!