the church's strength

Romans 15:6 NLT

Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm passionate about this. In the past few months I have begun to see and share how much stronger we are when we join together to serve others. Our church's are stronger when we join with each other to serve our community. In fact, I believe as The Community Dream Center, what we are founding in the coming months, strength will be the various Christians and churches that lock arms and energy to work together. The church's strength is in what we share. It is all about Jesus.

The things that divide us need to be set aside, and it is time to see needs and meet them. By joining together we will find that we have more energy, more resources, more passion and just plain more ability given by God to see His kingdom grow and lives changed by Him. Do you agree?

I had the opportunity to attend an event this week in Hampton, Virginia that is bringing churches together in that community and in other communities around the nation. It is called "Christ Together" and is seeing many communities come to Christ and serve thousands of more people have their needs met. That is real strength given by God. Here are some thoughts from that event:

--- a missional church is one that believe the people of God can partner with God in His redemptive mission in the world. We can do this more and more.

--- as the people of God, we are blessed. We have been blessed so we can bless others!

--- we are called out so that we can be sent back into the world. If we are just called out, we do everything we can to help the institution of the church, but when we are sent back, we do what God intends the church to do ... be light to the world.

--- the church fixing itself is not the answer. Church is not the point. It is not how we can do church better. It is how can we reach more people for Jesus.

--- the church, the people of God, are already deployed into the world and across the culture. As leaders, we are called to help each of us be the church out in the world so people see and come to Jesus.

I have so much more, but it will have to wait till late. That is awesome stuff. Yet I ask you, will you join with our church or with other churches and Christians around you to see God's kingdom grow?

Matthew 13:43 NLT
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!

Francis Chan's "Forgotten God" (brand new book)

One of the most powerful preachers, writers and leaders of our time, in my opinion, is Francis Chan. His first book, Crazy Love , revolutionized my thoughts about God's love as well as my interacting with God. Now it is time for a brand new book from Chan being released tomorrow, September 1st. The book is Forgotten God . This is a phenomenal book about the power that Christians and the church can and must tap into. All of it is within the Holy Spirit. Francis talks about the power that was seen in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit began to move among people. It is true that many have avoided or maybe forgotten what the Holy Spirit is all about. And like the Savior who poured out His life and blood so we have reason to rejoice, we were made to lay down our lives and give until it hurts. We are most alive when we are loving and actively giving of ourselves because we were made to do these things. It is when we live like this that the Spirit of God moves and ac...

inspiration from C.S. Lewis

There are many people, past and present, who get our attention by what they write or say or share. For me C.S. Lewis is one of those. He was a prolific writer who continues to grab the attention of thinkers from many different points of view. Lewis first grabbed my attention when I was in 5 th grader, and our teacher, Mrs. Foy, shared The Chronicles of Narnia with our class. It was a powerful time that this dreamer opened doors to thinking like I had never lived before. He wrote of faith, of far off places and of strong figures who found their character rooted deep in God. C.S. Lewis was born in 1898 and died in 1963, 7 years before I was born. It wasn’t until his 30’s that under the influence of his friend Tolkien that he came to be a Christian. He was raised in a traditional church going home, turned away from God as an Atheist in his teen years and through trying to stay away from God and faith returned to God with...

Catalyst ticket arrived

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Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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