Introduce yourself
I think as we have new members join it would be good to briefly introduce ourselves - i.e. where we live in the metroplex, what type of church situation we are in right now, what our interest in simple church is, etc... Here's mine:
My name is Bill Benninghoff and I've lived in Arlington Texas since 1993. I spent many years in the institutional church serving in various roles. In 2003 I read Frank Viola's book "Pagan Christianity" and that rocked my world. Found a house church later in 2003 here in Arlington and became a part of it. Since then I've been a part of three other house churches included one that I started myself in my own house which fizzled after 8 months. I learned many lessons through that experience. Currently I am part of a simple church called Refuge that meets in southwest Arlington on Saturday nights. We have been meeting together since January of 2008 and in January 2010 we multiplied into four new simple churches. We now have one church in Arlington, one in Grand Prairie, one in Grapevine and one in Roanoke. I am really excited at what God is doing with us in terms of building community and learning to function in meetings together ala 1 Cor. 14:26. Looking forward to hearing from the rest of you!
My name is Bill Benninghoff and I've lived in Arlington Texas since 1993. I spent many years in the institutional church serving in various roles. In 2003 I read Frank Viola's book "Pagan Christianity" and that rocked my world. Found a house church later in 2003 here in Arlington and became a part of it. Since then I've been a part of three other house churches included one that I started myself in my own house which fizzled after 8 months. I learned many lessons through that experience. Currently I am part of a simple church called Refuge that meets in southwest Arlington on Saturday nights. We have been meeting together since January of 2008 and in January 2010 we multiplied into four new simple churches. We now have one church in Arlington, one in Grand Prairie, one in Grapevine and one in Roanoke. I am really excited at what God is doing with us in terms of building community and learning to function in meetings together ala 1 Cor. 14:26. Looking forward to hearing from the rest of you!
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jimmy Boyer on -
My Name is Jimmy Boyer (jimbodance). I live near White Rock Lake area. In way of introduction I woulike to share my spiritual story. Here tis:
I start this missive not knowing the final outcome. I have a general idea of what I want
to say; but no more. I use as my guide for this missive the book: “Spiritual Direction”
Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith by Henri Nouwen.
I know few people are capable of accepting a gift hidden in brokeness. This is
my starting point. I admit I am spiritually broken. I feel I represent a certain percentage
of true Christians. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to see, hear, and believe God’s story for
us.
Two voices have been speaking to me. I am sure all Christians hear these voices
to some degree. One voice says: “Make something of your life.” (our efforts to achieve
what we feel is in our best interest) The other voice speaks to the spiritual aspect of our
life: “Be sure you never loose touch with your spiritual source and your spiritual
vocation.” (this is given to us when we become Christians)
My history with God affects the way I listen, read, speak, think, and pray. It is
part of a greater story. God’s story of my life. When I claim and share my sacred
history; I bear witness to others that God has a greater story about us. Now reread this
paragraph from the viewpoint that this is about you.
Where I Have Been
My first 20 or so years can be summarized as follows: They were basically years
to prepare myself. Two major events would happen that would affect me later. One my
father died when I was in the 2nd grade. Two at an early age my peers forced me to
choose to become a loaner. It was a time in which all the boundaries were clear. These
very clear boundaries gave me a sense of being in the right place. I was basically a happy
person. I was so focused I was able to choose my vocation in the 9th grade. During this
time everything revolved around me, myself, and I.
Also during this time my spiritual path was also being developed unbeknownst to
me. In my teenage years I did not know which denomination was right. Fortunately God
framed my spiritual foundation on His word in the bible.
The next phase of my life can be described as awakening to the reality of the real
world and how ill equipped I was to deal with this reality. Yes I prepared myself to make
a living but I did not know how to live in the world. Having to learn basic life skills as
an adult can be described as follows: When learning a life skill at the proper age; it is
like crossing a shallow stream. It is easier to do and there are adults and peers that
hopefully encourage us. If we have to learn life skills as an adult; it is like crossing a
raging river full of rapids. The ones who learned the life skills at the proper age do not
realize that the stream is now a raging river or they would be more helpful to the one
stuck on the wrong side of the raging river.
During this time of turmoil I did find a church I felt comfortable with. I did not
feel peaceful, I felt lost, and I did not know where I belonged. I finally turned to the only
source of truth I could depend on; the bible. I prayed to God to show me who was right.
I relied on the framework of the foundation that God had already erected in my life. I
finally could not deny the simplicity of the gospel message anymore. For many years I
could not see the gospel message clearly in the many different denominations for the
smoke arising from all the seemingly different dogmas. I finally accepted Christ as my
personal Savoir who died for my sins.
