welcome to this episode of real Christianity my name is Dale Partridge reach week I offer 15 to 20-minute answers to tough theological and pastoral question this is 100% listener support audio Ministry of relearn. Org and for those who don't know our mission a tree learn.org is to educate and equip ordinary Christian to plant biblical confessional and missional house churches for more information just visit relearn. Org forward slash house
 welcome to real Christianity my name is Dale Partridge as many of you know you can find the show notes for these episodes at our website at relearn. Org our mission a tree learn.org is to bring the church back to the Bible and to increase biblical literacy among Christians welcome to today's episode titled the three biblical principles to consider before you move how we have so many people as covid has changed the landscape of our culture and made it clear that most modern jobs can be carried out remotely and this cultural shift really has granted Millions upon millions of families the ability to relocate to a more desired location but as Christians
 who are slaves and Servants of the Lord Jesus Christ how are we to think about relocation are we to just use the same criteria as the rest of the culture I mean we did just move because we want to be no closer to family or to have better political leaders or to make more money or to be in a different climate and now there's nothing necessarily sinful about those reasons for relocation but are they the guiding criteria that Christians should use when planning to relocate their family
 and so in this episode I'm going to explain why I think Christians should use a different set of principles and will be sharing the three overarching criteria that our family used to choose our families new location before we begin just want to mention a few things if you have not heard I did a pretty big Life Update post on Instagram if you don't follow our ministry on Instagram without relearn you'll find it or just type in return. Oregon Instagram I posted on Facebook as well you can find it there and get a quick update on our life and our move and why my health so that's one thing the second thing is I've shared several times now on social media but for those of you who are looking for
 a playlist of biblical worship music I have personally curated a playlist on Spotify if you just type biblical worship into the playlist search bar or to the search bar on Spotify you'll likely find it you'll find my name there and I also did one called biblical hip hop yes I do love hip-hop and you guys can find out there I am still working on that one only got maybe 20 something songs on there but an incredible way to learn and consume theological truths through song so hopefully that's a helpful resource for you guys
 so as a preface before I begin I want to make a few points number one each family must take their request to move to the Lord and in speaking to how God organized is the local church I'm going to use a reference hear from Paul he says in 1st Corinthians 12:18 is that as it is God arranged the members in the body each one of them as he chose know that God is Sovereign removing his people to places which will carry out his Redemptive plan throughout his church into every family is different and these are principles that I'm going to share not direct commands you have a unique story and you have a unique Journey the Lord has you on and are these are just principles my next point is
 if you're Christian your body is not your own your time is not your on your money is not your own your family is not around in your life is not your own 1st Corinthians 10:26 and a reference to Deuteronomy it says for the Earth is the Lord's and all it contains everything including you is the Lord's he owns it all he's the maker of all earlier in the same and book we're still on 1st Corinthians talking here all rights or do you not know that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God and that you are not your own
 for you have been bought with a price speaking of Christians therefore glorify God in your body especially as a born-again Christian you are not a free agent but you're a Slave To The King and slaves don't make decisions without the permission of their Master what I'm saying here is you must seek Christ first to verify even if you've been called to move let alone where to move when to move and why to move
 I'm a third point that I want to preface
 is before I get into the these three principles that we've used in our personal life I just want you to know that these principles were quite a big boy and big girl Faith they require you to have an established understanding of God's sovereignty of his Redemptive purpose and how his children are involved in his mission and I say that because these three criteria are deeply self-sacrificial and they demand a heart that sealed it to God and feet that are willing to walk even when you can't see and lastly I would never preach on anything that I have not embraced myself not to say that
 preachers Don't Preach on things that they struggle with but the reality is this is something that I've actually walked out with our family
 and sharing the fruit of it and hopefully it will be fruitful for you as well I will admit at first we almost embraced the process for moving that I think almost everybody else Embraces we almost moved because of our personal reasons and not the Lord's and it was God's mercy and Grace that he convicted my spirit and brought me and my thinking back in alignment with the scriptures so I'll give you the short version of the story when we felt the call to relocate for a variety of reasons my health was a major driver for that we first look for the best state with the most conservative politics with the strongest homeschooling communities in with an abundance of biblical churches in it and be nearby a great Seminary we also looked at places
