I’m sitting in The Cheesecake Factory with my good friend Sara and I think, “What is it with The Cheesecake Factory?  Everybody loves to eat here!”  Well, obviously, it’s the cheesecake!  But there is something intriguing about the guests…we are surrounded by the most eclectic group of people: parents with small children, high schoolers dressed up for Homecoming, a “girls night out” group, some older couples, some younger couples, some people who are not sure if they are going to be a couple….

So, what is it about The Cheesecake Factory?  Is it fantastic marketing?  Atmosphere?  Great food?  Great service?  All of the above?

Maybe, when we talk about how to be a church, maybe we should think about experiences like eating at The Cheesecake Factory.

Continue reading →

He was stoned the last time I saw him.  His eyes were puffy and he had a dazed look.  I got the impression he had not slept much.

I was sober, and timid; I had slept in a comfortable bed, in a comfortable house with a comfortably full fridge, and we both knew it.

I had asked how he was doing, but somehow my question, and my very presence had irritated him.  He was surly, and slurry and sarcastic.  I was overwhelmed and under-caffeinated and out of place.

Continue reading →

“When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  I came to you in weakness  with great fear and trembling.  My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”  1 Corinthians 2:1-5

I am going to miss the smell of the place.  The way it hit me every time I walked into the worship space.  So many memories.  The pictures will be great to look at, but there is something about sitting there and simply inhaling the place.

That big old wooden cross…how many times have I spoken to that cross…how many times it has spoken to me.

Continue reading →