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Posts Tagged aaron snow
I.G. March 2011 Update…
Mar 6
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Help our friends, the Ramirez’, in Sudan to raise $2000 for tools to empower the people there to be self-sustaining as they share the Gospel and plant churches! You can give, & learn more by 
We got the garden started at our house! 
Morgan is 32 weeks pregnant now! 
Our little boy will be here in May!
January Update From I.G.
Jan 23
| Big Transitions…
As we embark on this new journey – shifting focus towards the marketplace, new community discipleship houses, & providing an outlet for missionaries – Jesus has already been confirming our direction! -As you can see in the “Must Read Blogs” list to the right, the team has arrived safely back from S. Asia!
-We plan to launch a new I.G. Community Discipleship House. We are currently working with a board member & outside consultant to put together the “I.G. House” plan/guidelines. Some close friends/supporters of I.G. are looking to purchase a house in Austin to rent for this community house, a group of guys are interested in moving in, and we hope to launch in August! -I’ve already been conversing with people in different parts of the country about the Marketplace CPx Training we are developing -As I continue seeking a FT job in the business world we’ve been able to delegate/outsource much of the I.G. administrative/logistical daily operations. The I.G. Missionary Fund: Part of this transition for I.G. involves providing an outlet for in state & overseas missionaries. We seek to help those we have trained step into their destiny. For some that means moving to another country, for others it means a short term trip or traveling throughout the U.S. planting new house churches along the way. Either way, our board decided it would be an extremely wise use of resources to open the “I.G. Missionaries Fund”. God has already started using it! -Team of 7 sent to S. Asia to host CPx Training for 41 local students! -Hosted intern in Austin -Missionary on the ground in Ecuador seeking to build relationships & start a new house church! _______________________________________________________ That’s it for now! Thanks for continuing to walk with us throughout this exciting, and non-conventional transition! We are trusting Jesus, and continuing to watch Him do mighty works as we obey Him. On Behalf of I.G. & the Board of Directors, Aaron Snow |
Must Read Blog Posts… -I.G. Ecuador Missionary on the ground! -Moolala.com – Don’t Miss Out! -“Preaching vs. Good Teaching” Partner with I.G. through Prayer and Giving:
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"Permission" – Part 2
Dec 8
(Part one of “Permission” can be found HERE)
In His grace, Jesus has allowed us to be a part of these incredible people’s lives. The King Street House Church family was birthed after a group of these young people went through Student CPx in Austin two summers ago, and then helped me run SCPx Austin this past summer. In the last few months I have had the pleasure of watching this house church community flourish & grow into a healthy spiritual family. There are some things about what is happening with this group of radical young people that I think are worth taking a look at. Below are some things that come to my mind when I think about these close friends. (You read in “Permission” Part 1 about the team of 7 this house church is sending out to S. Asia over Winter break to train University students there to plant house churches)
What is unique about this community?
1) It is completely lay-led (There is no paid staff) – There is something powerful about a group of people who are pursuing the Kingdom in radical ways when there is no paychecks or any kind of financial gain attached…They birthed, lead, and pursue the healthy growth of this family out of the pure love for Jesus in their hearts.
2) It was birthed by women in their early 20′s – I almost did not mention this because it seems so normal and natural to me – like, “so, what’s the big deal?” However, after thinking through it I realized how unique and POWERFUL this really is because of the negative view that MANY have towards women in “leadership” or “ministry” in the American Church. Anyone who sees what God is doing in this community would have a tough time arguing their opposing view-point about women not being able to be in positions of leadership/authority in the Kingdom of God.
3) It is healthy, producing NEW disciples, and releasing people to walk in their gifts (Men are being raised up to lead) – This has not been easy, and without much pain, mistakes, failures, etc. I’ve seen and been a part of communities with “strategies for multiplication”, and others who are complacent; both are dangerous. The strategic ones bring death to relationship for the sake of sticking to a formula, and the others never see the beautiful power of the Gospel working in the lives of new people. This community seems to walk out a decent “balance”. They are quick to recognize when things are “off” and fix it. They hear God’s voice, and have faith to obey what He says. It’s hard to be a spectator in this community.
