Post written by Brandon Adent

Some years ago, I had a conversation with a friend. I think he was in his mid-late 40s, and I in my early 20s. At the time, I was quite free-spirited in my thinking. I had no emotional attachment, I thought, no reason to stay in Bellingham. I’d moved from the Portland, OR area and had no intention of returning. I’d get my degree and chase whatever dream I had when I was done.

I’d do what I came to do, and move on.

As I explained this, my friend looked at me and said, “Save yourself the trouble. I’ve been a lot of places, and this is the place to be.”

I half chuckled. Sure. Whatever.

But now, seven years later, I’m still here. And Bellingham is still growing on me.

Redeemer Church is a community of people from a variety of backgrounds, with a variety of preferences. Some of us live in Lynden, or out in the county. Others would prefer not to wake to the smell of cow manure (kidding... love you, Lynden!) Here's two of many reasons that Bellingham is really, really awesome.

The People

I often joke that in Bellingham, 5-10 minutes late is still on time. This unspoken rule has definitely saved my tofu a number of times.

Our slogan is “The City of Subdued Excitement”. People tend to be mellow, friendly, and perhaps a bit private. But once you start developing friendships and make connections in the community, you see people you know everywhere, and you realize how small Bellingham is for being 80,000 people large, in addition to the 13,000 students that call Bellingham home during the academic year while attending Western Washington University.

A lot of people are into biking, hiking, rock climbing, mountaineering, skiing, boating, or one of a number of other outdoor activities due to our incredible location, and many people are into sustainable living and trying to be good stewards of the planet.

Over all, Bellingham is full of chill, awesome people. Honestly, if the people weren't as cool as they are, there's not a whole lot that could compensate.

The Location

Bellingham is basically close to everything.

The beautiful San Juan Islands are only a ferry ride away.

Mountain escapes are easy, if you’re into that sort of thing; less than an hour to the national forest and Mt Baker Ski Area, and about two hours to the North Cascades National Park. The Canadian Coast Range is about two hours to the north, and Whistler Ski Resort just over a three hour drive away.

And that’s travel time relative to what? The ocean. Yes. Beach to mountains in about an hour.

Maybe the mountains aren’t your thing? There’s parks everywhere, and trails connecting them. There’s lots of community events like Ski To Sea, movies on the Fairhaven green, Downtown Sounds, minor league baseball games, First Friday Art Walks, and so much more. We’re also driving within an hour and a half from Seattle to the south and Vancouver, BC to the north.

Whatever environment you’re into, you’re not far from it in Bellingham. Unless, I guess, you want coconuts and palm trees... and hundred degree heat... yeah. We don't have those. But there's nothing like a PNW summer.

There's A Lot To Love

There’s a lot to love about Bellingham. I asked our community group what they loved about the place we live, and here’s what they had to say.

• Most of all, I love the community.
• I love Bellingham because I feel like it has the amenities of a city with the feel of a small town.
• I love the good schools.
• I love the mountains and the lakes and the streams and rivers and oceans.
• I love that we do progressive (annoying) things like banning plastic bags and having a thousand different garbage can options.
• I love the focus on sustainability and how bike friendly the city is.
• I love all the events put on by the city that encourage us to love Bellingham and get to know one another.
• It’s not pretentious.
• I love the non-for profits that focus on making our community a better place.
• I love the many churches that I see come together for events and that make a difference in our community.
• There is a large focus on loving the city and those in it.

Redeemer Church is a community of people who love Jesus, love where we live, and want to see Him glorified in our lives as we interact with the people in our city. If you have lived here for awhile, take a second and reflect on why you love it here.

If you’re moving to the area, have no fear! We trust that you’ll at the very least find it a beautiful place filled with friendly people.

Evolution Of A Missional Community Vision: Are you allowed to change your missional community vision? Not only are you allowed, but your missional community vision should change if you are truly seeking to follow God.

How Do I Describe My Missional Community To Others: When your co-worker or your neighbor asks you what you’re doing tonight, how do you answer when you’re gathering with your missional community/community group/life group/city group/small group unicorn?

When Dad Doesn't Disciple The Kids: Three kinds of “single moms” exist in the church: the literal single mom who is raising children on her own, the mom whose husband is an unbeliever, and the mom whose husband professes belief but does not partner in the spiritual nurture of the family. For the true single mom and the mom married to an unbeliever, the task is clear: train your children in the Lord because no one else will. For the wife of the believing father guilty of spiritual absenteeism, the lines are blurry. She lives in the tension between wanting to honor her spouse and wanting to spiritually equip her children. All three “single moms” desperately need the support of the church, but in this post I want to focus specifically on the third mom, a woman trapped in a dilemma.

