The Bad and the Ugly of community. The next point that stood out to me in Nancy’s talk was how the second hallmark of community is conflict (the first one being inclusiveness). I was totally blown away. I would never have guessed she would say conflict. She said that we should be regularly be saying […]

One of the points Nancy made was that community is not perpetual niceness. I think this is one of the things that hurts the church the most. We are perceived as Ned Flanders, or anyone on TBN. Community is not us pretending that everything is ok. That’s pseudo-community. I think the best definition I have

We are starting this week our fall campaign where we as a church focus on one aspect of our Christian walk. This fall we are focusing on Community from our Children’s church and Youth Church to the Adult weekend experence. Last week we had a guest speaker at our church Nancy Ortberg, she was off

I went this last weekend with my good friend and fellow blogger pastor Mike Servello, to a youth conference in Kitchner Ont. Canada. We had a fantastic time. We meet the youth pastor Paul Dunk and his wife Susan. They are wonderful people we hit if off right away. It is always so great to

I love this one, another one of my favorites. It makes me think of how we treat first time guests when they come to our church. 1. Do we make sense? Are we speaking in jargon, insider language? 2. Do do things on Sunday morning out of tradition that have no function. 3. Do people

Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have recieved, and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.” – Mother Teresa

One of the things that I in my old age have grown to love is reading books from people who I disagree with. I think it helps me separate what I really believe from what I believe because I have heard it talked about enough. Why I liked this book. It further cemented in my

Today is my wife’s birthday. There is so much that I appreciate about her. She is such a blessing to my life and to our family. I thank God for special days like birthdays because they help to refocus us on the things that really matter. I appreciate all the time and energy my wife

There are certain people and certain things in life that just make you laugh, cry, and get warm fuzzies. When I grew up I watched In Living Color on a regular basis. Jim Carey was so funny in every skit he did from Vera Demilo to Fire Marshall Bill. This video makes me laugh every

  M. Scott Peck:There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community. Community we all need it! Whether we realize it or not.