When I became a Christian God filled in the framework of my spiritual
foundation with the cement of the Holy Spirit who ensured my eternal salvation. God
knew I needed to be made aware of the permanency of my spiritual foundation for what
lay ahead.
I grew spiritually and over the next 10 years I learned many of the life skills the
hard way. I became aware as a young Christian that I struggled with a ROM 7 type of
experience. At the age of 29 I had the opportunity to face my spiritual struggles head on.
I chose to read the book “The Normal Christian Life” by Watchman Nee. He was able to
make clear to me what really happened when I became a Christian; a detailed
explanation of ROM 6 and the other associated versus throughout the bible. I can look
back and see how God was fastening the walls I was building on my secure foundation. I
would need this over the next 29 years. I also chose a career path that gave me job
satisfaction.
Up until 1985 I did thing strictly in a Christian setting. During this period I also
suffered periods of deep depression. I sought help wherever I could seek it. Many times
the Christian help I received was based on wordly wisdom that wanted to build my
self-image up. I did not want to go back to me, myself, and I of the first part of my life. I
wanted authentic community. After 1985 I started doing things that made life bearable
even if it did not address my spiritual needs. Thankfully the periods of depression
decreased.
Finally in the late 80’s or early 90’s I quit going to church on a regular basis.
Why visit a church when you come away feeling lonely. I had already been hurt
spiritually at several churches. God wanted me to go through a wilderness experience to
build me up in the way He wanted to build me up not in the way I wanted to be build up.
I would like to summarize what I have learned in the spiritual wilderness in this
way: Picture a community of broken Christians. Come to know these broken
Christians because they have a message for you and me. They silently speak to us about
God and God’s friendship in a concrete way.
First, these broken Christians teach us that being is more important than doing.
God wants us to be with Him and not do all sorts of things to prove we are valuable. My
life has been doing. Has yours? I am a driven person wanting to do things so that I can
show that I am worthwhile. Does this describe you also? I hear God saying to me: “I
don’t care what you do, as long as you will be with me.” Is God saying this to you also?
It is not easy simply to be with a person and not do much.
Secondly from a broken Christians I learn that the heart is more important than
the mind. For many Christians giving high priority to an intellectual approach to life is a
deeply honed value in them. I have seen that what makes a human being human is the
heart with which one can give and receive love.
When the physical, emotional, intellectual, or moral part of life commands all the
attention, we are in danger of forgetting the primacy of the heart. The heart is the devine
gift that allows us to trust. Very small children seem to have a deep intuitive knowledge
of God and the heart that sadly is often obscured and suffocated by the many systems of
thought we gradually acquire as we become adults.
People with physical and mental disabilities easily let their hearts speak and thus
reveal a spiritual life inexperienced by many intellectually astute Christians. The
spiritual life; the life of the heart originates in God at the very beginning of our spiritual
existence. We are spiritually born in intimate communion with God who created us in
love. We will also die into the loving arms of God who loves with an everlasting love.
We cannot experience this spiritual life with our minds. We have to rely on the Holy
Spirit to reveal this spiritual life to our minds through our hearts.
A broken Christian’s vulnerability gives space for the heart. The heart in which
God chooses to dwell, in which He also wants to speak to those who come close to the
broken Christian. God loves the poor in spirit. He desires to dwell in our brokeness so
He can show forth His strength. God desires to speak through the vulnerability of the
broken Christian to the world of strength and call Christians to become vulnerable and to
offer their brokeness to God in ministry.
Doing things together is more important than doing things alone. We come from a world
concerned with doing things on ones own. Our admitted brokeness can create true
community. Our needs and shared vulnerability can make us into a true loving
community. With all of our differences and without admitted spiritual brokeness true
community is hard to find. Our weaknesses becomes our spiritual strength and our
rallying point.
Where Am I Going
A broken Christian story is my story of weakness, vulnerability and dependency,
but also of spiritual strength, authenticity, and giftedness. Can you dare to believe that
God’s story about you puts your story in spiritual perspective? Write down your personal
story without editing out your vulnerability and brokeness and be willing to tell your
story to others so that God’s strength can speak through your spiritual brokeness.
What I know for sure is at the core of my faith is the conviction that I am a
beloved child of God. I also know that the Spirit of God blows where it wants. My time
in the spiritual wilderness was a time of searching, questioning, and often agonizing. A
time that was extremely lonely and not without moments of great uncertainty and
ambiguity. The Jesus that I had come to know in my spiritual youth had died along with
my old nature. The Jesus I now know is the resurrected Jesus who wants to live through
my new nature that Jesus gave me at my spiritual birth. Jesus does this when I present
my brokeness to God so that the Holy Spirit can strengthen my new nature to heal my
spiritual brokeness.