6 Costs To Real Friendships: Do you know how your “friends” are doing? How their hearts are? The spiritual condition of their soul? If we have no idea how our “friend” is doing in their walk with God, what difficult times they are going through, or the sins they struggling with, we have a superficial acquaintance, not a friendship. Maybe friendships are in low supply these days because of the cost of being a friend. Let’s take a moment to count the cost of friendship.

Sin Is Worse Than Hell: For some, the doctrine of everlasting punishment in hell feels like a divine overreaction. Take Clark Pinnock as an example: “How can Christians possibly project a deity of such cruelty and vindictiveness whose ways include inflicting everlasting torture upon his creatures, however sinful they may have been?”

The Most Honest Atheist In The World: What a refreshing blast of humble and honest air! You cannot but admire such a sincere, transparent, and honorable atheist. But the article ends on a painfully sad note, which may partly explain Sartwell’s atheism, and maybe even his humility.

70 Years Ago Today: The Conversion Of J.I. Packer: Packer states simply, “I had given my life to Christ.” He also recounts, “When I went out of the church I knew I was a Christian.” Packer went back to his room at Corpus Christi and wrote his parents to tell them what had happened. More than half a century later, Packer could attest regarding his conversion that “I remember the experience as if it were yesterday.”

photo credit: Ian Sane via photopin cc

Gospel communities are built on the truth of the gospel that saves and restores people to God and brings them into His family as a group of people commissioned by King Jesus to go into the entire world and make disciples of all nations—starting right in our own city and neighborhoods as GCs on mission for Jesus. Gospel Communities is a place where people grow as disciples of Jesus, while growing to make disciples of Jesus. 

We are doing a mini blog series on Gospel Communities (Theological Foundation, GC for an Individual, GC for a Family, GC for a church) 

Mini Blog Series:

• Theological Foundation: The Church Church Not On Sunday
• GC for an Individual: 6 Ways Gospel Communities Are Helpful For Individuals 
• GC for a Family (2 Blog Posts): In Sickness And In Health, Desperation And The Love Of Discipleship Groups; How Is A Gospel Community A Safe Place For My Family?
• GC for a Church: 

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The Following Blog Post is from Ariel Bovat 

How Are Gospel Communities For A Family?

I hate that my first reaction, my first response, my default mode is not what it's supposed to be as a redeemed woman in Christ.

Let me explain.

The toll of living isolated lives for years with no like minded Christian fellowship, hubby's transfer being approved, selling a house, moving across 6 states over 7 days, living in temporary housing for 2 months, a drastic change in weather, looking for a house, buying a house, the overwhelming relief of finding an awesome church, all of this while trying to keep a somewhat structured  home school schedule finally took a toll on my body and my mind. 

I WAS TIRED!! EMOTIONALLY. MENTALLY. PHYSICALLY. PSYCHOLOGICALLY.

ALL OF ME WAS TIRED. 

My body showed it by getting sick with a re-occurring sickness that 3 rounds of antibiotics over 2 months was not touching. I don't do well while on antibiotics. I don't do well while I am sick. I took it out on the people around me and it was not good. 

Funny thing about getting sick. I expect to be served. I expect...period. 

I don't know if its the lack of sympathy or empathy I received as a child growing up, or the ugly feminist culture that I bought into in my twenties, or just plain good old fashioned sin, what ever the cause of my entitlement was, I felt it deep down inside of my person. I feel entitled when I am not feeling well. I expect it. I demand it even ( i know...it is horrible to even admit)

When I am not served when I am sick,  I get angry. 

When I am not served when I am sick,  I get hurt. 

When I am not served when I am sick,  I get bitter.

I shut down mentally and can't think straight. I operate in pity-party mode all the time. 

I am like a resounding gong. (1 Corinthians 13:1) In my bitterness, in my resentment, in my anger, I cause those around me to sin in reaction to my own sin. 

I know, I cannot control when others sin against me. However, when I am faced with the reality that MY sin causes others to sin, it breaks me into a billion little pieces. 

In steps the reality that God did not create us to live isolated Christian lives. 

It has been years.....eons even, since my family has had the love and support from Bible believing people. Sure, we have had Christian friends in our lives but for some reason, Paul and I felt like something was missing in our relationship with Christian friends. We just didn't know what it was.

