Hey there. I've been wanting to start a blog to help in the dialogue of what it means to live life to the fullest (John 10:10) and to continue the conversation started this past weekend at Nelson Covenant Church. Apparently my conversation with you struck a chord - so many have talked to me about the message and their own wrestling with what it means to be church - to live in community, to seek to be a disciple or, as we say in the "church" to offer "discipleship".

I don't know all the answers. But I want to talk to you about this. So here goes;

I want you to give me your thoughts about church and community and discipleship. I'm reading a book called "Evangelism Where You Live" by Stephen Pate and Gene Wilkes. It's a lousy title for a book (didn't exactly grab my attention) but it is probably the best book about doing life in the church that I've read in a long time. Here is a sample quote from the book.

"Ron Lewis, our mentor and longtime church consultant, observed, "Process precedes product. What you are doing, and how you are doing it, determines the results." Church outreach programs, age-grouped Bible studies, church-wide evangelistic emphases and events have produced the current results. If churches desire a different end result, the process must change!
Some churches plateau or decline simply because they have become comfortable. They like things the way they are. They have forgotten that the Christian church is not simply to be a safe house for members, where we are to withdraw, keeping any possibility of evil and danger away at all cost. As William Shedd, the nineteenth-century theologian, noted, "A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." A study of Paul's ministry illustrates a life on mission is anything other than channel surfing from a recliner. Ron Martoia quipped, "If the church isn't living on the edge, it's taking up too much space!"" (page 8)

My book is about half underlined. I'll share many more quotes in future blogs. So here are some questions for us to ask:

• Are we taking up too much space?

• How close to the edge are we?

• Have we valued comfort and safety (for ourselves, our kids, our families) rather than mission and passion, and responsibility to fulfill the great commandment and great commission?

If you want to hear the sermon again (Gee, that sounds like fun, Arden!) you can connect here to our website (did you know we had one?) and look for my sermon titled "Community".

www.ecov.org

I want to hear your comments.

Peace,
Arden