I am searching for a new spiritual home. I know it can not be the old type of
church I left behind. I do not know what the new spiritual home will look like. It will be
a very close knit community of Christians consisting of people from many different
backgrounds. This community will enable my spiritual journey to be deepened, the full
demention of which I am not able to articulate. I know that living with the Christians of
this community will call me to be a witness to God in a way that I never could before.
It is only in retrospect that I can connect the dots on the timeline of my life and
begin to see my sacred history from God’s perspective as God’s story of me.
Although life is short, it is enough time to come to understand where you have
been and where you are going. Remember: You belong to God from eternity to eternity.
You were loved by God before you were born, you will be loved by God long after you
die. Your human lifetime is only a part of your total life in God. The length of time does
not matter. This life is just an opportunity for you to say to God:
“I Love You Too”
I am on a journy preordained by God. It was not meant to be experienced alone.
You are on a journy also. Lets go on this journy together. In our admitted brokeness we
can help each other as the Holy Spirit leads. God wants to comfort you through me. He
also wants to comfort me through you. We base our Faith on Jesus Christ. Our source
of Hope comes by way of the Holy Spirit. Our source of Love comes from GOD the
Father.
Thats my story up to the present.
If you think I would fit in where and when do you meet? You can contact me at 214-324-5691, e-mail jimbodance@yahoo.com
Thats my introduction
Jimmy -
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Permalink Reply by Bill Benninghoff on -
Thanks for your introduction and the insights you shared Jimmy. Welcome!
Bill
Jimmy Boyer said:My Name is Jimmy Boyer (jimbodance). I live near White Rock Lake area. In way of introduction I woulike to share my spiritual story. Here tis:
I start this missive not knowing the final outcome. I have a general idea of what I want
to say; but no more. I use as my guide for this missive the book: “Spiritual Direction”
Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith by Henri Nouwen.
I know few people are capable of accepting a gift hidden in brokeness. This is
my starting point. I admit I am spiritually broken. I feel I represent a certain percentage
of true Christians. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to see, hear, and believe God’s story for
us.
Two voices have been speaking to me. I am sure all Christians hear these voices
to some degree. One voice says: “Make something of your life.” (our efforts to achieve
what we feel is in our best interest) The other voice speaks to the spiritual aspect of our
life: “Be sure you never loose touch with your spiritual source and your spiritual
vocation.” (this is given to us when we become Christians)
My history with God affects the way I listen, read, speak, think, and pray. It is
part of a greater story. God’s story of my life. When I claim and share my sacred
history; I bear witness to others that God has a greater story about us. Now reread this
paragraph from the viewpoint that this is about you.
Where I Have Been
My first 20 or so years can be summarized as follows: They were basically years
to prepare myself. Two major events would happen that would affect me later. One my
father died when I was in the 2nd grade. Two at an early age my peers forced me to
choose to become a loaner. It was a time in which all the boundaries were clear. These
very clear boundaries gave me a sense of being in the right place. I was basically a happy
person. I was so focused I was able to choose my vocation in the 9th grade. During this
time everything revolved around me, myself, and I.
Also during this time my spiritual path was also being developed unbeknownst to
me. In my teenage years I did not know which denomination was right. Fortunately God
framed my spiritual foundation on His word in the bible.
The next phase of my life can be described as awakening to the reality of the real
world and how ill equipped I was to deal with this reality. Yes I prepared myself to make
a living but I did not know how to live in the world. Having to learn basic life skills as
an adult can be described as follows: When learning a life skill at the proper age; it is
like crossing a shallow stream. It is easier to do and there are adults and peers that
hopefully encourage us. If we have to learn life skills as an adult; it is like crossing a
raging river full of rapids. The ones who learned the life skills at the proper age do not
realize that the stream is now a raging river or they would be more helpful to the one
stuck on the wrong side of the raging river.
During this time of turmoil I did find a church I felt comfortable with. I did not
feel peaceful, I felt lost, and I did not know where I belonged. I finally turned to the only
source of truth I could depend on; the bible. I prayed to God to show me who was right.
I relied on the framework of the foundation that God had already erected in my life. I
finally could not deny the simplicity of the gospel message anymore. For many years I
could not see the gospel message clearly in the many different denominations for the
smoke arising from all the seemingly different dogmas. I finally accepted Christ as my
personal Savoir who died for my sins.
When I became a Christian God filled in the framework of my spiritual
foundation with the cement of the Holy Spirit who ensured my eternal salvation. God
knew I needed to be made aware of the permanency of my spiritual foundation for what
lay ahead.
