To blog or not to blog...

After getting this blog underway, I last night read a challenge from Dan Kimball (author: They Like Jesus but not the Church - worth a read). He was in a classroom, and noticed most of the uni students were blogging or twittering rather than listening. Slightly disturbed, he then found that even in his church there were people on facebook rather than participating in worship!

All of these media have their place. And they serve us well. I've caught up with friends through facebook that I haven't seen in over a decade. I've also been able to have important pastoral conversations in chat spaces with people from our corps.

But none of these communication contraptions and programs replace relationship. None of them give us the same meaningful interaction that one-on-one face-to-face does.

While Jesus didn't have these means of communicating in his day - and I'm sure he would have used them sometime if he did - I can't help wonder about the fact that for the most part, healing came with his touch. He was present.

Growing as we journey

What a great day yesterday at Marion Salvos! Show me anyone who wasn't moved as Spencer wheeled Margery to the mercy seat during the 10 am service, seeing Eric join the 10am congregation for the first time in years, or listening as Jermaine testified about God's work in his life during the 4pm service.

God is at work in Marion!

As we've seen these things happen, as we have people growing in God all around us, I am reminded that we all need to keep on the journey. "Get our own testimony squared away", as Mark said in his message to the 4pm congregation. "Continue to work out our own salvation" was they way the apostle Paul worded it.

Let's all keep doing those things, big and small, that help us grow while we journey together.

Testing...

In a suprise move the other day, someone suggested that they missed the CO's devotional thoughts from the front of Marion Salvo's newly styled newsletter...

This got the juices flowing and now there's this - Brad's Blog.

I hope this is a means of sharing that enriches others while challenging me to find something useful, productive, provocative and edifying to say.

Let's journey together...