How do we know if we’re succeeding? Yesterday we asked the question, “Are we accomplishing our vision?” and I gave us two filters for how to answer it: our core values and our vision drawing. It’s helpful for us to circle the wagons every once in a while to do a progress check. Sometimes in [...]
The crux of discipleship is not knowledge. It is the will. The crux of discipleship, of life with God in his kingdom, is the crux–that is the cross. Crux means cross. Funny that we use the expression, “The crux of the matter.” We use it to indicate what the main thing is, but the saying [...]
We just wrapped up our month-long Missio Dei emphasis, but I want to take one more opportunity to challenge and invite you and your family to come along with us on this journey. Our Missio Dei Offering is our way of investing intentionally into missions financially. We have done a number of things in other [...]
Christmas or Advent? Which one’s better? If you answered “yes,” you got it. Most people in our culture know a lot about Christmas and very little to nothing about Advent, but they actually work together to create something pretty cool. Advent is a decidedly Christian observance (and it’s funny that I’m having to differentiate that from [...]
Let’s leverage Facebook together for the gospel!!! Life is about relationships. The gospel is about relationships. Making disciples is about relationships. Any avenue for relationships is a potential avenue for the gospel and disciple-making. We’re not trying to open up a Facebook discipleship school or anything (though I”m sure someone is doing that, ha), but [...]
We’re nothing if not a gospel community on mission. We were and continue to be shaped by the gospel, as individuals and as a community of believers. And we are a people who extend what we have received. What does that mean? It means we talk to people about Jesus. I came across this post [...]
Live on-mission. Yes. What does that look like? Uh, I’m not quite sure. I think a lot of us feel that way about living lives with gospel-intentionality. I recently read a couple of posts on the Verge Network, giving several simple ways to be missional in everyday life. If you haven’t seen their site, you [...]
We’re good enough, we’re smart enough, and doggonit, people like us. Nope. Actually we’re not good enough, we’re not smart enough, and people don’t like us. And we don’t like people. That’s who we are apart from Jesus according to Titus 3.3. Everything we are is dependent on the Lord. Psalm 44.1-3: 1 O God, [...]
A recent article in TIME Magazine (Mar 12) titled, “10 Ideas That Are Changing Your Life,” listed life-changing idea number four as “The Rise of the Nones.” Author Eric Dunigan points out that a growing number of Americans are seeking a relationship with God but are not finding that in church. Is it just me, [...]
This is part 2 of a 2 part post evaluating our methods. You can read part 1 here. How do we reach the ones who won’t come? In the first post, I asked the question, “How do we reach the one who’s not going to come to our weekend gatherings?” I posed a few other [...]
