Overheard recently: "I'm wondering what's the difference between church and the bar?"
In church you pray for the Spirit. In a bar you pay for the spirits? (Sorry, couldn't resist!)
Anyways...
Everybody knows your name…
When Jennifer and I lived in Springfield, MO, and worked at the Assemblies of God headquarters, our friendly pagan neighbors invited us to join them at a neighborhood bar for lunch. We were on our way back home from church where we had invited them, so we figured a little tit for tat was probably in order.
Marc, over at Spudlets, posted a reflection on 9/11 and its aftermath, now five years gone.
At the very least, whether it’s the day after or five years later, it comes down to how you have made a difference with the life and talents you were given. Have you loved deeply and given much? Can’t do anything about yesterday, today is a work in progress, and tomorrow holds out hope for something better. It’s up to us to grab that opportunity.
Amen.
I've been reflecting on this as well, and commenting elsewhere about suffering and tragedy. So, Marc's post prompted me to say more. And and I thought why not share my thoughts here, as well?
Last night (Friday), my boss, Kevin A. Miller, VP of Resources at Christianity Today, was ordained to the Diaconate (the first step in the process to priesthood) by the Anglican Mission in America. Consisting of less than a hundred churches in America (according to the website’s church locator), and growing at a rate of about one new church every six weeks, this diocese has an interesting history.
I recently posted about how the Evangelical Global South is growing incredibly fast, and that we will soon be receiving missionaries here from Africa and the other usual “mission fields.” Here’s an unusual example. The AMiA came about as a result of Episcopal dissatisfaction with the direction of the Episcopal Church in America (ECUSA)--which has lost over a third of its membership in the last three decades, and is
