To Connect or Not To Connect

Now that we are both hooked up to the blog this is our first collaborated entry for LIFEhouse West. The conference of last week was all about connectivity and linking together with those whom God has placed us with to accomplish his work. Just to bring everyone up to speed LIFEhouse West is connected to the LIFEhouse Church network and is a church plant of Bethel Assembly. As a network we are emphasizing connectivity as the way to most effectively do the work we are responsible for. On a network level this is about joining with other churches, organizations, and ministries, not to reinvent anything, but to partner in using the strengths of each group to accomplish a task or meet a need. This is not necessarily only within our network or within "denominational lines" but linking up with others on the same "team".

For too many years churches and ministries have been trying to be everything to everybody but really becoming nothing to nobody. We feel that mindsets like this have become obsolete and ineffective in impacting our culture today. At LIFEhouse West we believe that this should not only change but that we should model it. We think that it is about being involved in the community, with community organizations, and in the lives of those people who make up that community. For us that means afterschool care for children, tutoring, providing a gathering place for people outside of "church services", meeting real and felt needs, and being involved in community activities and not just church activities. In other words being outside the walls of the building more than inside the walls. Jesus spent much more time with people just living life than he did in church, bringing LIFE to each life he encountered.

After hearing what we think now what do you think?