I told you he says this all the time!

I want to announce that our ministry website is fresh off the press! Newly renovated and wonderful!

Part of the new design is a "back-site" that includes lots of video, photos and blogs from each staff member. I have been so encouraged and blessed reading what our staff are learning. So, take a little time today to check it out. Also, I am putting a link to a specific blog entry my husband wrote, apparently at the same time I was writing the previous post here. Great minds think alike!

Common Ground Montgomery

Bryan's Blog Entry

How this lifestyle is saving me #1

One of my husbands favorite things to say is, "We didn't come to save this neighborhood; in fact, this neighborhood is saving us." I've always felt like I understood what he meant by that, it's also been a tough pill to swallow. Because it means that we are weak. It means that we don't have all the "answers" and in fact, we have brought 6 more sinners to this neighborhood!! There are MANY ways that this way of life is "saving" us, and realizing this has been a little difficult. I honestly have felt so EXPOSED for who I really am.

Now at this point, some of you are thinking things like, "Yeah, but, I could NEVER do what you do! It's amazing!" "You and your family are Christian super-heros!" It sounds ridiculous, but I have actually heard people say it. several times. The problem is, it's just not true. We are Christians, saved by Jesus, who still need A LOT of sanctification! Choosing this path has been very revealing of the true condition of my heart, and I feel as though the Lord want me to share some of the ways He has broken me.

So the biggest issue of my heart has been an exposed lack of love for people. I've always been called tender-hearted and compassionate. So I think I really believed that I loved people. Honestly it was easy to believe that I loved people, because I hadn't been faced with loving people as a PRIORITY second only to my love for God. He really wants us to be "neighbors" to people that aren't very lovable, or simply seem to be too many to love. And to make it even harder, He doesn't want us to just be "casserole" neighbors (not knocking a good casserole!), but he want us to be "i'll walk through all your crap with you" kind of neighbors. NOW THAT IS HARD! It also means that we can't just see people on Sundays (like I like to believe) and have the same kind of impact that doing life with them though out the week can bring. SO what's my problem? People are MESSY and they break things! I will have to work harder because I've had them in my home. People are complicated, and it takes TIME to figure out relationships - time I just don't want to give. CAN YOU SEE THE IDOLS IN MY HEART?!?!

But God has been amazing to me. He has revealed all this in my heart and is slowly changing me. I am under MUCH conviction of the Holy Spirit, in ways I never had before. I have been encouraged by some amazing preaching that has shed even more light on these precious idols of my heart. But I am most amazed at GOD'S love for people and I want to obey and follow Jesus in how he wants us to do this. Most importantly, He is showing me the big picture of His kingdom - made up of the soul's of men and women - and it is going to take everything I've got to play my role as His ambassador. His grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in my weakness! Praise HIM!

An Apology

I dropped the ball.. Actually I threw it FAR FAR away from me!

I got a little overwhelmed by life and just quit blogging.

I am sorry.

I really want this to be a vehicle for people to stay connected to our ministry and our family.

So if there are any readers left out there... I will certainly try to do a better job. And thankfully, the Christmas banner at the top of the page is now gone, although I may as well have left it up for a few more months!

I leave you today with a quote from the book Radical by David Platt that has changed my life!

"...we are starting to redefine Christianity. We are giving in to the temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with.

A nice, middle-class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn't mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have. A Jesus who would not expect us to forsake our closest relationships so that he receives all our affection. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on out comforts, because, after all, he loves us just the way we are. A Jesus who wants us to be balanced, who wants us to avoid extremes, and who, for that matter, wants us to avoid danger all together. A Jesus who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live out our Christian spin on the American dream.

But do you and I realize what we are doing at this point? We are molding Jesus into our image. He is beginning to look a lot like us, because, after all, that is whom we are most comfortable with. And the danger now is that when we gather in our church buildings to sing and lift up our hands in worship, we may not actually be worshipping the Jesus of the Bible. Instead we may be worshipping ourselves."

WHAT?!?!?! Yeah, he said it. And yeah, this blog may just have taken a turn for the RADICAL~~!