The Vision & Report concluding 2024 and looking forward to 2025 is now available for download. Physical copies will be available in the sanctuary on Sunday as well. (The final financial report for 2024 will be available at the end of January 2025, after all expenses are properly reconciled for the year.) Covenant members should… Read More »
Worship Jam
Below are the six songs we have planned for the October 16 jam night. These are not “official” arrangements or anything. They are loose ideas of how the song sound. (And I want to point out that the videos are far from perfect.) We want to really take these songs and do something with them together.… Read More »
The Conceit of Convenience
Technical fields that deal in the past – such as history and archaeology – have a necessary compression that takes place. It is an unavoidable conceit of convenience. (As far as I know, this is a new term I thought of in the car this morning.) What do I mean by conceit of convenience? When an archaeologist… Read More »
Looking Back
It is always insightful to look back and contemplate how we change over time. Back in 2008 I wrote a post about the regionalization of the local church At the time, we were a congregation of about 50. We were in the midst of planning a renovation, and we were financially strapped. There were all… Read More »
How to NOT Sustain a Congregation
This week, I heard news of yet another local congregation in our region that has been going through difficult times – “falling apart” as it was put to me. Every time I hear about something like this, it grieves my heart. I wonder, often out loud, how this could happen and what Jesus must think.… Read More »
Yeah, This Illustrates the Difference
This video illustrates pretty succinctly the difference between Apple and Microsoft’s philosophies. Microsoft is all about specifications and information. Apple is about experience. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUXnJraKM3k]
Why I am not a Mainstream Christian
Rachel Held Evans writes a lot about her spiritual struggles with the evangelical churches of her youth. Recently, she posted her reasons why she is not a part of a mainstream church (the historical but theologically liberal denominations). I share a lot of her frustrations which much of evangelical Christianity (a very loose category for… Read More »
I Was Here Before You, Pastors and Leaders
Yesterday, the carpet installers came to the church facility to lay the carpet on the stage. There’s still one piece to be laid, covering our baptistry, but there is a remarkable difference between what it looked like before and what it looks like now. It is amazing how much a couple of steps and new… Read More »
Next Steps?
Steps are pretty important when it comes to getting from one level of a building to another. Otherwise, we’d be jumping and climbing a lot. Our guys are installing new steps on our stage, and as they work on it, it reminds me that every journey takes steps. If the steps are planned out and… Read More »
The i̶P̶a̶d̶ ̶3̶, i̶P̶a̶d̶ ̶H̶D̶, err, umm New iPad is here
So, today Tim Cook took the stage to announce the arrival of the “new iPad.” Not surprisingly, it features the ultra-HD Retina display, a more powerful processor, 4G LTE connectivity, and a bunch of other goodies. *YAWN* Let me be honest. I own an iPad 2, and it is awesome. Just ask my wife. I carry… Read More »
