Church Life
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Peace with God means conflict with the world, for the goad of the promised future stabs inexorably into the flesh of every unfulfilled present. — Jurgen Moltmann We are people who live “out of place.” We need to live with the hunger for home while we live with excellence here. Read more
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Our staff had custom carved pumpkins for Pastor Appreciation Day! What a great gift! Read more
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New statistics are out. We LOVE statistics. And our survey says… Fewer people are going to church and more people are not “affiliating” with a religion. Shocking. We can wring our hands and declare the loss of the culture or the backslidden state of the Church… OR, we could equip the people we have to… Read more
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Work with me on this one. I don’t ride the bus a lot, but this fall I’ve chosen to use it more. As I reflect on riding on the bus, I think of how the public bus might be a better reflection of what the Church should be, in some ways. There are certainly ways… Read more
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Brian has chronicled some very interesting commentaries of late regarding the flight from evangelicalism. It is interesting reading. He DOES mention the Assemblies of God, and tries to remain kind. But, he wonders what we do with all our time once the emotionalism is gone. First of all, that is a valid question in many… Read more
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“Missional” has been a buzz word for so many years it’s become a bit of a buzz kill. In some respects, the use of the word seems to me to be another way to create a conference and a nice roster of speakers. But there are leaders doing “missional” work and seeing what the Spirit… Read more
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Okay, it won’t be “post” because this thing won’t go away for awhile. But these are my thoughts. As believers, we have gone from “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and us” to shouting so loudly at each other we can no longer hear the Holy Spirit, let alone each other. Not only are… Read more
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It doesn’t happen nearly as often these days, but it JUST happened, so I am thinking of what I call “hit and run” prophecies. Sometimes it’s an “anonymous” letter sent to the church. Occassionally, like this time, it’s a phone call left on the church voicemail. It’s called in at night when they know no… Read more
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This quote is powerful. Sometimes we want the glory without the cost that it takes to gain that glory. We, as Westerners, certainly are guilty of that. ”You Pentecostals claim you want be be the apostolic church? The apostolic church was the persecuted church. Early Christians were martyred by their government, they were reviled in… Read more
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We have been decrying the decline of the “liberals.” Alternately, there has been the call for the end of “conservatives.” All in the Church. Not even in politics! Now, John Ortberg has us wringing our hands about evangelicals again. Not really. I just wanted to be sensational in my headline. This is a well-thought out… Read more
Apprentice 2 Jesus 