ONE

“One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do
Two can be as bad as one
It’s the loneliest number since the number one.”

But what if it isn’t. What if Three Dog Night is wrong and that one is not the loneliest number.

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Eagerly Desire Spiritual Gifts

Jesus himself has given gifts to his people to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, to train and build up the church for acts of service. Jesus gave all of these gifts through the Holy Spirit so that the church would reach unity in the faith and become mature in the fullness of Jesus (Eph 4). The problem is that the church has mostly adopted and been comfortable with three out of five of these gifts. But in order to revive our fellowship and revive our communities, we must embrace them all.

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Camping: The Holy Spirit in Community

My family and I recently went on our first camping trip in Colorado. Really, it was our first ever family campout. My kids loved it! One of the main reasons they loved it was because we went with friends. Honestly, if we had not been invited to go with them we probably wouldn’t have done it. But since we did we experienced something beautiful and created a lasting memory, one our family may never forget.

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Rally to Jesus

“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat…” Isaiah 11:6. Our world has become more globalized and yet more tribalized at the same time. We are more connected and growing more dependent on each other and yet we are becoming increasingly more individualized and alone. We are more connected than we have ever been and yet more at odds with each other. But there is another way.

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The Better Gift: Bigger Barns church of Christ

There is a reason why there is not a Bigger Barns church of Christ (if you know of one, let me know). With Jesus as the head of the church and we as the bride. He gave himself up for her (us) to present her (us) radiant and spotless. As Jesus’ bride, we are to be as generous as Jesus. We share not only the gospel but our very lives. Sharing our lives means sharing our possessions. We don’t store up treasures for ourselves, we store up treasures for God. 

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The Better Gift: Paul’s Life Verse

In my living room there is a piece of scripture art that a friend made for me. It reads,  “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:15). It’s my life verse. It reminds me that I no longer live for myself but for Jesus who died and defeated death for all.

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Worship Full: A Vision for Gathered Worship

My heart is being drawn to worship. I believe that worship is not confined to a specific time and place like a worship service. Worship is offering up our bodies as living sacrifices to a God who is described as a consuming and refining fire. Yet, I also believe that the gathered people of God demonstrate through both praises and lamentations their love for God and their need for God. The gathered church comes together to meet with God and be changed. I call this being Worship Full.

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Good News: Believe It

“We eat, we drink, the next day we die,” and that’s all there is to it. But don’t fool yourselves. Don’t let yourselves be poisoned by this anti-resurrection loose talk. “Bad company ruins good manners.” – 1 Cor 15:32-33 (MSG Bible). I believe these words are fitting for our society’s current state as we are surrounded by bad news, fake news, moral outrage, hot topics, and hot takes. Our hearts are pulled into perpetual fear anticipating the next big failure, with a limited view of possible solutions. It is no wonder politics (based on fear, doomsday rhetoric, and outrage) are our religion and those in office are our saviors.

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Five Reasons a Christmas Eve Service Reaches the Unchurched

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Post copied from ThomRainer.com 

It is likely the single day of the year more unchurched decide to visit a church.

It is an incredible opportunity for most congregations.

While Easter is the day most churchgoers decide to show up at the same time, Christmas Eve is indeed prime time for the unchurched. Why is that? Here are five key reasons: Continue reading “Five Reasons a Christmas Eve Service Reaches the Unchurched”