Each year for my roomate’s birthday we throw a party that is, hands down, one of my favorite events of the year. My two roomates and I live in a 3 bedroom house in Sherman Oaks with a big back porch and a decent sized yard. Cory, the roommate who’s birthday we celebrated this weekend, is a member of a blue-grass band called the Dustbowl Cavaliers. And they are GOOD.  Each year for his birthday, the Cavaliers stand out on the  porch for hours playing good ole’, foot stompin’ blue grass. We fire up the grill, throw some logs in the fire pit, and hang out with all our friends while our feet move involuntarily to the sound of the deep South. It is a beautiful thing.

And each year at this party, I find myself transported to another time and place. In the middle of one of the world’s largest cities known for cutting edge technology, style, and entertainment, we’re on my back porch pickin’ and grinnin’, dressed in overalls, and singin’ at the top of our lungs! My friends will even swear that I start talking with a thick Texas accent.  To which I respond, “sounds a bit like heaven, don’t it?”

This same phenomenon happens when I’m with you, The Quest community. Seriously! When I hear your voices singing in worship, your laughter with each other, your encouragement of a friend, and your reading of the scriptures, I’m transported to another place. A place that sounds like Heaven.

This week at Quest Wednesday Night, Steve will be talking about the Kingdom of Heaven. And I think you’ll find that it is sometimes found right here – in this crazy city, on our back porches, and in Evans Chapel where we have Quest.

~ by chris on November 9, 2009.