Even though we had no idea what that something was, both my husband and I desperately wanted that something, yet had no earthly idea what it would even look like.  

We have been attending our new church since mid November and we absolutely love the preaching. They have, what I have always known as, small groups, but at our new church they call these groups Gospel Communities. They also have a smaller set up that they call discipleship groups. These discipleship groups are a group of people, broken down from the larger Gospel Community group, that meets together regularly to discuss the sermon from the previous Sunday or just discuss and share life stuff. Paul meets with the men's discipleship group every Wednesday morning at 5:30 am at a local coffee house. I meet with the women's discipleship group every Thursday evening at the same coffee shop.

After each session, Paul and I come home really refreshed and encouraged. It's a beautiful thing to experience. There are no other words to describe it.

Even though I have only been attending my discipleship group a short time, there is something about my group that makes me feel safe. I love that when a question or topic is posed, there is great reflective encouraging conversation and no condemnation. 

At my previous group meeting, I shared with the ladies that Paul and I could use some prayer. The toll of moving, sickness and all that comes with it had worn a hole in our communication and it was showing almost daily. It came to a head this past Sunday after an awesome sermon on the 6th commandment, "do not murder" was preached. Ironic huh? 

You can listen to that sermon here. Scroll down to Deuteronomy 5:6, 17 Being Christian: The Meaning of Life

Basically, Paul and I realized we were murdering each other with our thoughts and our words. It was not pretty. I cannot speak for him, but for me, the toll of dealing with my sickness was heavy. It was a heavy burden and I was not carrying it well. I wanted to be comforted in my sickness. I wanted to be served in my sickness. I was tired of being sick. I wanted to be well. I was tired of dealing with physical pain in my body.

I prayed to God for healing so that I could get back to "normal".  It was not happening. 

I had been trying to figure out, through my many conversations with God, why He was not making me better. I was trying to figure out, what I was supposed to be learning about myself through my sickness. I was stumped and my sin and selfishness blinded me.

My depleted emotional capacity to figure it out had me spent. Really Spent! 

In a moment of sheer desperation, I reached out and shared my struggles with a new friend from my discipleship group. (Thank you Janine) I wanted to reach out to her most of that afternoon, but my pride would not have it. I didn't want to seem like I was one of those "needy" chicks. I didn't want to give the impression that Paul and I didn't have it all together all the time. I didn't want to give the impression that we needed help. We were "new" at the church for heavens sake.  

Paul and I read our Bibles daily, pray daily, teach our children the Bible daily, go to church regularly, tithe regularly, and we still didn't have it all together and that was embarrassing.

I felt that the Holy Spirit was telling me to share my struggles, but my pride fought it desperately all afternoon. 

Finally about 8:30 pm, I contacted her and let her know what was going on. Instead of blowing me off with a superficial "we will pray for you", she told her husband and her husband offered to come to our house and pray/talk with us. I was stunned. Humbled.

I immediately started to believe a lie that I had become a burden and I shouldn't want to burden them any longer. To top it off, we were dealing with the biggest, windiest snow storm I had ever seen. I surely did not want this man, my new friend's husband, to have an accident on account of me and my hubby having communication issues. They persisted. I asked Paul. Paul agreed and we conceded to him coming over to pray/talk with us. He is also a part of Paul's discipleship group and I am thankful that my hubby did not have an issue with pride and how he would be perceived. My hubby's humility in allowing another guy to come pray and talk with us helped me with my own personal pride. 

Let me stress how humbling this was for us. We had been accustomed to dealing with personal and private issues on our own for so long, we had forgotten what it felt like to share our struggles with others. We were walking into foreign territory. It was scary. 

He showed up at our house about 10:00 pm. He stayed until almost midnight. He prayed for us. He talked with us. He prayed again. 

Here is what he did and did not do-

1. He didn't condemn us. 
2. He didn't side with either one of us. 
3. He told us what we needed to hear
4. He reminded us of things we already knew but needed desperately to hear again because we had forgotten.
5. He told us some "new things" we had never heard before that rocked the world of both Paul and I. (Later Paul told me what rocked him and I told Paul what rocked me...and it was GOOD)

When he left, the hubby and I knew something changed. We went to bed and I woke up at 5:30 a.m. while Paul was getting ready for work and we talked. We talked and talked and talked some more. He called in to take a day off from work and we talked the entire morning.

Whatever it was that happened, we knew things were different. I can't write about what changed in my hubby, but I can write about what changed in me. 

