One of my former youth (graduated last year) made me this special Christmas video.  I love it!!  She put a lot of time into finding pictures (and she was fairly kind) and also my favorite song!!  I love thoughtful gifts like this and the fact that she put so much time into.  Makes a youth minister feel loved!!

I heard tonight about a new church plant in Jefferson City so I checked out the website to see what it was about.  I was hopeful.  Although I’m on staff at another church, there are more than enough people to love and serve in this community and a lot of different styles and communities are needed to honor the diversity that exists among believers and unChristians. I’m  not a believer in mega-churches so I’m grateful for other churches and faith communities. However, I do have a desire to have more faith communities that, in my opinion, represent God with humility, mystery, and grace and that create a faith community that is about grace and dignity for all and the unique G0d-given gifts that they bring to the table.  That is why I was disappointed to see these statements listed under their “What We Believe” category:

• We are not liberals who embrace culture without discernment and compromise the distinctives of the gospel.
• We are not egalitarians and do believe that men should head their homes and male elders should lead their churches with masculine love like Jesus.
•  We are not relativists and do gladly embrace Scripture as our highest authority above such things as culture, experience, philosophy, and other forms of revelation.
• We are not Universalists and do believe that many people will spend eternity in the torments of hell as the Bible teaches.
• We are not evangelical feminists and do believe that God reveals Himself as a Father and is to be honored by the names He reveals to us without apology.
• We are not embarrassed by the bloody death of Jesus and do believe He died as a substitute for the sins of His people in selfless love.

Sigh…..