This past summer, over 60 people from our church community were invited to participate in intentional listening exercises with the elders in order to get a sense of our self-perception as a community. We have taken the notes from the conversations and used them to write a narrative of our current shared reality. On November 17, we will have a congregation-wide meeting to explore and process the narrative as a community. The meeting will be held at our church facility (218 Clear Creek Ave.) from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

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Early in my faith, I had the dangerous belief that Christians were only supposed to be happy. And thus, when I experienced sadness, loneliness, fear, and depression, I was afraid to be honest about the pain. I identified with Brennan Manning in Ruthless Trust, “Sensing that if I bare my soul, I will be abandoned by my friends and ridiculed by my enemies, I remain in hiding, borrowing the cosmetic kit to put on my pretty face.” I ended up suffering in isolation.

Thankfully the more I study scripture and do inner healing work, the more I realize that God desires us to bring our full selves as we seek the Triune God. We are to bring our laments and our joys; our ugliness and our beauty. Furthermore, God gives us one another. We are called to weep with each other, rejoice with each other, and to build each other up. This is one of the most important parts of being the church.

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One of the most gracious hosts I've ever met is an older gentleman I met around 14 months ago. He and his wife recently moved to Houston and now live with their adult children. Every time I visit him, he greets me with a fresh cup of coffee and some sort of dessert. This one time I visited him in the hospital, and he had the attendant bring an extra lemon-lime Shasta so that he could be a good host...while in the hospital! This man clearly exudes hospitality.

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