 I'm close to people we love with a low cost of living somewhere we can make some money and ideally places of geographic Beauty right and outdoor recreation something that we can live by and we even went on a 10-week family RV trip to scope out several of these locations under this guiding criteria which is again what most people use when they
 try to relocate their family
 however after returning from our trip we felt deeply conflicted and after much prayer about some of the places that we had desire we actually even put down a deposit on a spot on a piece of land somewhere that we actually had to lose our deposit over
 and we ended up choosing a completely different state state of Arizona and it was the last date that we wanted to move to and the last City we wanted to be in and I'm not going to share the specific City because we are
 deciding between two or three local cities in this area all within the same area so I I just don't want to share that quite yet
 but the state is politically moderate the city we think we're going to go into is politically liberal and there's not even one Homeschool Group in the area there's only one tiny biblical Church got about 15 people in it it's probably the most expensive area to live in the entire State and we don't know a single person there
 and how was it hard to trust the Lord with these circumstances absolutely Veronica even cried over it we had several different difficult conversations as a family we went to prayer even asking the Lord for a change but filing we just yielded over the past several months and we've come to a sweet contentment and even a joy over the adventure that the Lord has set before us in this new location so here's the three criteria that we used that brought relocation are the decision of relocation into alignment with a Biblical principles number one
 move for commission not comfort so recently saw a tweet from the young mom who said quote my husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday. My response was the same thing any Christian mother wants to move to Florida or Texas now as funny as that may be revealed a way of thinking that Christians need to be careful with and look there's nothing wrong with Florida or Texas we actually the place that we bought land and put a deposit was taxes but lots of Christians you know move there and we'll move there and God has called many of his children to move these very place I'm not anti Florida or Texas
 what is Christian's the politics of a certain place shouldn't be the driving factor for why we relocate it's an important factor but it should be the driving Factor if this is the case then the gospel never make it to politically hostile countries or areas or states and we're starting to see many hostile States toward Christianity and while some are called to leave we do need men and women who are bold enough to come and be missionaries and some of these states and some of these cities that are basically being completely abandoned by by Christians left and right
 the truth is we we really just need to have a heart to move to places where Christ is not named imma say that again we need to have a heart to move to places where Christ is not named in an effort to really witness to the lost in that community
 and I know that we are at varying degrees of callings we all are under the Great Commission which will speak about in a second and then summer called as evangelist ever called as missionaries and pastors so you got to take this within the bounds of your specific calling
 but again as a modernized westernized American our first inclination when choosing a place to live is centrally come and you know where we going to have the most fun the least amount of stress the maximum income on opportunities the greatest amount of relationships that again these are not the questions that Christian should be asking we must start to remember it's Christians that the Great Commission is not the great suggestion right there you know therefore I should say we can't think about relocation without thinking about how it'll affect our faithfulness to our Christian Duty
 you know if our first criteria is comfort then we are not evaluating a relocation through our identity in Christ Judy Greer in his book gaining by losing had a really great quote that captures what I'm saying
 he said the Great Commission is not a calling for some it is a mandate for all all Christians when it comes to a calling we don't need a voice we have a verse Matthew 28:19 it is now our responsibility under the direction of the Holy Spirit to evaluate how we are best suited to fulfill that call we see every member of our church as a potential missionary to be equipped and mobilized our goal is not to send some or even our best but to send all into the mission to our city across the country or to the other side of the world
 you have to realize that that's how Muslims and Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses actually think but sadly that's not true of Christians
 I believe it was James wife who want said the Colts have more passion for Ally than Christians do for the truth
 we really do need to start putting Great Commission thinking above our Comforts ultimately if you're a born-again Believer you're not an inactive Soldier your gospel worker who is to be trained and equipped and set to hear the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ in the community in which he has called you to live that number two
