Christmas is my favorite holiday by far. I love the music!! I love spending time with family and friends and having a break from the routine. I love people thinking about Christ. I love how people are motivated to reach out at this time of year.
But how much would I love Christmas if my wife or child had died during December? If I were alone without family or…
Why is every one today talking about community? Because it is so rare in American culture.
America has been built around the concept of the rugged, self-sufficient, pull yourselves up by your bootstraps, individual. Immigrants came over to the US, leaving family behind--and they didn't even have a pony! (That is for the Sienfeld fans) Americans threw off oppressive governments and oppressive church leaders (kings and bishops). The Bill of Rights was added to…
Today I walked into the Starbucks that I frequent most at 380 and 75 in McKinney, TX. There the Batista, Rowdy (see above picture), asked me how my weekend was.
In keeping with my sermon on being a witness from John 1, I talked about what I spoke on on Sunday. I also told Rowdy…
In Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church, author Kenda Creasy Dean speaks of the importance of "liminal" experiences. Liminal experiences are experiences in which we are out of our element--disorienting experiences. It is the time in the desert, in a culture out of our own, in a situation never faced before (loss of job, child,…Continue
(Gainesville State players douse head coach Mark Williams in celebration.)
Many people get the mistaken idea that the only way to be missional is to plant a church in a crime ridden, poverty-stricken area. All churches should be missional, including suburban churches! I grew up in suburbia, so I know of the brokenness there--lack of community/relationships, lack of…
As I am reading through Almost Christian, What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church, I want to share with you some thoughts on the contents. In yesterday's post, I wrote how this book seeks to interpret the data from a massive study that was done of American teenagers and their faith.
What was discovered through this study was that most teens are learning from their parents and their churches that Christianity is simply about helping people become…
Ministers, Christian authors, academics, and cultural observers have been noting for some time the nominal nature of Christianity in the US. Not only do far more people claim to be Christians than those who "attend church," but those who do attend often report little daily awareness of God and few spiritual practices outside of the official church times.
Few tithe. Few volunteer. Few regularly read their Bibles. Few regularly have family…
Here is an article on "Statistics about Christian Divorce Rates" by sociologist and Christian author Bradley R. E. Wright, Ph.D., that I have reposted here. I have started reading Wright's work, and I have a lot of confidence in it. I'll post a review soon of his book,… Continue
Added by James Nored on November 27, 2010 at 2:00pm —
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Hello all. I hope that you are having a great Thanksgiving! Becki and I invited four different families to join us for Thanksgiving that we thought might not have a place to go. One family had a sick child, another had a sick dog, another did have family to get together with, and the last would have come except that we asked them after they had bought all of their food.
So, we did try to follow Christ's teachings about inviting people when we have a…
You may recall some recent posts that I had on Tonya Fisher and Orlando (see picture above). Tonya was recently released from prison. She came through our clothes closet, and the church provided clothing and furniture for her. Orlando is a mechanic who is out of work. He recently came through our food pantry.
I could tell with both Tonya and Orlando that they had good hearts, and we prayed with them when they came…
The above video shows the persecution that Christians face around the world for their faith. We need to especially pray for those Christians who are working in Muslim countries, as their lives are in danger.
While we in America do not face death for our faith, we should nevertheless know that if we are seeking to do God's will, we will face persecution. Jesus said this to his disciples:11…Continue
Added by James Nored on November 22, 2010 at 10:00am —
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I wanted to share with you this Thanksgiving Proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln after the horrors of the Civil War. Notice how throughout this address, Lincoln continually credits the blessings of the nation to the “providence of Almighty God.” He concludes by saying, “nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.” As we as a nation, as a church, and in our families think about our blessings, let us remember that these…Continue
So much of our prayers are about asking God to give us something. And that is okay. We should go to God with our hopes, dreams, and desires.
But isn't interesting how Jesus, when teaching his disciples how to prayer, says simply, "Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debt as we have forgiven our debtors. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
Today, a woman named Tonya Fisher (pictured above) came into the church office. Tanya shared her story with me, and as she did, you could tell that she has a good heart.
Tanya went to jail for 5 years from hanging out with the wrong crowd. She was recently released from jail, and she is now looking to start her life over with her 15 year old daughter who goes to McKinney Boyd High School. She also has…
I must confess--Christmas is my favorite holiday. I went and did a bit of shopping today with Becki, and there I saw the Christmas items already out.
I used to get irritated when people would skip Thanksgiving and start Christmas early. But, as I have grown to love Christmas more and more, I think, why not? I stood enchanted in front of a…
I know that many people are looking for practical ways to be missional in their daily lives. It is often difficult to begin a spiritual conversation with people whom we come into contact with. One of the best ways that I have found to both impact people and open up conversations is to find simple ways to bless their lives.…
In North American culture we have long tried to take people who gather for worship and then divide them up into small groups. With some notable exceptions in a few churches, this has not worked all that well. In most churches, there are many more involved in worship than in small groups.
Why is this a problem? Because it is usually only in smaller communities that true, lasting transformation takes place. I am not denying the power…
In the book, The American Church in Crisis, written by David T. Olson, reports that actual church attendance in the US is 16.5% (2010), and that this will drop to 14.7% by 2020. In light of this, Olson recommends these changes.
Ten Necessary Changes for the American Church to Have a Bright Future
A young man came into our office today named Orlando Fuller. He lost his job as a mechanic five months ago and is about to run out of unemployment insurance. So, while he struggled a bit in seeking out help, he said that he decided to swallow his pride and he came to us asking for food. The word is out in the community that High Pointe helps people who are hungry through our food pantry ministry.
In healing people in his ministry, Jesus was binding up the brokenness in their lives. The missional church seeks to also provide ministries of healing and bind up the brokenness in people's lives today. For many in the US, this area of brokenness is materialism, which is the…
"Father in the name of Jesus Christ restore mobility back too her life restore ordor back and finally This will make a Differance in her hold life Give her you father for my sister Kishinev Davis and my sister tanksley Dovie. Amen"
