Hi all,
This will be a very newsy newsletter, so will take care of some business first.
To those in the US who donated to CWOWI last year, we expect to mail out your receipts the last week of the month – thank you for your donations! I pray for each person who donates, and feel free to also email me if you have prayer or other requests.
Web conferences:
I will be holding 2 webinar sessions, one next week and one the week after, to share some things the Lord has told me for the body of Christ for the year. Space is limited to 100 people per session on a first come first serve basis. There is no cost.
The first is Thursday, the 24th from 8-9pm US Central time, and the 2nd is 12-1pm US Central time on Thursday the 31st. The noon start time in the US will make it evening in the EU, Africa, and the Middle East and should be more convenient for you than the one on the 24th.
I know those times makes it awkward for our friends in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific islands, but we will plan a meeting more convenient to you for next month – sorry 🙂
Both of these meetings will cover the same topic so you only need to sign up for one. Information will also be in our Weekly Thoughts header until/unless full starting this week, so if you receive my Weekly Thoughts you can follow these same links. Space is limited, here are the links to sign up:
Thursday, 1/24/19, 8-9pm Central time: You must register in advance for this meeting:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to sign into the meeting.
Thursday, 1/31/19 12:00 PM (noon) Central Time: You must register in advance for this meeting:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about how to sign into the meeting.
Web meetings like these will be held regularly, so I wanted you to know those are not the only 2 for the year. We hope to offer at least 1 or 2 each month, though the schedule will vary depending on my travels.
Trip to Finland in March:
March 14-20 I’ll be in wonderful Finland again, visiting people and house churches in Helsinki, Lahti, Turku, and teaching a 4 part series on TV7 Helsinki. We have a lot of friends in Finland and I hold you close to my heart, so it will be exciting to see you all again and meet new friends! Contact Kestas and Salla at: cwowifinland@gmail.com
Conferences US:
August 15-18, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, which is about an hour or so west of Chicago. This will be retreat style, like we did in Tulsa last October, with focus on fellowship, worship, teaching according to what the Lord wants, and allowing Him to move in our midst.
Next month we will have the link available to register and with all the details on costs, location, and such. This is just to give you a ‘heads up’ so you can mark your calendar. Space is limited and it will fill up fast. We keep numbers small for the sake of fellowship and richness of His Spirit in our midst.
October 11-13, Manchester, New Hampshire. We meet every other year for this New England conference and it is always a blessing. The New England leaves will be at their peak so it’s a beautiful time of year. It is being held Columbus Day weekend so motel rooms book fast. That’s why we’re announcing it now. Details to follow next month.
Dutch conference:
Our annual Dutch conference will be May 30-June 2 this year, held at Emmaus House retreat/conference center in Helvoirt, as we’ve done the last several years. As I recall we had something like 15 nations represented and the fellowship and move of the Spirit was amazing. It is always an amazing time in the Lord. Contact Wil and Ank at cwowi@solcon.nl for costs and information.
About these conferences:
General information: We hold these conferences first and foremost for those who are part of a CWOWI affiliated house church, and for those wanting to start a house church or be a part of a house church with CWOWI, and want to connect with others on the same spiritual page. The teachings, the question and answer times, and workshops are about house church, so if you have no interest in house church these conferences really wouldn’t be relevant. I would instead recommend our web meetings which are more general teaching, or watching the many videos on our YouTube channel or Facebook.
Thoughts for today
In Matthew 6: 24-34 Jesus established a guiding principle that is especially important for our day. In His teaching He encouraged us to be focus on Him and the Father’s kingdom on a very basic level. He said to look at how the Father clothes the flowers of the field and feeds the birds of the air, and in verse 32 realize those are things (food and clothing – ie basic needs) Gentiles look for and seek.
When you see Jesus mentioning Gentiles your ears should perk up. Gentiles are outside the covenant of Israel. They have no God in the world, they are unsaved, and must worry and fret for their basic needs like food and clothing. Jesus said Gentiles, people outside the covenant, look for these things.
BUT, He said, “Take no thought ‘What shall we eat?’, or ‘What shall we drink?’, or ‘What are we going to eat?’, for your heavenly Father knows you have need of these things.” In other words, the Father cares for the flowers and birds, and you are worth much more, AND you are not a Gentile outside the covenant – so look to the Father for your provision.
This is very much a case of ‘according to your faith be it unto you’, for I have found (having been in these situations where I’ve asked those questions), that if I obey Jesus and discipline my thoughts, turning them to Him, to His kingdom and righteousness, to remind myself Christ is in me and I am in covenant with Him – then there is peace and provision comes.
BUT, when I’ve worried and fretted like some lost soul without God in this world, the provision doesn’t come. I learned early on that I am a child of the King and not a Gentile without God in the world, so I learned to shift where I was looking, and started looking for provision and ‘a way out’, and it always came.
Remember this – you are in covenant with your Father, a King’s kid – but Jesus said it is up to us to ‘take no thought’ about what we will wear, eat, or drink – we must take no thought, but turn those thoughts to Him, encouraging ourselves in Him, and His provision will come.
General news:
This is the time of year when a lot of money goes out for airfare, motels, car rentals, conference deposits and more. While some of those expenses will be recovered through offerings or conference fees collected, many of these trips are to people new to house church, or are very limited or unaccustomed to the giving of offerings and support. That’s one reason your help is SO appreciated, in effect helping to send me to those who cannot yet help, but are desperate to learn from the Lord.
Our biggest bottleneck right now is the flood of people asking for their house church (either new one starting or one in existence already) to affiliate with CWOWI. We need wisdom for the administrative side of things, and I thank you for that.
Other than that Barb, Chris and I are well enough – some challenges but putting one foot in front of the other – these are exciting days for the body of Christ. People are forever, invest in people. Associate with people on the same spiritual page.
Blessings and I hope to see some of you in a webinar, conference or retreat!
Thank you for your generous support and prayers!
John and Barb
