Get Connected in Holiness
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008Many people outside the church accuse Christians of being hypocrites. Technically, hypocrisy is a matter of professing a set of beliefs that you don’t really believe. However, our culture—and many Christians—believes that hypocrisy is a matter of saying one thing and doing another, being two-faced. While that might seem like splitting hairs, the subtle difference [...]
Get Connected with New Clothes
Monday, May 12th, 2008Since I was diagnosed to be diabetic in September 2007, I’ve had to watch what I eat. As a result, some of my clothes are becoming so baggy that I will need to replace them soon. (As a side note, thanks to everyone for the encouragement along the way—keep it up!) Oddly enough, as thrilled [...]
Get Connected Through the Truth
Monday, April 28th, 2008The sermon series that we are going through right now, “Life360,” has been exciting to preach. The sermon on April 27 dealt with “Faith: Broadband Beliefs,” the idea that our faith is developed when we hear, read, and study the Bible and then live it out. The exciting part of that sermon was the realization [...]
Get Connected in Prayer
Monday, April 14th, 2008I’m not good at relationships, but I’m getting better. How do I know? Well, God and I communicate a lot more than we did before, and more and more frequently, we communicate about other people.
I suspect that my prayer life has been a lot like most people’s: about my needs, when I have needs. But [...]
Thank you, Dr. Bungu!
Friday, April 11th, 2008This past Sunday, April 6, Dr. Zindoga Bungu brought us the morning’s message. Dr. Bungu is the head of Moshoko Christian Hospital, which we support through As He Is USA.
Dr. Bungu began at Ephesians 5:15, 16: “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the [...]
Get Connected Through Membership
Monday, March 31st, 2008For some reason, church membership is a tough topic. Reading the New Testament, it seems the early church understood that when you become a Christian, you are a “member” of the church. Just as when a child is born he becomes part of the family, when a person is “reborn” they become part of the [...]
Get Connected by Giving
Monday, March 17th, 2008I hate money. While I enjoy the pleasures that come from what money can buy (as my indulgences in coffee, dining out, and computers will testify), there’s just too much effort that must go into making money, tracking money, and even spending money. I know that there’s more than a bit of laziness in my [...]
Get Connected in Support
Monday, February 25th, 2008I have to admit that I’m still somewhat sore from our trip to Louisiana. While I know what it means to put in a full day of physical labor, my knowledge is more anecdotal, as my daily work involves me being a “mouse jockey.” In all honesty, I was out of my league as we [...]
The Slidell Effect
Monday, February 25th, 2008We’re back from Slidell, Louisiana. We spent the week (February 17-22) working with IDES (International Disaster Emergency Services) building houses to help folks who lost everything to hurricane Katrina. You can see photos of some of our people working at DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) director Joe Luttrell’s blog (http://www.xanga.com/idesdart).
IDES has been working in Slidell [...]
Get Connected in Love
Monday, February 4th, 2008Our mission is simple: to love God and to love people. This isn’t an artificial, greeting-card kind of love. It’s the true love that comes from God. First John 4:10 tells us: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our [...]
Any Complaints?
Friday, February 1st, 2008I just walked past the Welcome Center and noticed that the sheet where people can sign their names after completing the 21-day “complaint free” challenge still has only three names on it. [By the way, that snapping noise you hear coming through your computer's speakers is my band flipping from wrist to wrist as I [...]
Get Connected in Peace
Monday, January 21st, 2008Last month I wrote about how we are connected with God and each other as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper each week. Not only do we connect by participating in Jesus’ death through communion, but we also get connected with God as he made peace with us through Jesus’ death. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:13, [...]
Get Connected in Communion
Monday, January 7th, 2008With the election year in full-swing, we’re experiencing our country’s most fractious season. Friends, coworkers, and family members seem to be more willing to “debate” their differences, and it’s not always pretty.
Sometimes Sunday mornings can be just as divided, as Christians with varied backgrounds and preferences interact within the worship service and Bible classes. But [...]
Bridging the Gap Through Giving
Monday, December 17th, 2007The whole reason the church exists is to share the Good News of God’s gift to the world, his son Jesus and the forgiveness of sins that he offers. As we focus on the season where even the world focuses on giving gifts, let us bridge the gap through our giving.
The obvious gap exists where [...]
Bridging the Gap Joyfully
Monday, November 26th, 2007The season of Christmas provides the best opportunities to bridge the gap. It’s a time when families come together, despite their dysfunction. It’s a time when communities come together, despite their differences. It’s the time when the most people are made aware of the name of Jesus, whether they recognize who he is or not. [...]
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