I came to the stark reality that in my sickness, I was not being Christ like at all. I was allowing the pain in my body to dictate how I treated people, which included my husband. I felt justified in treating him harshly because I was in pain. I felt owed. 

I would cry out to God to take away the pain and sickness because I wanted to go back to being the "selfless sacrificial loving wife and mother" that I thought I was. God showed me that in my pain and sickness the reality was that I was far from that "selfless, sacrificial loving wife and mother".

I used to believe that the marriage vows "in sickness and in health" meant that when I got sick, I needed to be cared for and doted on. When I was not cared for and doted on, I became bitter, angry and resentful. 

Through the conviction of the Holy Spirit I NOW believe that "in sickness and in health" means that I need to love my husband, my children, and anyone else, in a way that is Christ honoring, despite whether or not I am sick or healthy. 

I think back to when Christ was suffering and dying on the cross. He looked down and told John to look after his mother. He continued to serve her and love her in the middle of his excruciating physical pain and suffering. He served in spite of His pain. He served in spite of His suffering. 

I realized that I cannot, in my own strength, serve offers when I am suffering. However, because Christ has served others in His suffering, I am given Christ's strength to do what in my own strength I am unable to do. 

The words to the famous hymn, Amazing Grace, are given fresh meaning to me. Why in the world would my Savior choose to save me is a mystery. I seem to be more of a mess than I thought I was. 

But Ephesians 2:8 tells me: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

I am thankful beyond words that my salvation is a gift. He saved me in spite of my messy, prideful, angry, bitter, resentful, broken sinful heart. I am thankful that my Savior continues to show me who I am and then gives me the power and the strength to be better....to be more like Him. 

I will continue to pray that I grow in my ability to love and serve others, even when I am in pain or sick. I will continue to repent when I don't do it. 

We are not commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves, only when we feel like it, or when we are healthy. We are commanded to love them always, despite our circumstances. 

I am thankful for my discipleship group. I am thankful for our new church that equips believers to handle the messy situations of life in marriage. I am thankful for Spirit led, Spirit filled believers who go whenever help is needed and do not pass judgment or condemnation, but instead show love and support and encourage others to walk firmly in the life we are called. I am thankful for the Holy Spirit reminding me and my hubby who we are in Christ.  

"He lived a life I can not live and died a death I clearly deserve"!!! 

photo credit: josemanuelerre via photopin cc

Gospel communities are built on the truth of the gospel. The truth that the gospel truly saves and restores people to God and brings them into God's family. Gospel Communities are a place where people grow as disciples of Jesus, while growing to make disciples of Jesus. 

We are doing a mini blog series on Gospel Communities, (Theological Foundation, GC for an Individual, GC for a Family, GC for a church) to better educate anyone to why we believe GC's are vitally important for anyone and everyone.

Mini Blog Series:

• Theological Foundation: The Church Church Not On Sunday
• GC for an Individual: 6 Ways Gospel Communities Are Helpful For Individuals 
• GC for a Family (2 Blog Posts): In Sickness And In Health, Desperation And The Love Of Discipleship Groups; How Is A Gospel Community A Safe Place For My Family? (Coming Soon)
• GC for a Church: (Coming Soon)

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How are Gospel Communities Helpful To An Individual?

Gospel Communities are more then a small group or bible study or a weekly hangout. Gospel Communities are one of the primary places for community, discipleship, mission and worship to happen in everyday life. At Redeemer Church we believe Gospel Communities are important to someone's growth as a Christian and here is our 6 reasons why.

I met Jesus about 10 years ago, and it was through the relationships I built with a few Christians that help cultivate the relationship I have with Jesus today. But it was through these relationships with Christians that taught me why being apart of a family was so important. 

1. Pushed To Grow Deeper In Love With Jesus

When I first came to know Jesus, my first thought was that all my questions and issues would be answered. That however is not the life of a Christian, questions are still constant and our personal issues still happen all the time. But the great part about being in a community of believers is that I was pushed to grow deeper in my understanding of the gospel and pursue my relationship with Jesus.

True discipleship and growth happens when you're around other people. I would look around the community I was a part of and see men and women that would grow deeper in love with Jesus everyday. It wasn't that they figured out something new and exciting that I didn't already know, it was just that their relationship with Christ was growing daily by the time they spent with Him. When you're in a community and you see people growing personally closer to Jesus, it pushes you to pursue your own relationship with Jesus Christ.

