Greetings to all the world who seek God.

The Sanctuary has begun its Ministry! What started as a sole journey, joined only by my wife, has now blossomed into the work that God has put before us. For years had we prayed and sought a home for ourselves and a fellowship and congregation where we belonged. We strived to embody the principle of Jesus Christ, seeking first the Kingdom of God, denying ourselves, picking up our cross, and following Him, though we do so alone. We reached out to many churches and congregations, seeking where we belonged in the body of God. Though we met wonderful people along the way, and those who truly loved God and sought after Him, we did not find a place for us within the halls and walls of any church. Indeed some churches turned us away, some ignored us, some condemned us as unworthy, some would not include us unless we accepted doctrine we knew was against the very Word of Jesus Christ, and made up wholly by man as measures of control because of fear.

There were times that we ourselves began to question whether we were wanted by God, since very few of God’s people seemed to want to include us. Then also would we wonder if anyone sought the truth any longer, as so many seemed to desire prestige and glory in self righteousness instead of the humility and wonderful heart of Jesus Christ. I wrote many letters to the churches outlining my journey from darkness to light which are included here at The Sanctuary Website as record and history. The letters brought me great hope to continue and to trust God, even in all the isolation and sorrow of our days without others to carry the message of Jesus Christ. As I wrote did my own faith increase, and my own desire to continue to draw near to God and to trust that He Himself would build our home and our place where we could dwell in the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Life. Though it can be natural for man to question if God loves them or cares, there became one thing glaringly true – Man does not speak for God. God Himself decides who He loves and who He helps and who He guides and shapes into whatever vessel He desires. Even being discouraged by man, did also a part of us realize that we must continue, even if alone, because God is our Home and not the temples of mankind that so adorn our beautiful world.

Then one day, during a particularly isolated period of our life, my wife found a fellowship of people online who were very much like us. They too desired to know God, sought after the Kingdom of God, wanted to learn from Jesus Christ, and relied more on the Holy Spirit to be their guide than they trusted their own selves. They too had seen how their issues in life had separated them from others, whatever they may be, and that we were in essence “The Lost Sheep”. We were found in the darkest of places on earth, the dungeons of man, the seedy underbelly of the world, the night life and glamour of drunkenness, from high castles to the fall of all things human, at the unrighteous warlike religions and cults, enduring humiliations and bitter pride (even of ourselves) and the terrible and unholy places that tormented many of our days and nights. We had walked roads that some of the world will not even speak about, that others shriek in fear over, that still others secretly desire to go, where most shame and judge, and that some of earth hide deeply inside their hearts. All of us had found the place where we had no belonging. All of us had individually known, that because of our experiences we could not be lukewarm, or “play church” or seek self righteousness, or pretend we fit into the norm. We had to seek God honestly in order to not let our former selves, or our wounds and conditions condemn us any longer. The meeting of others, such as ourselves, who had experienced the extraordinary elements of human life, from greatness to great destruction, became the united cornerstone of this very Sanctuary!

And so it is, that God the Father desires that no ONE soul be lost upon the earth, that Jesus Christ himself leaves the flock and goes out and finds those who have been cast out, or gone astray, and brings us back into the safety of His Kingdom and His love. The Sanctuary are those that Jesus has personally found, and called out to us to follow Him again, because of His acceptance of us, and the Father’s love for us. The secrets in our hearts to be pure, to be safe, to be clean, to be faithful and healed have been heard by God to the very throne of Heaven itself. Our prayers are being answered as we ourselves began to multiply into a fellowship, united in our need for the Holy Spirit, and our absolute dependancy upon God in order to survive this world and even ourselves. For what ever reason this world had separated us, viewed us as flawed, or even idolized some of us as “special”, or cursed us as different, God Himself reminded us all that He loves us and knows the truth in our hearts that always desired a relationship to Him. God is bringing us together, one lost sheep at a time, until all who have been forgotten in the world, or who purposely ran away, are found again by our Lord and Savior and Brother, Jesus Christ.

This is the very purpose of the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary desires to open our doors to the misfits and shamed, the prisoners and bound, the broken, the wounded, the unique and beautiful, the dreamer, the seeker, the isolated, the scared, the fragile, the one who got away, the one who lived in hell crying out to God, the one who still loved when no one loved, and the one who denied love but cannot escape their secret hope in God. For many of us this is the last stop, but it is Holy and Perfect, because God our Father has set aside this place for us, and Jesus Christ our Lord has brought us to this place made by our Father, and the Holy Spirit itself is our protector and teacher and uniter. We are Disciples of Christ, eternal students and followers. We are not learned or with authority of worldly influence, nor do we seek anything outside of what God Himself desires to give to us. We practise shedding our old ways, and letting go of our own will, and making peace with ourselves, with God and with one another. We do not seek our own authority, as even those who Pastor here have been elected to do so by the fellowship, and not assigned there by themselves. In the Sanctuary, God is our only authority and we answer to Him, and He guides us to His Kingdom. And this has God revealed to us all through His grace to take us for Himself, and to give us to each other; that we are to continue to give to others what He has given to us.

Therefore The Sanctuary, made for us by God, has opened its doors to all who seek God.

May grace and peace and blessings fall upon all who are wounded or feel lost, and may God continue to guide each of us to His Throne and to His Holy Kingdom that we may never forget His most wonderful and perfect gift, in humility and gratitude and service to mankind. May The Sanctuary remain a place of safety for all.

Ryan