Praise God for the Hot Tub!

In talking with Angela Maasen, who has recently been meeting with us, we discovered that she had never been water baptized after she came to know the Lord. We explained to her the importance of it and asked her if she wanted to. She said yes. Then Paul and I looked at each other and said at the same time, "Now we know why God gave us a hot tub!" For those of you who don't know, when we bought our house the owner decided to leave his hot tub for us. Once we told the others that Maasen was going to get baptized, several of them said that they would like to get re-baptized since they were young and did not know what they were doing originally. Thus, on our first Sunday in July gathering, five people were baptized in the hot tub. On Tuesday nights we have been going out to a barn meeting where a woman named Cindy was telling us about her experiences in Africa. She said that when people get baptized they say specific things they want to die to and what they want to walk in when they come out. We decided to do that in our baptism also. It was powerful to see each person read off their list of what they want to be gone and what they now are alive to (ie, one girl said I want to die to people pleasing and come out having my desire to please God soley.)

In addition to the baptism, the hot tub has become a "hot spot" for the neighborhood kids. We have been gathering the first Sunday morning of the month, and then on the other Sundays we are building relationships with people who are in our sphere of influence. Some people have been meeting with co-workers, old friends etc. Paul, Harrison and I decided to invite the neighborhood kids and their parents over to our house for a water party every Sunday in July from 3-5pm. It has been a fun time with new friendships evolving. It has also been great to watch Harrison interact with the kids, as well as learn how to be a good neighbor.

Also on Sunday when we don't have our gathering, we have been going to the local assemblies in Merriam to get connected with the body/church in our city. There are only about five small fellowships in Merriam, and so far we have visited the two Baptist groups and one Charismatic. All the pastors have been really open to us, with one offering their building for our usage and another pastor asked Paul to come and preach that night at their evening service. Additionally, four of us even went to a nearby Messanic congregation called Adat Yeshua. We enjoyed the service from 11-2 and afterwards talked with the Rabbi until 5:00. We are excited to take some of their classes in the fall on the Jewish roots of Christianity.

Praises / Prayer Requests

• During our family group time, Mark prayed for healing for Eric's legs since one of them is longer than the other. Eric had been visiting a chiropractor for this ailment. Eric felt something going on while Mark prayed, and afterward we realized they were the same length. Eric went to his chiropractor a couple days later, and he comfired that Eric's legs were now the same.
• We have officially started the King and Kingdom discussion group on Saturday's from noon-2pm. Pray that the Lord will continue to show us the ways of His kingdom and how to incorporate them into our life.
• Please pray that the Lord would continue to open up the hearts of those we are sharing with, and that connections with the other groups in our city would continue.

Great books, music or teaching material that we have been going through this month that we would reccommend:

Books

• Israel, My Beloved by Kay Arthur
• The King and the Kingdom of Heaven by Watchmen Nee

Music

• Captivating- live worship from IHOP by Misty Edwards

Teaching

• Derek Prince's foundational series
• Arthur Burk's redemptive gifts and mercy season

Business Note:

We had our board meeting this month and are now a non-profit corporation under the name Kingdom Living Church that allows for tax-deductible contributions. If the Lord leads you to support us financially you can make your check out to Kingdom Living and mail to our address: 6857 Mastin Dr., Merriam, KS 66203. In addition, the board motioned for Paul to be ordained. We had a ceremony last Thursday to ordain Paul, and it was a special time where the friends and family gathered to show their support.

We would love to have you join us at our house for any of the following meetings:

Monday nights 7:30 prayer for city of Merriam

Tuesday nights meet at our house at 6:30 to carpool to the barn meetings with Cindy teaching on what she learned in Africa

Saturday 12:00- 2:00 Discussions on the King and the Kingdom

Sunday, August 13 at 10:00 for our large group gathering for worship, teaching, prayer, fellowship and food

On a personal note:

Paul and I got to go on two trips this month. First we went to Portland, OR to see my sister Nicole get married. It was a beautiful service in a vineyard on the side of a mountain. We are so excited for them. The other trip was to Chicago to meet friends as well as Art's whole family, especially since our wedding was for immediate family only. In addition, Paul and I have joined a co-ed soccer team called the Tribe, with some of his siblings. It has been fun to play and watch him play. Harrison also just finished playoffs for his summer baseball league.We would love to hear from you so we can know how to pray for you as well - email us at paultblake@gmail.com.