Living & Learning – An I.G. Update

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Jesus & His Kingdom… What an amazing few months it has been. Lots of transition & change means you don’t have a choice but to be desperately shaped & molded by the Holy Spirit. The Snow family, and Intentional Gatherings as an organization has experienced this “molding & shaping” first hand. The Lord continues to clarify the things that are valuable to Him – this constantly challenges what the world around us screams constantly… My job is going really well, and we have no doubt that Jesus has moved me, and the vision of I.G. into the business world for a great purpose. I plan to spend a good amount of time in the “business world” to gain some needed experience before moving I.G. into a season of training other “professionals” to make disciples and plant churches in their context. This reality excites me, but I do not want to rush things. Please continue to pray that Jesus brings supernatural wisdom & discernment as we continue to seek His vision of equipping lay people to make disciples and plant simple churches in their context. Las Vegas… As you know, it’s been about a year and a half since we moved from Vegas to Austin. Eliza and I had the privilege of spending a weekend in Vegas to visit the Church we planted there. Things are going well, and one of the elders from the church just got married! Another one of the couples recently had a baby. It was great to visit them to see new marriages birth and watch existing families flourish! My travelin’ buddy! Eliza, making sure she knows the safety procedure on the Boeing 737 The Wright’s little girl – so amazing getting to marry this couple almost two years ago now, and watch them grow a family of their own… Eliza with “Auntie B” – We’ll get to join Brenna & her husband to be in October as they get married – Morgan and I will be officiating their wedding. __________________________________________________ “Missionaries & I.G.” I.G continues to foster incredible relationships with passionate students and lay people who feel led into the “mission field”. Whether it’s full time overseas, or in a bi-vocational role here in the U.S. we have the wonderful opportunity to partner & walk alongside of some passionate missionaries who are seeking to live out the principles they have received through their Student CPx Training. Over the summer we’ll get to be a part of sending several young people to various countries all over the world, as well as some summer internships here in the states to continue training & planting simple churches as they go. There is nothing more powerful than seeing someone who has been raised up and trained go out and put that training into practice with their life! _________________________________________________ I.G. Community Houses in Austin… This is very exciting for us as an organization. Here is Austin we now have three potential I.G. Discipleship Houses in the works. Your continued prayer and support makes these types of things possible for I.G. We’ll be revamping the “I.G. Houses” page on the website soon so you can stay up to date with the various houses as they launch. We’re trusting God for some major life & city transformation through these community houses! _______________________________________________________ That’s it for now! Thanks for continuing to walk with us for over three years now! We are continuing to trust Jesus, and partner with Him to grow the Kingdom as we humbly obey what He has called us to. On Behalf of I.G., Aaron Snow Partner with I.G. through Prayer and Giving: _________________________________ Are you social? Find Us Here: Join the conversation: Eliza is getting SO BIG!!!! The garden at our house is rockin. We’ve got squash, cucumbers, strawberries, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, kale, arugula, swiss chard, watermelon & cantaloupe! Yum! Morgan is 40 weeks pregnant & now OVERDUE! Baby Beck should be joining us any day now! I am currently traveling back and forth from Austin to DFW to await the arrival of our third little snowflake! Did you “Like” this newsletter? Forward this email to a friend You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the Intentional Gatherings Updates Email List. Unsubscribe <<Email Address>> from this list. Our mailing address is: Intentional Gatherings 7211 Bethune Ave Austin, Texas 78752 Add us to your address book Copyright (C) 2011 Intentional Gatherings All rights reserved. Update your prof

Las Vegas iPhoto Library…

After looking back through my iPhoto library I couldn’t help but throw together a little slide show of pics from our two year journey in Las Vegas. To those of you who came to our going away party this past Friday, thanks!

more about “Going Away Party… on Vimeo“, posted with vodpod

What Are We Aiming For…?

“We must stop being so worried about the “sustainability” of churches, and focus on the quality of the disciple due to their time in that community…”

A few days ago I mentioned I was going to continue with what I felt was one of the most important lessons we learned during our time in Las Vegas. To get caught up, Click Here to read the previous post…the following is among many of the things we have learned in the past two years, but something I have been thinking a lot about lately. It will shape & mold how we do things from here on out, and have a tremendous impact on how we will pursue “things” once we arrive in Austin…

Overall, I have determined that Christ is TRULY concerned with the individual Disciples who make up His body (the Church). He is concerned with the growth of those “parts”, knowing that if they are healthy then the body as a whole will be healthy. Many of us fall into the trap of caring/worrying/pursuing more about the “sustainability” of the new “church” or “community” that the health of the individual disciple can be overlooked. The fact is if the disciple is not healthy the church is not healthy. The truth is while most simple/organic churches will not (in many cases SHOULD NOT) be in existence for more than a couple of years, the quality of the disciple will live on forever no matter where they are geographically. (This has been our experience thus far)

As many of you know, at Intentional Gatherings we do like to see new faith communities birthed as a result of discipleship. However, we must constantly fight, and remind ourselves that these new faith communities are a means to an end; they are not an end in themselves. The hope is that they would produce and foster healthy, mature, and reproducible disciples. As disciples are reproduced the Body of Christ (Church) grows and is made more pure for His return. This is a beautiful thing.

I know what some of you are SCREAMING right now: “Aaron, are you saying you aren’t concerned with the actual church that is made up of those individual disciples, and are you saying Christ is not concerned with each individual church!?” I am saying that I feel Christ is extremely concerned with each individual disciple, and their obedience to whatever particular community of faith they are a part of for that time in their lives. We must remember that while there are individuals inside of different communities of faith there are also communities of faith that make up THE CHURCH. We must start with the health of the disciple. From there we will ALWAYS get a healthy community of faith (Healthy does not always mean it will “live” forever=), and thus a healthy body as a whole. If we skip the disciple and try to have a “proper” or “sustainable” faith community then we “chop the legs” out from under the Body as a Whole.