4) They have a deep desire to see new house churches planted all over the place, and have already seen a few planted since August! I have been in many different streams of church planting all over the world in the past few years. Nowhere have I seen twenty year-old’s who have BIRTHED and are leading new churches where new believers are being Baptized as a part of the natural DNA of how they “function and grow”. Not only that, but they are sending others out in two’s to start new “spiritual families”. They don’t have it all figured out, & are not perfect, but what God has done with them in the past year puts most “church planting strategies” I’ve seen in my life to shame. God seems to be showing off through the lives of some humble/passionate young people.
5) The power of God is present. I have also been in various environments in the past few years that seem “spiritually dead”, as well as others that are freakin’ CRAZY, which seem far from the nature and character of God. AKA: very conservative & highly charismatic. This community can be placed in neither of those camps. However, the power of God through the work of His Holy Spirit displayed through the obedience of these radical followers of Jesus is not arguable. They are seeing supernatural physical, spiritual, and emotional healing take place. They are seeing the fruit of the Spirit displayed in people’s lives (Gal. 5:22-23) as well as the power of the gifts of the Spirit on a regular basis. They are not afraid.
6) They walk in a humility & refusal to pursue personal gain/attention that is like nothing I have experienced in most of my life.
I suppose I could go on and on. I want to make it clear that I am not bragging on anything other than the miraculous work of Jesus in the lives of these people. We like to call out the Christ-like qualities of Jesus we see in people as a way to edify them, and bring glory to Jesus. We are not “puffing them up”, but recognizing the redeeming work of Jesus in their lives. Obviously, I care about these people a lot. I am so proud of the Jesus I see in them, and wanted to share them with you a bit. I hope it has encouraged your Spirit.
We have some exciting new transitions coming up, so I’ve taken the time to record a short video to let you know what’s happening with Intentional Gatherings, and The Snow Family!
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Eric's Baptism…
Nov 4
About a month or so ago I had the amazing privilege of Baptizing my friend Eric Robinson. Eric is an amazing man of God with an incredible story. God has been, and is continuing to use Eric for His Kingdom. I can’t wait to see what Eric does after graduating from UT!
Student CPx Austin 2010…
Aug 26
“We had our first Baptism last night. He was a gang member and has been hanging out with me and my friends”, was the text message I received from Cameron, an 18 year-old student from SCPx Austin 2010 a few days after he got home. This is one of many stories that we get to hear all throughout the year as ordinary followers of Jesus step out in faith to live out the teachings of scripture. Yes, we are training EVERY believer to Baptize new believers. Yes, we are equipping EVERY believer to make disciples, and start NEW CHURCHES. (Yes, “real” churches. YES, it is their “HOME church”-meaning they don’t ALSO go to another one. =)
There was a lot of freedom being experienced in Austin during Student CPx. Many people were, for the first time, experiencing the love of the Father, and uncovering their true identity as children of God. As this reality hit home they began realizing the most basic commands of Jesus found in scripture. When all the “extra stuff” that has been added to “being a Christian” is removed, and students begin walking in confidence in who they are in Jesus the sense of freedom becomes tangible. You can see it on their faces…
After our session on Baptism and Communion several students decided to get Baptized! So, we did what anyone would do…we went down to the river and had one of their friends Baptize them! Check it out…
Thanks Caryn Werner for taking some LEGIT pics for us!
We spent lots of time in the prayer room worshiping and praying. We encountered the Spirit in fresh new ways all week! The Holy Spirit ISN’T the “black sheep” of the trinity anymore! It’s so cool that we get to “soak” in His presence.
Part of the DNA of SCPx is creating a culture of honor everywhere we are, and everywhere we send students. One of the ways we start creating that culture during SCPx is to pray and impart blessings/prophetic words over each guest who comes to pour into us. This is the students praying over Neil who joined us from Long Beach to teach us about Church Planting Movements and Multiplying Disciples.
