Categotry Archives: changing mindsets

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What Is Church? part 2

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Categories: Broken machine, changing mindsets, church, food for thought

This is the rest of the chapter from the book I’m working on, “I Grew Up In Church”. (If you missed the first installment, click here to read it.) This excerpt is copyrighted material, so please do not copy it without my permission. Any comments are welcome.

When Jesus said “church”, He meant only one thing. It was really, really simple. “Church” was the collective group of people who believed Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and chose to live in that truth and put their trust in Him.

This is a preview of What Is Church? part 2. Read the full post (2004 words, 1 image, estimated 8:01 mins reading time)

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What is "church"? A personal history…

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Categories: changing mindsets, My Story

Below is an excerpt from a book I am working on called “I Grew Up in Church.” The content below is copyrighted, so please don’t copy it without my permission. However, I’d value any comments or feedback you have about the material–from content to writing style, whatever you’d like to say. Enjoy.
My earliest memory of church was at a little Episcopal Church called St. Joseph’s. I don’t know how old I was, exactly. I think it must have been missions week or something, because the memory I have is of being chosen to stand in front of the church holding one of those globe coin banks. I don’t remember whether anyone put any money in it. I just remember standing there looking at all the grown-ups looking back at me and smiling the way grown-ups do whenever little kids do something cute in church. I wondered what I was doing to get all this attention.

The only other thing I remember about St. Joseph’s was the priest, a big jolly man named Father Al. I never understood why his name was Father Al and not Joseph, since it was Joseph’s church. Father Al was over at my house a lot when I was little, and stayed friends with my mom long after we left that church. I didn’t know at the time why he came over so much, but now I know he was helping my mom cope with my dad leaving us.

This is a preview of What is "church"? A personal history…. Read the full post (1434 words, 2 images, estimated 5:44 mins reading time)

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Christian: Noun or Adjective?

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, Meanderings (look it up), Rantings


Hmmm…something going through my head lately. Something I read in Velvet Elvis (which I finished by the way–no further heresies to report). But in the book, Rob Bell remarked on something that I found interesting, and am still chewing on and grappling with….

The word “Christian” was not intended to be used as an adjective.

In Scripture, it is always a noun, referring to a person who follows Christ.

This is a preview of Christian: Noun or Adjective?. Read the full post (573 words, 2 images, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

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Word of the Month(s) for January/Feburary: "GRAPPLE"

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, Meanderings (look it up)

I have decided that my “word of the month” should be “grapple.” (The verb, not the noun.) Since it’s late in January, we’ll make it the, uh, January/February word of the month.

Grap-ple [grap–uhl], verb

1. to hold or make fast to something, as with a grapple.
2. to use a grapple.
3. to seize another, or each other, in a firm grip, as in wrestling; clinch.
4. to engage in a struggle or close encounter (usually fol. by with): He was grappling with a boy twice his size.
5. to try to overcome or deal (usually fol. by with): to grapple with a problem.
(SOURCE: Dictionary.com Unabridged version 1.1)

1 : to seize with or as if with a grapple
2 : to come to grips with : wrestle
3 : to bind closely
(SOURCE: Merriam-Webster Online)

This is a preview of Word of the Month(s) for January/Feburary: "GRAPPLE". Read the full post (818 words, 3 images, estimated 3:16 mins reading time)

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To Life!

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Categories: changing mindsets, Meanderings (look it up)

There is a long-standing and deeply held belief in the Jewish religion that life is a gift, that life should be celebrated, and all of life is to be lived unto God. In the Hebrew way of thinking, there is essentially no such thing as “sacred” vs. “secular”, nor do they really make a big deal out of flesh vs. spirit. If God is in the picture, all things are His, and all life is lived unto Him. They have a saying: “L’Chaim!” Which means “To Life!” Life is meant to be lived, to be enjoyed to the fullest, with all the pleasures that God has naturally provided. One thing I’ve been learning this past year is that it is actually this type of mindset–the Hebraic mindset–out of which our Christian faith has been spawned.

This is a preview of To Life!. Read the full post (592 words, 1 image, estimated 2:22 mins reading time)
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