This last week was powerful as we deepen the practice of simplicity in our lives. Anytime you begin to address and take action with the clutter in our lives, it hits a nerve. At the same time, it's like a breath of fresh air. The following are excerpts from an email I received ... Read More
Category: Spiritual Life
What ideas do you have for growing generosity in kids or teens? Our generosity seems to kick in around the holidays, but Jesus way of generosity is a yearlong — and lifelong — practice. The funny thing about giving back is that once you ... Read More
Category: Spiritual Life
This is a big week for those following Jesus. How will you honor Jesus this Easter? Right away you may think of attending an event(s) this coming weekend. Those celebrations are good. They can help in re-centering us around the truth of Easter. But maybe I should ... Read More
Category: Spiritual Life
What's your attitude as you approach Valentine's Day? What does it look like to resist the evil empire of consumerism when we approach another over-commercialized "holiday". I am including some excerpts from another blog that was brilliant. I have tried to locate the ... Read More
Category: Love and Romance
It seems that the only way to build a reputation, become known as a somebody in our cyberculture is to have a blog. It doesn't matter if there is any substance to what you write. I recently had a friend who recently asked me to blog about him so that his book gets hype on ... Read More
Category: Life Together
Can a $50 loan really make a significant impact on a person's life? Absolutely! Have you heard of microlending before? It was begun by Muhammed Yunus. He began an amazing effort to give small loans of $50, $100, or $200 to the poor in developing nations. These are people ... Read More
Category: Mission
When you think about growing up as a kid, we can have some very "creative" ideas of who God is. Think about it. Kids are concrete thinkers. God...well He is not very concrete, is He? Unfortunately we can carry some pretty distorted ideas about God into ... Read More
Category: Theology
Unprovoked violence...we see it in the news. How unprovoked will our love be this week? I just read an article by Tim Keller. He sees that question in a great light: In 1 Peter, Peter says, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a ... Read More
Category: Spiritual Life
It's amazing what the blurring pace of American life does...so often it robs us of our meaning and purpose. - If I am so busy that I cannot reflect, then I easily forget why I am here. - If I am so busy that I cannot serve, then I quickly think only of my agenda. ... Read More
Category: Spiritual Life
Last Sunday, we looked at the way of life Jesus calls His followers to live. It's a "table life". That is a way of life focused on building community. This revolutionary community is not based on who we are, but instead is rooted in whose we are. So in the ... Read More
Category: Spiritual Life
More Resources For Teaching Your Children About Sex Learning About Sex (Complete Set) (Concordia Publisher) Each book in the series helps children (and adults, too) see sex as a gift from God to be used responsibly. In a positive, Christ-centered manner, the Learning About Sex series ... Read More
Category: Parenting
Over the past few weeks at Threads we have taken some honest looks at our sexuality. There are so many that are asking for help in this area of their life. I have listed below what may be the most comprehensive collection of resources for help in this part of our lives. A ... Read More
Category: Spiritual Life
So often people settle for "church" to happen on "Sundays", which means our spirituality is reduced down to an 1 1/2 hour event on one day of a week. In my last post, I admitted that we have some major work to do within Threads. At least initially, there seems to ... Read More
Category: Parenting
Sunday was one of the unexpected days @ Threads. As we came together for our Worship Gatherings, there were some laughs, shock and surprise when the person teaching didn't show up! Some people became quite panicked, others got ticked, while many sat back and simply ... Read More
Category: Kids Community
I had just opened the back hatch on a trashed out mini-van. As I did, the bag of beer cans fell out. I could feel the beer trickling down my leg and filling the heel of my sandal. That was the moment. That was the moment when kids and adult began ... Read More
A week from Sunday our Participant's will be invited to renew their Vow. Our Participant's are those who have come to the place in their faith journey where they commit to living as a full Participant in our way of life. They are imperfect people who are committed to ... Read More
Category: Life Together
Yesterday was a Threads day that news outlets are talking about. In fact, word has traveled as far as Washington D.C. We canceled our Worship Gatherings yesterday, loaded up 8 buses, and hit downtown Kalamazoo to complete an energy audit. This energy audit is a critical step in an ... Read More
Category: Mission
What would people say if Threads disappeared tomorrow? We are asking that question. As we see God's heart revealed in the Bible, we quickly learn that God formed His people to be a blessing to this planet. He is passionate about the redemption of this entire world, as well as ... Read More
Category: Mission
