The faith, simplicity, honesty and spontaneity of a child’s prayers should be a great example for all of us. But also, often a bit of humor, at least to us as the listener/reader. Art Linkletter would have loved the following examples from a 4 year old boy in San Diego.
Background: For the last two years I have been working with Green Valley Church in San Diego, CA. They have been...
I grew up in the Free Church. We lived 2 blocks from Crystal Evangelical Free Church when it was in Crystal, Minnesota. I have memories of walking to church once in awhile and trying not to get dust on my pretty, Sunday shoes. Youth group and FCYF (Free Church Youth Fellowship) activities were the center of my social life in junior high and high school. My husband and I joined our local...
[In celebration of the completion of the EFCA History wall at the EFCA national office, we will re-post previous blog posts regarding the project. PLEASE stop in and see the wall of photos ranging from 1880 to 2012 - all part of EFCA history.]
I'm in the middle of a project that has turned out to be fascinating in ways I never expected. I expected to enjoy working with the woman I'm...
If I am honest, I am a “driven” person – I feel good when I accomplish goals, finish things on the to-do list, and so on. But there are many things in my life as a Christ follower that take a long time to resolve, settle, or accomplish. Those are hard for me, and sometimes I tend to wonder if I am doing what I should. More important, I can also wonder if God is really there and at work. I...
In my last blog I referenced God’s clear call on leaders to be discipling people to be generous. (I Timothy 6: 17-19). Paraphrased, this passage states, “As a leader you should command Christ followers under your care not to be so arrogant as to put their hope in earthly wealth, which is so temporary....
When there is a need to raise resources for churches/ministries, leaders are often reticent/hesitant to address or actively promote the topic of giving/stewardship/generosity. Why? I see three underlying and primary reasons:
Problem 1: There is an underlying ignorance of what God through His word says about money.
My Response: Money and...
We occasionally get asked if we offer a bi-weekly payment options on our church loans. We don’t offer them because one of our operational objectives is to keep things simple - all of our loans have monthly payments due on the 1st of each month. However, there is a way to manage your loan to accomplish essentially the same outcome as you would have with a bi-weekly...
Recently, I’ve been bombarded with messages of Christian Joy. At church, we recently finished a sermon series on joy. I went to a women’s retreat where the theme was “Outrageous Joy.” As a follow up to the sermon series, our church is sending out messages I think of as “Joy Blogs.” Today, I was reviewing Facebook posts and the ideas of happiness, contentment and joy seemed to be everywhere....
I believe there are basically 4 types of people when it comes to change.
1. Bring it! - Love change
2. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. If it is broken, wait a little longer - Hate change
3. Wait and see - Skeptical of change, noncommittal as change approaches
4. Schizophrenic - Can’t decide how they feel and struggle to make decisions
I think we all waiver...
With the rapid increase in cellular technology and usage, the demand for additional cell towers continues to grow. Church properties can sometimes make ideal locations for cell tower placement, and the towers can often be hidden in a steeple or flagpole, or shaped to look like a tree or a cross. Having a cell tower on church property can be a financial windfall for the church because of the...
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