2. I Can't Hide My Sin

Over the years I learned that sin is fun, but it isn't helpful at all. Sin destroys friendships, relationships and personally isolates yourself from others that can help you fight against sin. And it is sin that ultimately separates us from God. Sin always over promises but always under delivers on its promises. 

When you are in community you cannot hide your sin. Those who share life with you get to know your struggles and ungodly desires, and when you want to isolate yourself to hide your sinful behavior it is the community that is called to pursue you, pray for you and call you into repentance. 

3. I'm Able To Learn How To Serve Others Better

Paul says in Philippians 2:3, "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." As a young man, I read this and struggled to know how I could do what Paul calls Christians to count others more significant than ourselves. Then I realized later on in life that only when Christians realize where their identity truly lies, only then can they humbly count others more significant than themselves. 

In a community I witnessed people constantly serving one another to bless one another and it wasn't for any other reason then just blessing one another. I wanted to grow in blessing others, because I saw the great impact this type of care did for a community of people. In a Gospel Community, you learn that your community is a place to bless others and also know that you will be blessed.

4. I'm A Part Of A Family

Have you noticed within our culture that there are a lot of individuals trying to live life by "the beat of their own drum?" What I mean is that our culture has done a terrible job at training us to believe that we are more significant then we really are and that our identity as a human being is based off a popularity contest we all seem to be a part of. 

When I joined a Gospel Community, I realized that these people were not just people I saw once a week but these people were a family to me. Through this community I was taught how to truly be a part of a family. Families see each other often, they talk to one another often, they care for one another often, and last but not least families don't allow individuals to fall away from community ever, they will pursue that person because they care and love them. 

5. I Can Learn From Others

Have you ever had a moment in your life where you thought you knew more then most people? I know for a long time I would always think to myself how much more I know about life then the next person. But as I grew in my knowledge as a Christian I realized that the life that Jesus calls me to is a life of repentance and learning. Learning from my short comings and learning from just everyday moments in my life and from those around me.

We each individually are very different. We experience things in life differently. This is the same within a Gospel Community. Community has so many different elements to it that we all seem to enjoy uniquely. As an individual I am able to see others enjoy community differently and learn from others experiences. When people within my community get excited about something Jesus is teaching them, I am able to learn from their experience. We are all constantly learning and continuing to grow as Christ followers, so being in community there is a wonderful opportunity to learn from others and grow as a Christian.

6. Being Missional Is Not Something I Do, But Who I Am

Did you know Christians have a mission statement from God himself? Read Matthew 28:18-20 and you will see this mission statement. Those who are found in Christ now have a new identity, an identity that does not come from within ourselves but an identity that comes from God Himself. From this identity we are called as followers of Christ to live in a way that points to Jesus. We are called to be in our world as showing off the wonderful truth of Jesus Christ.

Here is a quote from a church in Tacoma about being missionaries: "In, John 20:21-22, Jesus commissioned His disciples to go before He ascended to the Father.  Jesus was sent to show off the Father. He did the job flawlessly.  He perfectly showed the love of the Father, inaugurated His kingdom by caring for the “least of these”, and demonstrated the Spirit’s power by the proclamation of His kingship. Now, Jesus continues to reveal God to the world, but He is doing so through His people by the Spirit’s power.  - Soma Blog"

You can see clearly that being on mission is not something we go and do from time to time but being on mission is just who we are. We live out our identity in Jesus through everyday interactions with this world pointing to the savior of the world.

Conclusion

So now you can see why Gospel Communities are so helpful for an individual. The whole reason we call people to be apart of a GC is because we believe that these groups will help people grow more like Christ and help others meet Christ. If you are an individual I recommend you get into one, you don't know what you're missing until you try. 

photo credit: A_E_P via photopin cc

 

The Church 24/7:

Being in community isn't about going to an event each week, it is about life on life intentional discipleship with one another. But if you don't understand the gospel and its implications then joining a community will feel more like a duty than an enriching privilege.  

The Gospel:

“In its simplest form, the gospel is God’s reconciling work in Christ – that through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, God is making all things new both personally for those who repent and believe, and cosmically as He redeems culture and creation from its subjection to futility.” - Matt Chandler

This gospel (good news) is the only truth that brings us together as Christians, it is the only truth that we gather around together, it is the only truth that calls us to give our lives for. The gospel is the objective reality that Jesus Christ came, He lived perfectly, He died our death and He rose from the grave to show off who He said he is. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and it is because of this glorious gospel that we can even call ourselves Christians.