We met for dinner one evening at Jon & Cherie Werner’s house where we got a real taste of what “house church” might look/feel like. We worshiped, prayed, & talked about sabbath rest & communion as we celebrated the Baptisms from that day.
Overall, this is definitely a group of world changers. I am super excited to see how God uses them in their individual contexts this next semester, and for the rest of their lives. Stay tuned for more on what God is doing directly in the city of Austin as a result of SCPx. Also, feel free to watch the short slide show of pictures from Student CPx below…if you are inspired by what you see here, and want to sow into what God is doing through Intentional Gatherings and Student CPx then CLICK HERE to give.
This is an incredible resource for anyone who has a desire to make disciples, and allow for new churches to birth from the harvest on their campus. It’s also great for those who have a desire to mobilize others, lead, and resource them to do so in their context. We use much of this stuff in our Student CPx Training (Of course, nothing beats the real-deal experiences from actually being a part of one of these hands on trainings) and know of others all over the world who have gotten a hold of it, applied many of the principles, and seen some incredible things happen for the kingdom.
It is a bit long, but feel free to download, save, print, copy, distribute, etc. as much as you like. Our heart is to see this information get into the hands of anyone and everyone who has a heart to see ordinary followers of Christ released to live out the teachings of the Scriptures. Enjoy!
Click Below to download, or go to the box.net widget on the CPM resources page to download it from there…
From a post by Erik Fish:
The Pittsburgh University football player took off his sling and began swinging his arm around. “I couldn’t move it like this before!” Tears filled his eyes. “What’s happening?”
“Jesus loves you,” was the reply he heard.
Other football players began lining up, presenting their various injuries; a glint of faith was beginning to spark in their eyes toward Jesus. “Will you pray for me, too?”
The students began praying. As they did, they told them about Jesus and why they were out in the streets meeting people. Whether they experienced healing or not, they each encountered His love.
A woman walks by right then and asks, “What’s going on here?”
“These people are praying for people and healing them,” a football player informed her.
“Will you pray for me? I’m on my way to the hospital. I just recently had brain surgery. I woke up this morning and I can’t move my arm.”
She walked home, no longer in need of a hospital visit.
This was just one story from the Student CPx in Pittsburgh, PA last week.
The story above might sound crazy. Perhaps it’s a bit outside the norm of many of our Christian experiences. But it’s true. These things are happening. Crazy things happened in the Bible. They can happen today. Why do some people get healed when we pray and other times they don’t? I don’t know. Jesus just told us to heal the sick and live by faith. There’s a lot of mystery in following Him.
Students are simply taking Jesus’ commands and trying to follow Him. They lead people to Jesus – six people accepted Christ from the streets of Pittsburgh during Student CPx. New believers were baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. Simple churches are starting on campuses.
This is a student movement we’re witnessing. When students are sent to represent Jesus among the lost and broken, He likes to go with them. That’s the heart of Student CPx: to release the potential in students to change the world.
I can’t say the fruit is just the quality of the SCPx training. It’s not just the hype that a well-implemented advertising and promotion plan produces (ours isn’t that great, anyway). These students love Jesus. They’re bringing that love to lost people everywhere they go. I’m amazed at the students Jesus is raising up.
To find a Student CPx near you this summer CLICK HERE!
To register online NOW CLICK HERE!
"Preaching" vs. "Good Teaching"
Dec 31
Posted by admin in Things Must Change | 2 Comments
A close friend of mine who I love and respect asked me this question over text message a couple weeks ago:
“What role does preaching play in simple/house churches? Strengths, weaknesses, ways it could grow, ways it could teach the church.”