I grew spiritually and over the next 10 years I learned many of the life skills the
hard way. I became aware as a young Christian that I struggled with a ROM 7 type of
experience. At the age of 29 I had the opportunity to face my spiritual struggles head on.
I chose to read the book “The Normal Christian Life” by Watchman Nee. He was able to
make clear to me what really happened when I became a Christian; a detailed
explanation of ROM 6 and the other associated versus throughout the bible. I can look
back and see how God was fastening the walls I was building on my secure foundation. I
would need this over the next 29 years. I also chose a career path that gave me job
satisfaction.
Up until 1985 I did thing strictly in a Christian setting. During this period I also
suffered periods of deep depression. I sought help wherever I could seek it. Many times
the Christian help I received was based on wordly wisdom that wanted to build my
self-image up. I did not want to go back to me, myself, and I of the first part of my life. I
wanted authentic community. After 1985 I started doing things that made life bearable
even if it did not address my spiritual needs. Thankfully the periods of depression
decreased.
Finally in the late 80’s or early 90’s I quit going to church on a regular basis.
Why visit a church when you come away feeling lonely. I had already been hurt
spiritually at several churches. God wanted me to go through a wilderness experience to
build me up in the way He wanted to build me up not in the way I wanted to be build up.
I would like to summarize what I have learned in the spiritual wilderness in this
way: Picture a community of broken Christians. Come to know these broken
Christians because they have a message for you and me. They silently speak to us about
God and God’s friendship in a concrete way.
First, these broken Christians teach us that being is more important than doing.
God wants us to be with Him and not do all sorts of things to prove we are valuable. My
life has been doing. Has yours? I am a driven person wanting to do things so that I can
show that I am worthwhile. Does this describe you also? I hear God saying to me: “I
don’t care what you do, as long as you will be with me.” Is God saying this to you also?
It is not easy simply to be with a person and not do much.
Secondly from a broken Christians I learn that the heart is more important than
the mind. For many Christians giving high priority to an intellectual approach to life is a
deeply honed value in them. I have seen that what makes a human being human is the
heart with which one can give and receive love.
When the physical, emotional, intellectual, or moral part of life commands all the
attention, we are in danger of forgetting the primacy of the heart. The heart is the devine
gift that allows us to trust. Very small children seem to have a deep intuitive knowledge
of God and the heart that sadly is often obscured and suffocated by the many systems of
thought we gradually acquire as we become adults.
People with physical and mental disabilities easily let their hearts speak and thus
reveal a spiritual life inexperienced by many intellectually astute Christians. The
spiritual life; the life of the heart originates in God at the very beginning of our spiritual
existence. We are spiritually born in intimate communion with God who created us in
love. We will also die into the loving arms of God who loves with an everlasting love.
We cannot experience this spiritual life with our minds. We have to rely on the Holy
Spirit to reveal this spiritual life to our minds through our hearts.
A broken Christian’s vulnerability gives space for the heart. The heart in which
God chooses to dwell, in which He also wants to speak to those who come close to the
broken Christian. God loves the poor in spirit. He desires to dwell in our brokeness so
He can show forth His strength. God desires to speak through the vulnerability of the
broken Christian to the world of strength and call Christians to become vulnerable and to
offer their brokeness to God in ministry.
Doing things together is more important than doing things alone. We come from a world
concerned with doing things on ones own. Our admitted brokeness can create true
community. Our needs and shared vulnerability can make us into a true loving
community. With all of our differences and without admitted spiritual brokeness true
community is hard to find. Our weaknesses becomes our spiritual strength and our
rallying point.
Where Am I Going
A broken Christian story is my story of weakness, vulnerability and dependency,
but also of spiritual strength, authenticity, and giftedness. Can you dare to believe that
God’s story about you puts your story in spiritual perspective? Write down your personal
story without editing out your vulnerability and brokeness and be willing to tell your
story to others so that God’s strength can speak through your spiritual brokeness.
What I know for sure is at the core of my faith is the conviction that I am a
beloved child of God. I also know that the Spirit of God blows where it wants. My time
in the spiritual wilderness was a time of searching, questioning, and often agonizing. A
time that was extremely lonely and not without moments of great uncertainty and
ambiguity. The Jesus that I had come to know in my spiritual youth had died along with
my old nature. The Jesus I now know is the resurrected Jesus who wants to live through
my new nature that Jesus gave me at my spiritual birth. Jesus does this when I present
my brokeness to God so that the Holy Spirit can strengthen my new nature to heal my
spiritual brokeness.
