When Necessary Use Words

I have been reading about Francis of Assisi. One of his famous lines is this, "preach the gospel at all times and when necessary, use words." It is in that spirit that I wanted to put out a nugget that shows how this idea will be lived out in the context of Life House West.

I believe that we must make the Gospel practical. We should be doing things that show our community that we love them and that our love and compassion for them has no agenda. For far too often the church has been doing good and expecting things in return. I believe that those days must come to an end. The radical type of love that God wants and Jesus demonstrated during his earthly ministry will lead us to demonstrate the Christ centered life in many different ways. It will change what the church calls program, what the church does and does not do. It will change budget priorities, time schedules, and measures of success. In short many things will change.

I thought it would be fun to lay out some of the ways that LHW can live this out. I am not saying that I have it all figured out. These are just some thoughts:

1. Angel Food: This is the food bank that we will be working with. People will have the ability to purchase a box of great quality food for a great price. We then as a church can bless our community by purchasing extra for those in need. I will discuss this more as the details come.

2. Glocal Sunday: We are now at a place as a church where we must take responsibility for both our community and our world. We are going to be connecting you with missions works around the world that we want to support, as well as help fund local projects. This will be the fourth Sunday of the month.

3. Tutoring: As many of you know we have been tutoring children after school for the past few months. I want to expand this through the summer and prepare for the upcoming school year.

4. Mentoring: We are now connected with Salem Avenue Elementary and can go into the school and mentor children. This is a great way to tough the life of a child.

5. Seasonal Care: Our neighborhood is filled with single moms/women and the elderly. I believe we can start to bless the community by taking care of their lawns. We are already taking care of two and this is a powerful way to serve.

These are just some of the ideas that I am putting into motion. I am praying that you may want to join our efforts to love our world by living the gospel. Come and join the revolution.

PJ

Living a full life

It is hard to believe that a week went by and I did not have the chance to add another LIFE Nugget. Man last week went way too fast. On Sunday we looked at how a Christ centered life gives us the opportunity to live a full life.

I thought it would be fun to note one of the things that can also help us live a full life. Food. No I am not talking about overeating or abusing our bodies. I am talking about simply enjoying good food with friends and family. I remember when I was a kid the routine of sitting around the table as a family and reviewing the day. It seemed so strange when my brother moved out of the house after he got married. The routine changed. Things were not the same. I guess it happens to all families.

Now that I have a family of my own I find myself doing the same types of things around the table. It is also great fun to have people over to feed them food that I have cooked and to spend time around the table sharing life together. I feel that time is sacred. It is a time to make great relational connections. It is a great place to make memories that point us to a full life.

So I thought it would be cool to issue a challenge, take some time around the table. enjoy life with each other. You never know what God may do.

Blessings

PJ

Home

We have made it back from Florida. I did not have the opportunity to blog more while I was down there, but I will get more later. Suffice to say, I am glad to be home and my batteries are charged. More later.....

PJ