This friend of mine has been a part of many types of churches. We have also had the pleasure of starting a house church with his family and some others. He is sharp, loves Jesus, and wants the best for The Church. We have an incredible relationship, and sharpen one another in the areas we may disagree. The mutual respect is refreshing in a day in time where it seems all anyone wants to do is argue their viewpoint. My friend places a high value on “good teaching” (primarily in the form of sermon style preaching) I do not yet have the answer to this “issue” in terms of a house church setting. Below are the initial thoughts I sent back to him via email regarding this topic based upon our observations and past several years pursuing Jesus in the context of simple/organic/house church settings: (Would love to hear your thoughts on either/both ends of the spectrum. Us “house churchers” definitely have a lot to learn about how to champion “good teaching” & placing a high value on the Word of God in our various settings)
“Hey buddy,
The role of “preaching” in simple/house/organic churches is relatively non-existent in my experience. However, in some older generations of house churches their gatherings look much like a typical church service in a living room. The only difference is the type of structure they meet in…(even chairs in rows, and a podium, etc.-haha!=) In our experience (much different from the above described older generation HC’s) we have moved from a desire for good “preaching” to the pursuit of healthy’good “teaching”. (These are not synonymous in my mind, and the minds of many we have observed/practiced with) You see, many of us spent most of our lives listening to sermons. While they are not completely absent from the lives of those pursuing “house church”, it typically does NOT happen in a house church gathering for various reasons, and on purpose. (many may continue to find good sermons online and enjoy listening to them for various reasons) Our reasons for not involving “sermon style teaching” are numerous, but the most basic are below:
1) Practically speaking it has been proven that humans retain about 20% of what they hear. The percentage goes up drastically as you factor in SEEING (visual), WRITING, DOING, etc. So, I look at it (preaching) as a very use of time/energy based upon those findings. I know that growing up I was lucky to remember more than 1-2 “good points” I heard from a sermon. I might remember a bit more if I took notes-rarely would those notes be referenced in the future.
2) In a HC setting there is a high value for EVERYONE participating. If one person is PREACHING this becomes difficult, and we fall right back into spectators coming to hear a sermon. We place a high value on the Holy Spirit speaking to every believer, and know that Spirit speaks to everyone for the mutual edification of the body.
3) So, we seek for what we feel to be more effective ways to “teach”/equip the body. Of course, we are far from figuring this out, and it constantly changes as we pursue being more effective. Here are some examples of things we’ve done in the past:
-Inductive studies: these involve little to no “prep work” on the part of anyone, but make it easy for a believer of any age (including a brand new believer) to be empowered to play an active role. Sometimes ONE person WILL do some before hand research or read commentaries, etc. in order to guide the group as tough questions come up. This usually involves helping the group to understanding the historical context of the scripture, who is writing, who they are writing to, etc.
-Breaking up into groups to discuss portions of scripture. Coming back together to share findings/revelations/etc.
-Sharing at random what the Lord has been speaking to individuals throughout the week during their own personal time, etc.
-Reading through a section of scripture together and then discussing it as a church family. This is so fun because everyone involved has different backgrounds, knowledge, perspective, etc. Everyone benefits, and walks away sharpened, more equipped, and knowledgeable of the scriptures.
These are just some off the top of my head thoughts/responses to your question. I do think that “GOOD TEACHING” could improve in HC’s, and a higher value placed on studying/knowing scripture. However, I’m not convinced that this will be in the form of sermon style preaching. Again, preaching and teaching are much different to me. I also cannot ignore the sermon style preaching that is found in scripture. I wonder, though, if these types of “preaching moments” took place more in the form of evangelistic pursuits rather than the day to day equipping of disciples who make up the Church…this plays into my strong feelings about church services not being for the purpose of evangelism. Most sermons or churches try to accomplish both discipleship and evangelism in a once/week sermon. This is impossible to do, and BOTH get watered down/suffer.”
Again, I’d love to hear any thoughts/additions from you guys from your experience/convictions regarding this topic. Have fun, and keep it civil! =)
Tags: aaron snow, bible study, commentary, discipleship, evangelism, good teaching, heresy, Holy Spirit, house church, inductive bible study, intentional gatherings, learning, organic church, preaching, sermon, simple church, teaching