I am searching for a new spiritual home. I know it can not be the old type of
church I left behind. I do not know what the new spiritual home will look like. It will be
a very close knit community of Christians consisting of people from many different
backgrounds. This community will enable my spiritual journey to be deepened, the full
demention of which I am not able to articulate. I know that living with the Christians of
this community will call me to be a witness to God in a way that I never could before.
It is only in retrospect that I can connect the dots on the timeline of my life and
begin to see my sacred history from God’s perspective as God’s story of me.
Although life is short, it is enough time to come to understand where you have
been and where you are going. Remember: You belong to God from eternity to eternity.
You were loved by God before you were born, you will be loved by God long after you
die. Your human lifetime is only a part of your total life in God. The length of time does
not matter. This life is just an opportunity for you to say to God:
“I Love You Too”
I am on a journy preordained by God. It was not meant to be experienced alone.
You are on a journy also. Lets go on this journy together. In our admitted brokeness we
can help each other as the Holy Spirit leads. God wants to comfort you through me. He
also wants to comfort me through you. We base our Faith on Jesus Christ. Our source
of Hope comes by way of the Holy Spirit. Our source of Love comes from GOD the
Father.
Thats my story up to the present.
If you think I would fit in where and when do you meet? You can contact me at214-324-5691
, e-mail jimbodance@yahoo.com
Thats my introduction
Jimmy -
-
Permalink Reply by Michael Young on -
Hello,
My name is Michael Young, I've been following Christ for about a year and a half now, and I recently left the Inst. Church about 3 wks ago. I am currently looking for a Organic/Simple church in the North Dallas area. Any suggestions? -
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Permalink Reply by Bill Benninghoff on
-
Hi Michael. Go here: www.keepingfaithsimple.com and select "directory" and you will see a google map of all the house churches me and some of my friends know about in the DFW area. Contact info can be seen if you click on the pushpins on the map. I recommend that you visit more than one.
Bill
Michael Young said:Hello,
My name is Michael Young, I've been following Christ for about a year and a half now, and I recently left the Inst. Church about 3 wks ago. I am currently looking for a Organic/Simple church in the North Dallas area. Any suggestions? -
-
Permalink Reply by Doug & Donna Williams on
-
Donna and I have recently moved to Dallas. We have a business in Richardson but are temporarily living in the White Rock part of town - eventually to move toward Richardson/Plano/Garland, probably. I grew up in Dallas, did church work in Canada for over a decade where I met my wife and had our three sons, the last of which left for college this last fall - so we are now "empty nesters." We left Canada to direct a Christian Summer Camp and Retreat Center in east Texas, which we did for four years. Then in 1996, I moved to a real job in telecommunications in Longview until last year - a victim of the economy. Now my wife, myself and my oldest son have started a business here.
Our journey with Father has, step by step, taken us out of the institutional church. We have been greatly blessed to grow more in our relationship with Him as we have had less relationship with church organization. We are, however, greatly missing horizontal Christian fellowship and looking forward to finding others who simply want to live in loving relationship with God and other believers without all the burdens of human religion.
So, here we are! Hello. -
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Permalink Reply by Bill Benninghoff on
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Hello Doug and Donna! That's great that you took the initiative to start your own business in Richardson. I admire anyone who starts their own business. That is a lot of work. If you are interested in visiting some simple churches in the DFW area we have a map of all the ones a few of us know about here:
www.keepingfaithsimple.com
Just click on the directory link. Each pushpin on the map has contact info if you would like to visit any of the churches. We try to have DFW simple church picnics twice a year: one in April in Arlington and one in October at White Rock Lake. Hopefully you can join us for one or both of those. We have a loose relational network of simple churches here in DFW. Each year we learn about more churches because they are kind of hard to find without buildings, billboards, etc.
Bill -
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Permalink Reply by Marisa Miller on
-
Hi everyone,
I'm Marisa, we live in east Fort Worth. We have four kids and I'm looking for a young child friendly group to share life with. We are hoping to find some other homeschool families as well. I come from a Reformed, Charismatic background. Many groups I find seem to be either young adults who haven't started families or folks with grown kids.
Thanks!
-
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Permalink Reply by Bill Benninghoff on
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Welcome Marisa! There is a group in Fort Worth with several small children led by Willie and Emily Butler. I think they meet on Wednesday nights. They are great folks! Message me if you are interested and I will give you their contact info,
Bill
Marisa Miller said:Hi everyone,
I'm Marisa, we live in east Fort Worth. We have four kids and I'm looking for a young child friendly group to share life with. We are hoping to find some other homeschool families as well. I come from a Reformed, Charismatic background. Many groups I find seem to be either young adults who haven't started families or folks with grown kids.
Thanks!
-
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