In May’s newsletter I wrote about God’s purpose for our church and how many churches tend toward being a “nice Christian church.” In June’s newsletter I wrote about how Jesus framed His ministry in terms of being Kingdom-focused versus church-focused. While being Kingdom-focused is critical, realize the church is profoundly special to God because it is the Bride of Christ. So, there […]
What People Want From A Church – Part 2
In last month’s newsletter I talked about how people tend to want a “Nice Christian Church.” People want to come to church and have a level of security that their needs are being met. They want acceptable music, a decent sermon and relationships where they can meet some people to meet their people needs. The challenge is this kind of […]
What People Want From A Church – Part 1
Sunday, April 28 marked the end of a 1.5-year journey of “Making Space for Change.” There are a few more details to be figured out – some outside work needs to take place and some cleanup needs are still in order. But now that our building process is coming to a close there are a […]
An Easter Challenge
Let me begin with a question. When I say the word ‘Easter’, what is the first thing that pops in your mind? Here are a couple of options. I need to make sure that I connect with the kids and relatives and figure out where and what the family Easter meal looks like. I so enjoy this […]
Intentional Mentoring
Thirty eight years ago Deanna and I were living in Vancouver, Washington. We attended a Baptist church and it was our first step toward “really jumping in” to the life of a church. It began by working with a group of 5th and 6th grade boys and girls during a Wednesday night ministry. That year the pastor of the church […]
Alignment With Christ
A couple of months ago I started going through a new leadership book. One of the key points of focus was a compelling word: Alignment. An example you’ve heard is, “my car is out of alignment”. If a car veers to the right or the left after you let go of the steering wheel for […]
2019 Is Here!
This past Sunday I introduced a new sermon series called “ALL IN”. I made a statement that attenders at GREFC can have very different views of what it means to be a follower of Christ. That fits with the reality that people have different opinions as to what it means to be “all in” as a […]
The Planning Has Begun!
Black Friday on Thursday followed by the real Black Friday on Friday and if that doesn’t get the juices started along comes Cyber Monday. I am assuming that your email inbox was like mine, filled with sale items that we shouldn’t be able to live without. What do these retailers all have in common? I […]
The Importance of Connection
Guess what? There are 53 days until we are sitting at a Thanksgiving dinner with family and 85 days until a Christmas that is filled with family gatherings, eating meals together, the giving of gifts and the joy of connecting with family and friends. Now take a moment and think what would it be like to have […]
The Easy Road Or The Right Road?
A former governor of MN is known for a famous quote: “Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people’s business.” A few days ago while eating breakfast I heard a similar quote from a […]
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