 move for people not places we begin just by talking about the local church for a moment there is no such thing as a church this Christian and true Christians will not be on church for long and they have a deep desire to be in regular Fellowship as God's people and then I have a point that I'm trying to get to here first so just let me give you a quick analogy
 how close can a person be to me if he or she didn't want to be around my wife
 the doctor said that they actually wanted to avoid my wife could we become intimate friends of course not right no way the same is true of Christ and his bride the church we have to remember that the local church is a very bride of Christ in the place God designed for his children to be strengthened
 and therefore here's my point
 when considering a relocation we we shouldn't simply scope the schools in the restaurants in the recreation and just expect God to miraculously I can see bless us with a thriving fruitful and biblical local Church community
 unless we are again missionaries in the biblical sense we should really be seeking specific locations where there already is an established church Orchard community in which we can become faithful members so it's really important so my point is don't move to a place because it's beautiful or Scenic or has good food or by the beach or has conservative politics I need a great benefits but a far greater benefit and reason to move somewhere because of who is there and where your family's going to find genuine Christian fellowship and spiritual maturity for years to come
 play number 3 move for commitment not curiosity can we live in a transient culture that comes and goes without much results remain in long-term faithful relationships brautigan I just left Bend Oregon after 7 years and that's not a long time but it's not a short time either and you know it was enough time for us to establish deep relationships with several families establish a local church show our kids how to remain still in the face of moments that make you want to leave
 and also how to stay put until the Lord genuinely calls us elsewhere
 other words when praying about a place for your family to relocate pray you'll find a place that permits your family to establish Roots think 5 to 10 years minimum
 pray the Lord permits you to have the time to become deeply involved in your local church and where you can Minister thoroughly with people in any even model commitment and consistency to a generation of detached and independent Christians at vital
 and so all in all we have to start thinking like slaves and not free agents I said this in the last podcast but I'm going to say it again the word doulos is the most common New Testament Greek word to describe Believers and it's translated as slave or servant were not entities unto ourselves were men and women of the cross
 and therefore we must learn to think about the Great Commission and our personal Ministry in our plan for relocation we must learn to Value the local church and seek fellowship before seeking secular benefits of a particular area we must figure out how to fight
 to move to places where can we can be committed long-term and not just bounced from one place to another when our preferences or our comfort so we have conflict when those things change
 and I understand for those who are hearing this and you have plans to move and you maybe want to re-evaluate those plans through these criteria and take them to prayer I understand that this might put a stick in the spokes of your family's plan it absolutely did with ours we lost several thousand dollars over it actually but this may also send you to a place that
 maybe you didn't desire to go to but
 if you're in the Lord's will doing the Lord's work walking by faith trusting in Him I assure you that wherever the Lord put you it'll be the safest and most rewarding move that your family can make so may God give you wisdom in that Journey hopefully this episode was helpful for you guys and edifying in your walk with Christ I thank you for listening to the real Christianity podcast on a regular basis if you haven't already would you please leave a review you can do so by tapping the stars in the podcast app where you can write something but you don't need a ride anything but if you do write something I will read it and I am encouraged so often by those who leave comments so thank you so much for those I'm also if you want to find out more about our ministry that we learn. Org we're also Reformation cemetery.com our house church planting school that teaches people how to plant biblical house churches we would love to
 have you over there on that note thank you for joining me on this episode of real Christianity my name is Dale Partridge and I'll see you next week
 thank you for listening to this episode of real Christianity if your regular was no to this show would you personally consider making a donation to support our ministry efforts simply visit relearn. Org forward slash donate again that's relearn. Work for donate and for those looking to explore the idea of joining or planting a church in your home you can download our free pdf ebook titled the basics of biblical House Church by visiting relearn. Org for house last week do you have a theological question you would like answered on the show submit your question at relearn. Org forward slash question thanks for joining us on this episode of real Christianity we will see you next Wednesday