Posts Tagged: "Church"

PRAISING KINDNESS post

Thinking About What We Praise Our Kids The Most For

- - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

The picture above shows London Hagebusch carrying a heavy bag of groceries. Just behind her is Haven Wheeler. And a number of other children were there too…

They were helping at our Thanksgiving Grocery Give Stuffing Party – it’s the event the day before the event. We ask people to come set everything up for the big day. The Stuffing Party was noticeably, beautifully diverse – people of all ages and races and socio-economic backgrounds serving together. Perhaps most striking, though, was the image of young children throwing themselves into the task. I mean, they were actually sweating. And they were having a blast.

I’m not sure if we made a big enough of a deal about it.

I think it probably got mentioned a few times – like in church during our “main” services. But I wonder if we made a big enough of a deal about it with the kids.

Please take a minute to watch this… Read More

BEAUTIFUL post

Why I’m Choosing Beautiful As My Word For 2016

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

Each year, for the past several years, I’ve chosen a word or theme or idea to inspire and influence me. A couple of years ago, my word was HUSTLE (not like the illegal sales of drugs or conning people – but the idea of working hard, showing up early, staying late… stuff like that).

Last year my theme was HUMBLE • GENTLE • OTHERS-FOCUSED. I figured if I could grow in these areas, I’d be more like Jesus.

So, for 2016, my word is BEAUTIFUL.

No, I wasn’t inspired by that James Blunt song from 2004. Remember it? YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL.

Funny quick story about that song… Read More

dogpatch video post

Learning From A Brewhouse

- - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

This video shows the focus, determination, attention to detail, and clear view of what is wanted as well as what isn’t for the brewery, restaurant, and bar known as Magnolia Dogwatch.

I find the process to be inspiring and the end result is absolutely jaw-dropping. It makes me wonder: what if the church had this kind of commitment to detail, clarity of vision, and creative energy put into the building of the local church?

I think we have a lot to learn from… Read More

MLK ON SEGREGATION IN CHURCH

Yes. This Is Still An Issue Today. (Segregation In The Church)

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

The headline of an article I read last week shocked me. It announced:

Sunday Morning in America Still Segregated – and That’s OK With Worshipers

It was the findings of a study conducted by LifeWay Research – and here’s what they had to say…

  • Sunday morning remains one of the most segregated hours in American life, with more than 8 in 10 congregations  (86%) made up of one predominant racial group. And most worshipers like it that way.
  • Two-thirds of American churchgoers (67 percent) say their church has done enough to become racially diverse. Less than half think their church should become more diverse.
  • Researchers also found churchgoers who oppose more diversity do so with gusto. A third (33 percent) strongly disagree… Read More
sunday shout outs MLK

Racism & Reconciliation In The Church

- - Guest Posts, Life With God, Uncategorized

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day – and with that theme in mind, here are two posts I think are worth your time…

 

christena cleveland 2015 post

This post, Everything I Know About Racism I Learned in the Church by Christena Cleveland. The opening paragraph reveals one of Christena’s earliest memories of church:

Exasperated, she yelled at the top of her lungs, “Get in here, niggers!!” Being six and all, I had no idea what the word nigger meant; I just knew that it referred to me and… Read More

mega church post

Why I Don’t Want Us To Be A Megachurch. And Why I Do

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

What do you think of when you hear the word mega?

If you’re into the lottery, maybe “Mega Millions,” right? Or if you’re a fan of the Transformer’s franchise, “Megatron” comes to mind.

Mega is a unit prefix in the metric system – denoting a factor of one million.

For example, with digital cameras, we talk about mega pixels: an 8-mega pixel camera can record up to 8 million pixels.

megapixels

Mega is also used to describe the explosive power of nuclear weapons – as “megatons,” and the frequency of electromagnetic radiation – as “megahertzs.”

But what we’re talking about today is church… Read More

pork chop post

Pork Chop Post (or why I am thankful for Pastor Troy Jones)

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

When I was in 8th grade, I started attending this “youth discipleship class” with some of my friends at the church on Tuesday nights.

We met in a classroom that was used during the day by the church’s private Christian school.

Three of my friends in the discipleship class were African-American. Their parents didn’t attend the church.

One night, we all arrived at the church a few minutes early. They were still finishing their dinner.

They were eating pork chops.

Before our class started (and before our Youth Pastor showed up), I noticed the pile of pork chop bones sitting there…

pork chop bones only

And mischievous inspiration struck… Read More

pews post

Considering Who Is In Those Pews

- - Life With God, Uncategorized

In Frederick Buechner‘s book Telling The Truth – The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale, he briefly describes a few people sitting in those pews on a Sunday morning…

“In the front pews the old ladies turn up their hearing aids, and a young lady slips her six year old a Lifesaver and a Magic Marker. A college sophomore home for vacation, who is there because he was dragged there, slumps forward with his chin in his hand. The vice-president of a bank who twice that week has seriously contemplated suicide places his hymnal in the rack.

A pregnant girl feels the life stir inside her.

A high-school math teacher, who for twenty years has managed to keep his homosexuality a secret… Read More