You see first and for most, the gospel is not primarily about you but it is about God and what he is doing to restore the world back to himself. It is because of the beautiful gospel that we are able to rightly view the world, ourselves and also the communities that we are apart of.

Love For God Drives The Love For People:

Loving God is not an obligation that we have, for through the work of the gospel we grow by grace more in love with God through the empowering of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit's job is to teach, train, transform us into the things of Christ. "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority...He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you (John 16:13-14)." Our love for God comes from God, our love for others comes from God. It is God's purpose to produce in His children genuine love, love that is not fleeting or fake but love that is true and everlasting. 

As fallen humans we can not truly orchestrate within ourselves a love for God and a love for others. If you are personally trying to love God out of your own obedience and not through the perfect obedience Christ worked on your behalf, you will truly be crushed. "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9)." Our love for God and love for others must be in response to God's grace in Jesus Christ. We cannot produce pure love for God and others, this type of pure love only comes from God and His desire is to change us to love like He loves us. 

Gospel Driven Community:

If you are a Christian, being a part of a community is biblical. How they look may vary by location, but over all God knows that we need community, and that is one of the reasons God orchestrated the church to come about. The Author wrote to the Hebrews, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (Hebrews 10:24-25)." In this passage the author is addressing Christians and he is stating that as Christians we should not neglect meeting together regularly because we are put in community to encourage and strengthen one another.

Sinclair Ferguson says it well about the importance of community, "We are not saved individually and then choose to join the church as if it were some club or support group. Christ died for his people and we are saved when by faith we become part of the people for whom Christ died." The reason we constantly emphasize people to join a Gospel Community is because we truly believe that as Christians we were saved into a community. Community is where our discipleship in Jesus is worked out. Community is a place of safety, a place to share life together, a place to grow more in love with God and people.

The gospel has restored us to God and made us His sons and daughters, heirs to God and fellow heirs with Christ. Through the work of Jesus in the gospel, we get to be devoted to one another as family because Jesus devoted Himself to us. As a family of people saved by Jesus, Jesus now sends us on mission, just as Jesus was sent by the Father but we get to be sent on mission together and not alone. Gospel communities are built on the truth of the gospel that saves and restores people to God and brings them into His family as group of people commissioned by King Jesus to go into the entire world and make disciples of all nations—starting right in our own city and neighborhoods as GCs on mission for Jesus. Gospel Communities is a place where people grow as disciples of Jesus, while growing to make disciples of Jesus. 

Ultimately, this is why we desire for people to join Gospel Communities: to see God work in and through the community of people for His glory and our joy. 

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Weekly Once-Over (10.03.13):

Riot Evangelism: We live in a day when everyone is okay with your Christian faith as long as you keep it private. But the Apostles in Acts do the opposite, offending many with their public testimony about Jesus. Welcome to riot evangelism.

Tremble At The Word: Scripture gets examined like it’s behind glass and you need to be covered in sterile clothing with gloves to approach it. The word gets treated as something solely to be studied and examined for its contents and data to be reported, rather than something to be encountered which actually reads you better than you read it.

20 Quotes from Walking with God through Paid and Suffering: Tim Keller has written one of the year’s most important books (a line I seem to recite annually). His newest — Walking with God through Pain and Suffering — is a wise, Christ-centered, comforting book for readers who hurt, and offers counsel to readers who anticipate future suffering. It’s a book for everyone, and it releases tomorrow from Dutton. To mark its arrival, I pulled my favorite quotes from the book and narrowed the list down to my top 20.

How To Start Managing Your Time Better Beginning Today: You know the frustration. You put in a full day. You worked hard. But you didn’t even touch that important project. You’ve been meaning to. You intended to do it. It was first on your list. But the message isn’t written. The strategic plan isn’t done. The analysis that could turn your organization around didn’t even get started. All of this despite the fact that you stayed late and showed up at home tired and barely in time for dinner. Okay, you missed dinner. So why is that? Here’s an insight I hope can make a significant difference not only to your productivity at work, but to your life.

Five Reasons People Aren't Volunteering At Your Church: Churches everywhere need to mobilize more volunteers to get ministry done.  But before you start signing people up and filling slots, it might be helpful to take a look at why people are NOT volunteering. Here are FIVE REASONS people might not be volunteering at your church.

Am I Still Crazy Busy?: As I’ve done interviews, engaged in conversations, and read a few reviews about Crazy Busy, one on the recurring questions is whether I am actually any less crazy busy after writing the book?

"Mission is not a strategy we adopt, but a culture we nurture and the very air we breathe as the people of God." @Porterbrook

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