I’d rather have a church of 10-15 made up of extremely healthy kingdom-minded Jesus followers that lasts for 2-3 years than one of ANY number that lasts for decades. You see, I know that wherever those 10-15 go throughout the  rest of their lives they will continue to be that disciple, or potentially start a new church of their own.

“We must stop being so worried about the “sustainability” of churches, and focus on the quality of the disciple due to their time in that community.”

May we all begin, and continue to focus on the disciple more than we do the “entity” (whether big, small, mega, or house) in which we call, “church”. As we pursue individuals gaining a deeper understanding of the Gospel, and fall more in love with their Savior, Jesus, may HE do the rest…”build HIS Church”.

“Goodbye Las Vegas, Hello Austin”

Most of you already know that we will be moving to Austin, Tx. in the next few weeks to extend the work of Intentional Gatherings in a new city. Leaving Las Vegas will be such a bittersweet experience for us – just as it was when we left Ft. Worth two years ago. We left our physical & spiritual families behind shortly after getting married to move across the country. It was quite the adventure. While God has wired, and called us to go to new cities every couple of years to start new communities of faith & see new disciples made it is still difficult to leave behind the close relationships that are built in each city. We are sad to part ways with so many close friends, but extremely excited to step out in obedience by “starting over” in a new city…

Many people look at us cross-eyed when we explain how God has called us to move to new places to start new works every few years. It is not the norm for Christians in America to pack up and leave behind friends and family regularly & voluntarily. We appreciate all of you who have loved and supported us throughout the difficult transitions. We could not do this without you. It is taxing to build Spiritual family for two years, and then leave that family to go start a new one. We just have to trust that Christ is building His Church & doing His thing, simply desiring our obedience. It is encouraging to know that we will have Spiritual Family spread out all over the country down the road…

To our spiritual family within the “university crest church” community: we love you guys so much. God has taught us a lot through doing life with you guys over the past two years. I pray that each of you have been sharpened & discipled to a deeper love and understanding of the kingdom, and your role in it. May each of you go on to make more disciples in Jesus’ name wherever life takes you. Do know that just because we are moving does not mean we are exiting each others lives.

To our spiritual family within the “hudgin’s, robbin’s, & snow’s church” community: I have never experienced anything quite like what we have walked through over the past 6 months with you guys…it was like “organic/simple church” on speed. We all sensed God pushing us to pursue Him & one another. We knew we only had 6 months to do it. There was no time to waste. God did some miraculous things in the past half a year as we walked in obedience together. He worked sin out of our lives, healed brokenness in our marriages, taught us patience & grace, and most importantly that pursuing Biblical community with other believers is and is supposed to be “simple” – not easy – but simple. While I wish we had pursued this much earlier on in our two years of knowing you guys I feel the timing of everything has been perfect, and God ordained; He knew what He was doing. My prayer for each of you is that you will pursue the types of relationships we have experienced with one another over the past 6 months for the rest of your lives, wherever you go. I know we will.

(From left: The Hudgin’s, The Snow’s, The Robbin’s)

I will continue in a couple of days with what I feel is one of the most important lessons we’ve learned as an organization during our time in Las Vegas…

Erik Fish: “Sharing Your Story”

Student CPx: Concentrate in Las Vegas 2009

more about “Erik Fish – Sharing Your Testimony on…“, posted with vodpod

Two Of Our Best Friends – Part 2

Jeremiah & Keri Duckett are two of our best friends in the world. They were a part of the original I.G. crew in Ft. Worth when the first church was started, and we have done quite a bit of life with these two…Back in January we hosted Student CPx: Concentrate in Las Vegas. Jeremiah & Keri led us in some powerful times of worship. I encourage you to take some time, worship, and reflect on the person of Jesus. Enjoy…

more about “J & K Duckett: Student CPx Worship pa…“, posted with vodpod

 

Erik Fish: Traveling Teams

Erik shares his passion to release teams of traveling apostolic workers to campuses across America. Their purpose is to make disciples and plant student churches. Student CPx: Concentrate – Las Vegas 2009

more about “Erik Fish – Traveling Teams on Vimeo“, posted with vodpod

 

Two Of Our Best Friends – Part 1

Jeremiah & Keri Duckett are two of our best friends in the world. They were a part of the original I.G. crew in Ft. Worth when the first church was started, and we have done quite a bit of life with these two. Among just a couple of those things are becoming best friends, falling in love, and marrying our spouses. We grew deeply with them in the context of Biblical Community, and were on mission together with our lives. Back in January we hosted Student CPx: Concentrate in Las Vegas. We had some of the I.G. Ft. Worth crew come out to join us. Jeremiah & Keri led us in some powerful times of worship. I encourage you to take some time, get out your journal, Bible, reflect, & watch this video. Enjoy…

(We love you Duckett’s!)

more about “J & K Duckett Worship: SCPx Vegas par…“, posted with vodpod

 

Neil Cole: Mentoring & Leadership…

Neil Cole shares with us about mentoring and Organic Leadership at Student CPx: Concentrate is Las Vegas in 2009. Neil has been a true Spiritual Father to this movement of lay/student church planters…Enjoy.

more about “Neil Cole – Mentoring/Leadership on V…“, posted with vodpod

The Call To Evangelism – Erik Fish

Erik Fish brought a fresh word on Evangelism to the everyone at Student CPx: Concentrate in Las Vegas in 2009. Enjoy…

more about “The Call To Evangelism on Vimeo“, posted with vodpod