The Sound And Smell of Rain

“Safe Houses of Hope And Prayer”
Chapter 1 – The Sound And Smell of Rain

“Now Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy  shower.’” (1 Kings 18:41)

It happened on a Wednesday evening. Our house church had gathered in the home of Garold  and Kitty Shipley in the Spokane Valley. Ten of us were gathered in the family room just off of  their covered (but open) deck with the door leading to the deck open for fresh air. A promise of  rain hung in the air as clouds had moved into the area that afternoon. About mid-way into our  gathering, as we prayed and worshiped together, we all became aware of the sound of falling  rain, and the breeze through the open door filled the room with the sweet smell of rain. It was a  strong rain, too. You just knew if you went outside you would quickly be soaked. We even joked  that we hoped everyone had rolled the windows up in their cars. One person commented that he  wished he had brought his coat. Others commented  that they just loved the smell of fresh falling  rain.

After celebrating communion and concluding our time together, people began to leave. A few  minutes later two people returned with a stunning announcement. There had been NO rain. The  cars, the grass, the streets, everything, was bone dry. Not a drop of rain. People went out into  the back yard to see if it was one of those freak rains that falls in the back yard but not across  the street. But everything was bone dry (and, no, they didn’t even have a sprinkler system that  could be mistaken for rain!).

We were stunned - dumbfounded! We had ALL heard, smelled and commented on the rain (a  digital recorder which ran during the meeting even recorded the sound of the rain along with our  comments about it)! But there was no rain! Finally, I suggested to the group what was quickly  becoming obvious to us all. God was at work in our midst. God had allowed us to hear what  Elijah heard - the sound of a yet-future rain storm.  He had given us a “prophetic sign” regarding  what He is about to do in midst of His Church. Rain is coming. A Spiritual Outpouring of  unprecedented, incredible power is on its way. And He wants you to know about it . . . and to be  a part of it. God wants it to rain in your house.

Life By The Bucket

I have lived, worked and spent time in parts of the world where people depend on rainfall as one  of their chief sources of water. In those places life and architecture are structured to take  advantage of every passing storm. Elaborate systems of gutters on buildings lead to collection  vessels, and every house has an in-ground cistern where water is collected and stored. Simply  put, life depends upon buckets to catch the life-sustaining rain.
 
There is a practical lesson here for you and me. You and I can’t control the weather or the timing  of rain storms. But there is something we can do while we await the coming rain. We can  prepare our buckets. As people whose very lives depend upon the rain already know, during the  dry season you prepare your vessels, so that when the rainy season arrives you are ready to  collect every life-giving drop.

Rain is coming. Are you ready for what God is about to do in our day?
 
What God Is Doing In Our Day

“If you would make the greatest success of your life, try to discover what God is doing in your  time, and fling yourself into the accomplishment of His purpose and will”. - Arthur Wallis

This quote from Arthur Wallis is really quite profound. Take just a moment and reflect on it. Now,  I want to   ask you four simple questions:

1. Do you want your life to be as successful as possible?
2. Do you know what God is doing in our day?
3. Do you want to know?
4. Do you want to be a part of it?

O.K., if you have an IQ above that of a turnip the answer to the first question should be obvious.  Of course we want our lives to be as successful as possible! The real challenge here becomes  how we define “success” in our materialistic age that measures success by budgets, bank  accounts, buildings and “bling”! 

From this point on the questions get more challenging. Consider the second one: Do you know  what God is doing in our day? Could you sum it up in a paragraph that you could explain to your  spouse or to a neighbor?  Most people don’t know, and that includes most professing Christians.  Most Christians live quiet lives of “blissful ignorance” going through religious activities (including  the Church-sponsored mission trip to build a house for a family in a third world country), never  understanding what God is doing in the world around them, and never knowing what their part of  God’s plan could have been. Ouch!

And that leads to the third question: Do you want to know what God is doing? Be careful how  you answer this question. Why? Well, for two reasons. First, if you truly want to know, then  chances are very good that God will show you. And, second, if God shows you what He is doing  in our world today you will be confronted with a choice: do you obey, or do you stay (where you  are). Like the character Neo in the blockbuster movie “The Matrix”, do you take “the blue pill”  and wake up in your comfortable bed, or do you take “the red pill” and discover an adventure  beyond your imagination.

And this leads us to the final and fateful question: Do you want to be a part of what God is doing  in our day?  In the Parousia Network (the parent network for Safe Houses of Hope And Prayer)  we believe that we are standing today on the eve of the greatest spiritual awakening and  outpouring the Western Church has experienced in well over 100 years. Rain is coming and it is  time to get our buckets in order. This coming rain will become a River of God’s Spirit which will  flow in spiritual power and blessing unknown in the experience of our generation. God is  preparing His end-time harvest. And to accommodate that harvest He is raising up tens of  thousands of organic, multiplying house churches led by believers just like you. These organic  house churches, meeting in homes like yours and led by Kingdom-minded disciples like you, will  be the new “buckets” - the vessels -  for what God is doing in our day. And He is calling you to be  a part of it. The only question remaining is this:  Are you ready to become a part of what God is  doing in our day?

Safe Houses of Hope And Prayer is the name we have given to this new network of organic  house church “buckets”; God’s new vessels to catch and keep the rain of this coming Spiritual  Outpouring. And He wants YOUR house to be one of them!

Chapter 2 - The Bucket That Rube Built
Chapter 3 - A Church For The Rest of Us
Chapter 4 - Red Skies And House Churches
Chapter 5 - A Holy Discontent
Chapter 6 - The Kingdom In Your House
Chapter 7 -“River Houses”
Chapter 8 - Pursuing A Jesus-Shaped Spirituality
Chapter 9 - It’s Time To “Just Do It”
Chapter 10 - A Time To Dance
Chapter 11 - Discovering People Of Peace
Chapter 12 - God Has A Math Problem
Chapter 13 - Rabbits, Elephants And Mules
Chapter 14 - Join Us And Network
Appendix - More Resources